[patriot customs]

I'm in the process of purchasing a plasma table, I have been searching machines and reading a lot of posts for the last 3 months or so. I make up my mind,read some more and change my mind again. I want to purchase a machine for a part time business, which will include cutting steel and aluminum from guage to .500". I mainly build custom bikes but I would also like to cut some decorative pieces. My most recent build can be seen on www.wareaglecustoms.com under bike of the month. I'm considering Dyna torch, Dyna CNC, Nitro/Tracker, and EZ Router/Plasma. The EZ plasma looks like a nice machine, does any one have any opinions on these machines. it seems THC, machine controler, and software are tops on the list when deciding on a machine. If someone has recently had the same dilema I would like to hear which decisions you made and how the outcome was.

thanks for your time

[curlyweld]

I bought a ez plasma 5 bye 5 table,I've been cutting for three weeks as of today.It took a little while to set everything up but when it was all done and i look back it was kind of fun.The only problems I had were the ones I created myself,but for everyone of those little snags I always learned something about the system.Now it all seems so simple,ez plas was there whenever I called and always had the right answer.I did build a water tray for mine and that is the only way to go.I've got a hypertherm 1000 with a machine torch and have had no problems. Any other questions about ez plas give Brandon a call at ez plas.Thats my two cents,hope it helps,,,,,,,,,,,,,CURLY

[patriot customs]

thanks Curly, what what are you cutting with your machine?
Does this machine drive from both sides or does it have a cross shaft?
Are you using Bobcad for drawing your pieces?
How do you find the controling software and torch height control?

[curlyweld]

Right now I'm cutting mostly 3/16 and 1/4 and some 1/8 inch.I have been mainly making artworks,grave markings and outdoor cabin signs.My machine has a large drive motor on each side of the table.My outfit came with bobcad v 21 which is not a bad program,but I use corel draw x3 most of the time and it works very well.I then send that program through sheetcam to make the cutting path and so on. Then i transfer that file to a memory stick and take it to the computer with mach 3 controller that runs the table.It all works great so far.Also I purchased the THC height control which is a real life saver if you are working with less then new and perfectly flat metal.I have been getting seconds from the steel yard at about 1/4th the price, they usually have a bow in them one way or the other.Hope this answers your questions so far. Don't be afraid to ask more,good luck,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,CURLY

[Med-Pac]

Hey customs,

hate to add to your dilemma, but torchmate has another system that's worth checking out. We've been running our 4 x 8 for 3 years now, very happy with table, software, and the tech support.

Mike

[patriot customs]

Mike, how has that aluminum frame held up, any distortion or any issues with
the weight of .5" plate.

[Med-Pac]

Hey customs,

We haven't had any issues with deflection. When we built our downdraft; we incorporated that into the table itself, actually acts like a giant gusset once it's bolted in place. I would be comfortable with a 4 x 8 pc of .50, just haven't had the need to cut material that big. We have done alot of 4x4, 4x6 pcs of .50 and .625.......no probs.

After work, I'll post some pics of our downdraft for you. Boss is right behind me.

Mike

[duraflap]

Check out this site www.plasmaroutecnc.com Great people and they have a great machine, several styles in fact. They have my interest for my new machine after six months of investigating many others.
Dennis

[patriot customs]

What did you buy, the XR or ZR? What features made your decision to go with the Plasmaroute over EZ, Dyna, or Torchmate? I appreciate any information you can give, so I can make the best educated guess possible.

Thanks for your time.

[duraflap]

I ordered my new plasma router today from plasmaroute.com The reasons are they talk cnc. They offer several options that I ordered as well. Mine will be a dual head Z axis which will be my tool change option when routing. One for profiling and one of a larger size bit for pocketing. I ordered the water table as well for the plasma. Toms THC with remote pendant, linear rails and bearings, servos, limit switches and all finished with a power coated finish. I'm excited. My other cnc router has been faithful but I need a plasma once in a while for alum bracketry that I manufacture. Should be a very nice addition to my shop.
Dennis

[patriot customs]

Sounds like a great set up, please let me know when you get it up and running, I'm definately leaning towards this machine or DynaCNC. What is your opinion of the DynaCNC. Thanks.

[duraflap]

I think that they produce an excellent plasma machine. They were my top choice not long ago. Mainly because they actually produce a router / plasma combo which is rare. However:
When I was negotioting with DynaCNC, I asked for a reference of a customer that was reasonably close to me that had purchased and was using their machine so I could go and see the machine in person and was told that they couldn't find a customer that wanted to spend the time to invite me to their shop. That is understandable. I did on my own find a welding shop in Prineville, Oregon that was more than happy for me to look at their DynaCnc plasma machine. I will say, very nice machine. They owned it for 9 months and attended two of Dyna's training sessions and finally after nine months were able to start using the machine. I think that they had a few issues at the shop powering the plasma verses not knowing how to operate the machine quite frankly. What I did get out of the visit is that Dyna's support and training is rather lacking of qualified personal to train and demo, and I know personally that they are a bit light on experience running their own machines judging from the samples that they cut and sent to me of my own material. I was rather disappointed in what they considered a good example of their capabilities.
I did find out however that they do not use the electronics from candcnc.com of which they did until not long ago. When I mentioned in conversation with the sales rep that in using Toms electronics they had a great support person as evidenced by his presence here on the CNCZone They did not tell me that they no longer use his electronics. I discovered this fact a few weeks later on my own. That was a deal breaker for me coupled with the very poor sample tests they ran for me as I strongly believe that the support after the sale is as important the machine.
All in all I feel very happy with the machine that I have ordered. Having owned and operated a cnc router for the last 4 years has taught me a lot about what will work for me and the few gingerbread items that I added will make my work much more efficient. I by no means think that I know all there is to know about CNC machines. Just that I can't imagine not having one to use. smiling
Dennis

[patriot customs]

Thanks for the feed back I really appreciate your time. I did not know they were no longer using candcnc electronics, did they say why ? Tom seems to have a vast knowledge and a lot of experience in the CNC world and his products seem very reasonably priced, strange why they would no longer use his products. I think EZ used to use his THC and no longer do either.

