[Cartierusm]

Ok so I'm looking into building a 4' x 4' CNC plasma/router. I've built many cnc machines over the years; all of which I use almost weekly.

My CNC router is about 20" x 36" cutting area and I figured I'd want something bigger. Now I've always wanted to build a CNC plasma and thought I'd combine the two.

So my questions is....wait for it...

I want good clean cuts. I already have an Everlast Plasma Cut-D 50 plasma cutter. The torch is crap. So if I use a good aftermarket machine torch for the CNC plasma will the Everlast be of use? Meaning if I use a good torch does the power source matter? I'm willing to buy a Hypertherm or a Miller if the cuts will be markedly better.

Waiting patiently for your opinions....

[Torchhead]

Ok so I'm looking into building a 4' x 4' CNC plasma/router. I've built many cnc machines over the years; all of which I use almost weekly.

My CNC router is about 20" x 36" cutting area and I figured I'd want something bigger. Now I've always wanted to build a CNC plasma and thought I'd combine the two.

So my questions is....wait for it...

I want good clean cuts. I already have an Everlast Plasma Cut-D 50 plasma cutter. The torch is crap. So if I use a good aftermarket machine torch for the CNC plasma will the Everlast be of use? Meaning if I use a good torch does the power source matter? I'm willing to buy a Hypertherm or a Miller if the cuts will be markedly better.

Waiting patiently for your opinions....

Hypertherm has a host of patients for torch technology. You can see marked improvement just updating one of their older torches to the new Duramax. I don't know what kind of aftermarket torch you are going to try and hang on the Everlast import but I doubt you will get a lot better result. Some people are less critical about cut quality and accuracy than others. A torch is not the only thing that affects quality of a plasma cut. Miller makes good welders but they are not know for doing much with automated (CNC) cutting.

TomCAUDLE
www.CandCNC.com

[Cartierusm]

Thanks. That's pretty much what I was asking.

So if I'm looking for a new plasma cutter what would you recommend? I'd say I'd want to cut 1/2" cleanly and maybe 3/4" roughly. Most of the time I'm probably looking at cutting 1/4"-3/8".

[Scott V]

Thanks. That's pretty much what I was asking.

So if I'm looking for a new plasma cutter what would you recommend? I'd say I'd want to cut 1/2" cleanly and maybe 3/4" roughly. Most of the time I'm probably looking at cutting 1/4"-3/8".

Hypertherm 45XP.. They are really a good machine.. I generally don't get all that excited about most plasma cutters from Hypertherm like some rabid owners do.. The 45XP power supply is really well designed..

[Cartierusm]

Ok thanks. I'll check it out.

[jcoldon]

buy the biggest unit you can afford if your going to cut 3/4 steel then hypertherm 85 if not the 65 will do 85 is the biggest you can use on single phase power once you start the torch never seams to big power full enough buy the biggest one your pocket can handle

[paulmacc]

I purchased a Everlast Powerplasma 50 about 3 years ago for my cnc table because it had the cnc port and was the biggest I could get on (Australian) single phase.... was NOT a good buy. CNC port is useless as far as reading voltage as most users have found and now I'm having problems with it not always turning the torch on too. Wired a Proma THC directly to the leads with gave height control and I have done quite a few signs with it but once you go above 3mm it struggles. I too looked for aftermarket torches, but they all have the same limitations. I looked at the Hypertherm plasma's and thought who'd be silly enough to spend THAT much on a plasma cutter and now I know why! Because they're the best, give excellent cut quality, far better consumable life, supply ALL the data you need to setup for cut thickness, speed, amps etc. and just work.

I am now $5700 (AUS) poorer having ordered a PowerMax65 and will be even poorer again when I buy my 22Kva genset to run it! The fact that Jim Colt from Hypertherm is a regular on this and many other forums and is quick to answer questions in the Hypertherm threads is just fantastic service in my opinion.

My 2 cents worth...(actually just over 2.5 cents AU)

Note: single phase in Rural Australia maxes out at about 25Amps/240v, few places have 3 phase, most farm only have a split phase 10Kva Tranny, so really you can only run 5kva per phase. Yes it does SUCK!

[Cartierusm]

Great info. Thanks. I kind of figured. I have torch problems with mine as well. Sometimes it turns on and sometimes I have to share the leads.

[flyinwilly]

Before you decide on a machine, let me relate my experiences with these type of machines. I built my table with a Cut40 plasma cutter. It is a chinese, inverter type machine. The main problem was that it is extremely noisy which required extensive grounding and shielding of all of the cables and table. The second problem was that it had a contact start torch. That said, it worked fine on thin material although it was fairly slow (80-90 IPM on 16 GA steel). When I had to cut1/4 inch, it worked but not very good cuts. That's when I went to Hypertherm.

I finally bought a PMAX65. I chose the 65 over the 45 because I had a lot of cutting on 1/4 - 3/8 steel and duty cycle became important. If you are going to cut a lot of pieces or very large pieces which require a long run time, you might run into a problem with the 45. I know that the 65 is more expensive but it will run circles around the smaller machine. I've had mine for over 3 years and have many, many hours of cut time on it and it has been bulletproof. I'm not knocking the 45 because it is a great machine but as someone told me, if you have a business, time is money and you can't afford to be sitting around waiting for a machine to cool off.

By the way, I still have the Cut40 and use it as a portable plasma because I can run it off a generator and it only weighs 19 lb.

Good Luck,

Willy

[Cartierusm]

Cool. Thanks.