[Torchhead]

The aluminum table is every bit as stout as a steel tubing table. They have units out in commercial shops cutting 3/4" plate on a daily basis. Only if you start to compare a welded table built with I beams and slinging around a huge gantry does the material start to matter. The 8020 rails that a lot of the builders use are extrusions and per pound are stiffer than steel.

[Torchhead]

Watched a show on satellite TV last night about building ships. Everything is mega sized. The Newport News ship building yard has 900 ton cranes to lift entire sections of an aircraft carrier into place.

They cut miles of 1" and 2" plate steel. They use a huge gantry plasma system cutting under water.

They prefer plasma over oxy (although they use oxy for the thicker stuff) because it cuts a lot faster.

As for cutting the piece in question with a 1250 hand torch: Better recheck your source one more time. The HD claim was easier to believe. This one borders on a urban myth. Unless that piece is huge the 1" thickness is in doubt (porportions are wrong) . The fact it has no bevel would indicate it has been post processed after the cut. Bevel on thick cuts (especially on curves) is to be expected and is even addressed by the manufacturer.

Personally, I vote for it having been cut on an abrasive waterjet machine. It can do straight sides and smooth edges on material up to several inches thick.

[PlasmaCAM]

I have double checked my source. 1250 for sure.

[Dale Heart]

yeah plasma has in many cases been very very over rated for some situations.

I mean how much cheaper is an oxy set up?

How many oxy torches can you run on the same gantry, for the same price as a high definiton plasma?

Oxy can cut from 5mm up to 2000mm, yes 2000mm.

So in many ways oxy will have a definant advantage over plasma. It all comes down to the bloke selling you the machine and setup.

Apples
Australia

Our main steel supplier still uses an eight torch oxy-fuel setup over their large gantry plasma because it's easier to use and provides a better (square) cut than plasma and the dross is about the same.
<O</O<O
We use a lot of oxy-fuel and I don't think it's ever going to change. Oxy fuel is about a forth the speed of plasma though with multiple heads the speed advantage is easily lost and generally we never have to worry about squareness of cut or heavy tapers on corners which we've experienced with plasma. The biggest problem with oxy-fuel is piercing. Though, we've started using some tricks like 'dynamic piercing' to minimize blowback. <O</O

[joemic]

I agree with Dale Heart. The oxy fuel perform better than plasma to use for cutting thick material. From our experiece, the mild steel thickness above 19mm is not easy to cut with Air plasma, powermax 1650 or Max200. We also need to monitor the nozzle and electrode condition to avoid heavy tapers of cutting.
When we use oxy fuel, we can get a nice cutting surface without taper problem.
Please check photo of cutting sample on http://www.actech.com.my/prod.html

Joe
AC Meca (M) Sdn. Bhd.

[Torchhead]

Joe: Sounds to me like all you need to do is buy a *PlasmaCAM* machine and you can cut 1" with a 1250 just smooth as butter with no taper!! I don't know why you and everyone else is having trouble making perfect cuts......all you gotta do is read the earlier posts. :bs:

Tom (Sarcastic) Caudle

[PlasmaGuy]

I have to echo Mr. C's remarks...

I have a Hypertherm 1650 and I would never think of cutting 1.0" w/o having considerable taper and poking along too.

The 1650 does a great job but you have to accept some taper and a slower IPM rate.

Good Luck,

Tom P

[joemic]

Tom, I will consider to buy the "butter cutting machine". But I have to test the MP-1000 I bought from CandCNC for my machine's "digital height Control" before I make the decision.

[Zombiestomp]

I just purchased a plasmacam system and set up and operation was simple enough.
But Im an old machinist that knows lots about most machine tools but im new to plasma cutting can anyone point me in the right direction for dialing in my thermaldynamics tourch for this system i understand the basics very well and im already getting good parts but im guessing at it lol

[rpage]

Zombiestomp,

If you have not already, signup to the yahoo group called Plasmapig. It is ALL plasmacam users. There are many people posting there with many different torch setups. I am certain that someone could give you a hand getting your setup dialed in. Here is the link...

Plasmapig Group

Have fun cutting!

Rick

[geo4932]

PlasmaCAM has 3 years warranty and 3 years free tech support on the SAMSON 5x10 table and the DHC2 4x4 table.

The Digital Height Control has ohmic material sensing and voltage controlled cutting height.

The software will import dxf, gcode (absolute coordinates), csv, and bitmaps(256 color or less).

I will be glad to answer any questions.

George, PlasmaCAM Support

[prerunner68]

The software will import dxf, gcode (absolute coordinates), csv, and bitmaps(256 color or less).

