[mikeysp]

Hi. I was wondering if the Avid 5x10 Router table is suitable for conversion to a plasma table? I know it is possible, but is it reasoable? Thank you for your advice. -Mike

[subnoize]

Hello,

I have a dual process (CNCDepot S30C spindle and Hypertherm 45xp plasma) AvidCNC PRO 60120 with the extend gantry.

The 5x10 water table is heavy and you will need a crane. I have a 4x8 water table because I could slide it up under the CNC and onto the bottom braces for storage. I use a 2 ton engine crane and steel loops attached to the water table with some chains. I can place it and remove it by myself doing that.

The steel loops will bolt in where the attach points are if you were to permanently attach the table to the CNC frame

The only issue I have is the spoilboard. That takes a while to remove and I need help lifting it. The spoilboard has to be removed because the drain is on the bottom and sticks out about 5 inches.

If you go dual process, I highly recommend that the two vertical axis be identical!!! Mach4 will have troubles if they are different sized when switching between the different processes. Then you will be running into the hard stops on the tops and bottoms of travel.

I am going to take up the project at some point to automate the water level and have a storage tank so I can have the anti-splatter and rust inhibitive additives. It will also save loads on the water. Dumping that size a tank is actually a lot of water! The additives are terribly expensive too. So having a storage tank and a system that reads M-codes and fills the water table to the desired levels will be huge.

Also, I have added RS485 to my PowerMax 45xp to control amps. I highly recommend that! Just grab a USB to RS485 cable and buy the kit from Hypertherm. You will need to do a bit of coding yourself to get it to the UI and M-codes in Mach4 but it is all worth it!

Personally, having both processes makes the AvidCNC machines pay for themselves very quickly. A $300 engine crane and $20 in chains and steel loops is all that you need to make it work. The bolt holes are already on the tables AvidCNC sells. Double check this is true with the 5x10 though. I am sure it is. The mounting brackets for the tables look to be the same despite size of table. I wrapped old towels around the bottom braces to the legs so the table slides more easily over them for storage. you *might* not be able to do that with a 5x10 water table though.

Best of luck!