[lonzo]

Hi guys, awesome forum you guys have here. Ive been surfing here for a while and you guys are awesome. I have had my eye on a plasma table for some time now.. A while ago I considered purchasing a turn key table locally and it sold before I got a chance. Lately ive been looking into building a simple direct drive rack&pinion style 4x4 table similar to hotrodfab's 4x2 custom table. I just want to make sure this build isn't going to be too overwhelming once I start with any unforeseeable obsticles that I had not planned for. I have a solid background in metalworking and fabrication so the frame,rails and any thing phical will not be a problem. My main concern is the electronic side of it. I was looking into the candcnc 620- 4 stepper AIO dragoncut kit a computer from candcnc It seems pretty straight forward. Has amyone had zero cnc experience and painlessly used this system + the plasma connection kit for a hypertherm45? As for a z azis ive been looking into a velox with a floating head design already integrated into the unit. The other aspect im not sure on is when I tune the system in mach3. I plan to use the Mach3 / Sheetcam combo.
Im somw what tech savvy so it will take some adjusting but with some tutorials I think ill be in the right direction. Lastly, im basically down to what rack&pinion to go with. # of teeth diameter, pitch. Ive been looking on mcmaster and they have lots of options. What do you guys think? Any thoughts, ideas/ comments are welcome! Thanks Guys!

[soapcreek]

lonzo;

Look forward to seeing what you come up with for a plan. I'm kind of at the same point with trying to get all the pieces figured out. Looking through different build logs I've come up with a few part numbers. The following part numbers for McMaster I pulled from dnelso's build log. Rack (5174t21) Pinion(5172t12). If you are looking for solid lengths of rack greater than 6' you can contact Moore Gear & Mfg. Good luck.

Moore Gear & Mfg.
PO Box 49
#2 Hawthorne Dr.
Hermann, MO 65041
P 573-486-5415
F 573-486-3487
Moore Gear Website

[lonzo]

lonzo;

Look forward to seeing what you come up with for a plan. I'm kind of at the same point with trying to get all the pieces figured out. Looking through different build logs I've come up with a few part numbers. The following part numbers for McMaster I pulled from dnelso's build log. Rack (5174t21) Pinion(5172t12). If you are looking for solid lengths of rack greater than 6' you can contact Moore Gear & Mfg. Good luck.

Moore Gear & Mfg.
PO Box 49
#2 Hawthorne Dr.
Hermann, MO 65041
P 573-486-5415
F 573-486-3487
Moore Gear Website

Going to jump into it head first!
Ordered my candcnc 620-4 ethercut kit, basic software package of mach3 and sheetcam, ordered 3 20* 20 pitch/15 tooth 3/8 bore sprockets and 3 6foot lenghts of matching gear rack. There is a 3 week wait on the dragoncut kit at the moment. I will be pairing a powermax45 to the table. Should easily give me time to get material and build the table and water tray!

[soapcreek]

Did you decide to go with direct driver or are you going to run some reduction? What did you decide for gantry plates (custom or off the shelf)?