[KajunKrawler]

New here and great forum.
I have been building a 5x5 plasma water table in my spare time. I have been reading about and looking at everyones builds and they look great. I started building a prototype carriage out of low cost cutting board material. Any reason why not to leave it made out of this material? It is very light and very strong. The only thing i can think of is just how hot does the torch head get on a long cut job? I bought a hypertherm 45 about a month ago & only cut about 3" just to test it out. If it gets to hot i can just make a torch holder out of aluminum. Anyone tried this yet?

[KajunKrawler]

Here is a pic of the carriage. Couldnt attach it to my first post

[Arthurmetal]

that is an original approach for sure. I haven’t seen it before. If you get it rigid enough, with not to much backlash, it might work. If you keep the torch tip some two or three inches away from the board the heath shouldn’t be a problem. You might get trouble with all the dust and garbage digging into the plastic. On the other hand, if you consider a water table, you will be better off against rust.

[KajunKrawler]

Definitly using a water table. As far as blacklash, none that I can feel. I did change to two bearings each on the torch plate and put a 45 degree bevel on the plate edges to secure it in. Time will tell if it holds up.
Using a polytank hanging under table for water storage. Air pressure to force water up to table and gravity drain back. Very simple design and works great. The electronics will be the DragonCut package. Should be here in a week or two.

[johndjmix]

Very cool, but man that UHMW is much more expensive than building the cariage out of metal. Do you have a bunch of it laying around or something?

I know a 5" x 48" piece of 1" UHMW costs me around $48!

--John

[KajunKrawler]

I picked up mine at Wal-mart. They were just over $2 a piece for a 10"x12" or something close to that. My package arrived from candcnc today so hopefully i will have time to work on it some more. If it doesnt work out i will rebuild it out of steel or aluminum. I really think it will work just fine tho...

[4R8]

Very cool, but man that UHMW is much more expensive than building the cariage out of metal. Do you have a bunch of it laying around or something?

I know a 5" x 48" piece of 1" UHMW costs me around $48!

--John

That's only $12 a foot for different product with a greater thickness.
But as seen above, it is possible without needing to be 1" thick.

[johndjmix]

Yes, my produce that I produce requires 1" thick material......actually $48 is a GOOD price....here in NY i cant find it for under $60!!!

--John

[ajclay]

I picked up mine at Wal-mart. They were just over $2 a piece for a 10"x12" or something close to that. My package arrived from candcnc today so hopefully i will have time to work on it some more. If it doesnt work out i will rebuild it out of steel or aluminum. I really think it will work just fine tho...

A guy can just buy anything at walmart..... Remember when it was only USA products?

Aj