[Techbuilder]

Howdy folks!

New to the forum so nice to digitally meet everyone!

Let me start you off on my journey!

I've been pulling my hair out trying to find the right cnc plasma cutter and was hoping for some feedback or thoughts from the people who own tables!

I own a 4x4 CNC router I built from scratch and have a two-car garage full of tools, I wanted to get into CNC plasma cutting as I have a small plasma cutter that I use with templates but I would love to have the same capability as I have with cutting wood, plastic, and aluminum with my router but in steel instead with the CNC plasma cutter.

My issue boils down to space, power, and somewhat location (I'm renting and I live in a duplex with a neighbor connecting my house to theirs but I have a two-car garage)

I can make a 4x4 work in my space but barely as I already have the 4x4 CNC router taking space so I got the idea of combining the machines so I can get a single 4x8 machine and can work with a full sheet for either (hate breaking sheets for the router)

I went down the rabbit hole of looking for combo machines and they all pretty much had the same shortcomings due to the fact that it's really difficult to have a combo machine with the individual requirements of both.

I did look at going with a ShopSabre sidekick 8 (23k with everything I wanted) with the intention of being a one-and-done machine but the goal would be to move out of the garage and into a warehouse if enough work comes my way but I have but 90amps for the whole house and wanted to get a Hypertherm 65 and with all the power requirements from the sidekick 8 I could be dealing with a paperweight I couldn't power or if the lady uses the microwave blows the breaker to the house.

I would hate to lose having the cnc router but do you guys or gals think dealing with a combo wouldn't be worth it and should I stick with a 4x4 with the intent of eventually selling it?

Also what machines do recommend that are lower budget than the ShopSabre that you've been happy with?

There's so many LDR,Starlab, Arclight, STVcnc maybe even Avid

[awerby]

People with this issue have sometimes rigged an arm off the Z axis of their router that extends to another table next to it with a water-bath and racks for plasma cutting. This works because there isn't any resistance to the torch from the material; it just has to be in the right place at the right time. You might look at your garage and see if this might work for you. But note that even with the water table, CNC plasma cutting is a really messy process; the air fills with fumes and burnt-metal debris that will settle on everything in the vicinity, including your tools and wood and other machines.