[Torchhead]

EZ-Router has apparently dropped back to using the older Analog THC300 (based on my original design). They have used the Campbell BOB in all of their router only designs for several years and the THC300 represents a simple add-on to that card. The MP1000C-THC is a complete 2 port breakout WITH an integrated THC and it put them in a position where it was difficult to retro fit units in the field with a THC. To go from a router only to a router/plasma or plasma only, you had to remove the Campbell Card in the control box and add in our cards for interface with the MP1000. For them it was a logistics issue based on the fact they did their Routers with one setup of electronics and their Plasma with another. I am sure if you wanted a true Digital THC on one of their tables they would sell one with our control.

Every OEM table manufacturer has to make a decision as to what electronics they use. Some use proprietary controls and control software (PlasmaCAM, DynaTorch, Torchmate). There is nothing wrong with that but you have to realize that ALL of your support will have to be from that vendor.

After you get past the mechanical aspects and construction it gets more difficult since the internal electronics are an enigma. You really don't know what you are getting. There are controllers out there that look like an IED when you open them up. Others are just the bare essentials (transformer, bridge, cap). We are the only independent controller provider that supports both stepper and servo and uses a plug-together modular approach with internal monitors to protect drives and the driver electronics.

We at CandCNC are focused on building sophisticated and flexible controls (like our Smart Power Controller and our C series total isolated Digital Torch Height Controller). The next release of our Smart Control (Extra Smart Power ???) will have its gauges and fault detection integrated with MACH; visible on the screen. Just like in commercial controls you will have parameter display of everything from the heatsink temperature to a bar graph load line. We just announced (on our support list) our expanded 5 and 5.5 axis controllers.

Everybody makes buying decisions based on their set of criteria. For some, proximity to the vendor is paramount. To others the type of materials used in the table (steel VS alum) is the deciding factor. Most just assume the electronics are taken care of and other things are more important. That assumption may be misplaced.

Our "Vast Knowledge" comes from the fact we have a commercial steel cutting business and have been using our own designs and products for over 6 years. It's one thing to design electronics, it's another to design and USE those electronics (:-=). We use all of the software and hardware we recommend on a daily basis. We have CNC tables setup for routing aluminum and wood along with a plasma table. We write our own plug-ins for MACH to use our products. All of the electronics are assembled and tested in our Texas facilities.

Watch our products over the next 6 months. We have some exciting things on the drawing board.

[patriot customs]

Thanks for clearing that up, I hope I didn't come across that I was questioning your procucts, that wasn't my intention. From what I have read and the people I have talked to I think for a plasma/router combination I definately want to go with your control software and THC, Hopefully I will be purchasing a machine soon. I own a Printing company and I would like to expand the business to include cutting wood and metal signs as I do a lot of wide format prints and vinyl signs now. My hobby is bike building so it will come in handy for that as well.

[Torchhead]

I come from a long line of printers and engravers. My Dad was an engraver and help pioneer photo engraving. I grew up around the graphic arts and lots of really interesting machinery. The letterpresses they used for blind embossing could keep me entertained for hours. Then I discovered electronics my Junior year in High School and wabbled off down that road. Funny how things seem to loop back. I did work on CNC equipment (the control electronics) back in the late 70's when things were just moving away from paper tape. Then did pure design work in power systems and then the early PC expansion card world. That led me down the IT direction and a love/hate relationship with computers. Now I find myself back in the CNC world....go figure (:-)

In our business which includes steel cutting we have done:
Glass Carving (using stencils cut with a vinyl cutter) sand blast media
Window stickers
Custom T-shirts with vinyl
wood carving
wine racks, firescreens, towel racks, clocks, trailer hitch inserts and lots of other things. Some of it went well, lots did not. You just have to keep fishing!

[patriot customs]

I have been to your site, really nice products. I would like to pick your brain sometime on the business side to see what you have found to be a good market. If you wouldn't mind I would like to give you a call some time at your convenience, I would be happy to pay for your time, I know time is money. I started the printing company about 13 years ago, although I have been in the business for over 25. I originally started a service company repairing presses and bindery equipment, got bored with that and opened up Patriot Printing. I have grown the printing company by taking advantage of technology, I love automation. I currently have all Heidelberg equipment, our flagship press is a 5 color fully automated Heidelberg speedmaster which we purchased about 2 years ago. Our front end is a true PDF workflow, all trapping, impositioning and ripping is done as PDF . We run CIP 4 and JDF for all of our color and bindery automation. Once we set up the file in prepress all color info is automatically sent to the press. That info is also sent to the cutter and folder for auto set up. We do the same amount of work with 3 people as some shops do with 10 to 12. Sorry for getting off the topic of CNC plasma but this is just a little background of why I am intrigued with the automation of CNC equipment.

Thanks

Chris