I will be glad to answer any questions.

George, PlasmaCAM Support[/QUOTE]



Will it import (.stp) files.......


Thanks
Brian

[geo4932]

Sorry, .stp files are not supported. They would have to be exported as a flat dxf. R13 or older.

Regards,
George

The software will import dxf, gcode (absolute coordinates), csv, and bitmaps(256 color or less).

I will be glad to answer any questions.

George, PlasmaCAM Support

Will it import (.stp) files.......


Thanks
Brian[/QUOTE]

[geo4932]

Please reply with the model of TD you have.

Regards,
George

I just purchased a plasmacam system and set up and operation was simple enough.
But Im an old machinist that knows lots about most machine tools but im new to plasma cutting can anyone point me in the right direction for dialing in my thermaldynamics tourch for this system i understand the basics very well and im already getting good parts but im guessing at it lol

[Allen123]

Upss!!! I Think That I Have A Problem, I Bought An Old Plasma Table And Not Have Software, The Control Works Only Essi Codes "bad News", And Now I Need A Software, Exist Some Software That Generates These Codes? Can The Mach3 Work?

I Appreciate Your Comments!!!

I think you mean EIA ISO which would be a standard G-code. All you'll need is some prep codes at the start and end of the profiles you want to cut and off you go.

You might want to check for a height sensor. Do you have one?

There are many programs you can purchase for $500- $1500 bucks that will do what you need and are easy to use.

[cnc metalcraft]

I'm looking at buying a plasma or laser whats a good cam software for these kind of machine i have mastercam, toolpath and bobcad looking for some thing that gives me some thing that is a fetchers that will help me on these kinds for profile cutters

[bill steelmon]

we bought a fab shop that has a vicon 8000 cnc plasma table but no computer or software any where we can buy software to test machine it is about 10 yrs old ,will any ones software work or must it be vicons ?i would hate to have to buy a 3000 $ software only to find table does not work !! HELP

[plasmaplasma]

You are supporting open systems like parallel port, and you are supporting MACH software which is not open. Why dont you support LINUXCNC it is open.

Company I work for has bought THC from you with promise it will work with
any software. And THC is collecting dust in our shop. You didnt answer our emails to help us with it. Then we go with dynatorch THC. And we are happy. It is plug and play and works great.

You work together with http://www.campbelldesigns.com/ which is now selling MACH3 enclosure. C'mon MACH3 enclosure???? So I guess his enclosure is compatibile with MACH software. It is nonsense.

You support MACH because MACH is supporting your hardware. It is not open.
Why you didnot explain how to make your THC work with other software???

Your printed material we get with your THC is garbage full of advertisment how to buy more hardware from you. On the other side manual for dynatorch THC is done really good, it is something like FANUC, FAGOR or HAAS manuals.
Everything you need is there!

Mach is great software for hobby milling etc.
You need GCODE for milling, but not for plasma. Plasma is more like a plotter or printer. For any shop it is stupid to buy plasma CNC with GCODE.
You save on machine but you pay operator more. If you know GCODE you will not work for 15/hr on plasma machine but for 25 on a mill or lathe!
Any plasma CNC with GCODE used in a shop is loosing 100$ each day

[plasmaplasma]

The good part of a Torchmate is that it uses conventional motor drivers and parallel port PC interface so you could elect to use some other software controller software (eg MACH3) and take advantage of all the built in plasma feature and lower cost THC options. They of course would prefer you buy into their total solution but at least there are options if you later decide you want something else.

Some offerings like the PlasmaCAM and DynaTorch are proprietary and you have to use their motion software/controller. This may not sound like a bad idea but then you find other third party options closed to you. You live with the features as they are or scrap the machine

It's kinda like buying a car that uses custom sized tires, battery, wiper blades, etc and having no place to get replacements but from the factory. When you only have one source you only have one price.

I was using MSFT DOS and Windows for whole life, then my friend told me thad Linux is better because it is not proprietary and it is free. And I lost 2 month of my life. Then one night I put my Linux computer into garbage bin.
Bill Gates was right when he asked who will develop software if it is free, farmers when they finish field work hahaha
CNC plasma is more similar to OS the a car.
ESAB use custom parts, software is proprietary, and dont tell me ESAB is not good!
What is point here: TM is good machine because they use my THC.

[mcwilsonmfg]

ask plasma cam man how they handle the transere of a four month old used machine when it comes to their confidence of quality equipment concerning warrenty and phone support.....NADA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think they know how reliable the machine rally is and therfore refuse warranty and phone support f you don't buy the machine new from them. even though the original owner paid full price for the machine with 3 yrs warranty and tech support......