[millman52]

Sometimes waiting is the hardest part......

I have electronics from CandCNC. If there is a hold up for some reason it will be well worth the wait. I have been running since Jan. this year. Once going I was running about 2 1/2 - 3 days per week. This week I have ran the table every day & most days this week 10 hrs or more. Haven't had a problem at all.

Had 1 3/4" on the table yesterday. Had some problems piercing in the beginning but had most of it worked out by the end of the job. Takes lots of preheat to pierce cleanly

[millman52]

Still waiting on the electronics to get hereWill update again when they finallyget here

Get your electronics kit??? Any more progress?

I'm thinking about building an entirely new table. This would be build 2 for me. My current table has worked great. I just didn't build it long enough. I could easily get by with a 2' expansion of the length on my current table. If I do decide to build #2 I will make a few minor changes in design.

Anyway keep up the good work. What you have so far looks pretty killer in my book.

Neil

[plain ol Bill]

Still no electronics yet guys. I know CandCNC got covered up with orders lately and they have been working overtime to get them out. Then to top it off a couple of their suppliers sent them the wrong goods and then some other things got damaged in shipment. I'm patient:violin: - still got a couple of good books to read. I am trying to schedule a knee replacement surgery and I would sure like to get it up and running before then.
I did install an overhead boom and ran the machine torch leads on it. Hypertherm says their leads and torches are well insulated for electrical noise but then why take the chance? Will keep you posted as I progress

[millman52]

Being in business fo myself I have a good understanding of supply chain hold ups. I sometimes even get held up on products as basic as Cold Rolled Steel rounds.

I even do the best I can to keep at least a 2 week supply of the materials I regularly use on hand. All it takes is an unexpected order for those materials, & even the slightest glitch with a steel supplier & there you are empty handed.

[plain ol Bill]

Just got notification of my electronics package shipping from CandCNC. Should have it all late next week and then the fun begins!:banana:

[ronateah]

Bill - have read your posts and I am very excited for you. I have built a 5 by 10 table with out water (partnered with another fellow on that one) and two router tables with a mill/drill conversion and 5 by 10 router in progress. I have used CandCNC package on the plasma table with good success. Running steady now for 6 months. We still need to build another plasma table (this one is mine / part of the deal). This next one i want to be a water table (seams to make sense). So I am very interested in your progress. I have no experiance with the concept of plasma in water and dont know what the deal is with the air inlet and outlet. Do you know of any sites where I can learn about working with plasma in water table and can you tell me how your getting the water level adjusting up and down.

Thanks much

Ron

[millman52]

Bill - have read your posts and I am very excited for you. I have built a 5 by 10 table with out water (partnered with another fellow on that one) and two router tables with a mill/drill conversion and 5 by 10 router in progress. I have used CandCNC package on the plasma table with good success. Running steady now for 6 months. We still need to build another plasma table (this one is mine / part of the deal). This next one i want to be a water table (seams to make sense). So I am very interested in your progress. I have no experiance with the concept of plasma in water and dont know what the deal is with the air inlet and outlet. Do you know of any sites where I can learn about working with plasma in water table and can you tell me how your getting the water level adjusting up and down.

Thanks much

Ron

With entry level plasma machines the plasma head does'nt really run in the water itself. The torches aren't designed for under water operation & would short out. Water level is brought up to or near the bottom side of the plate being cut. The water then acts ad a dust/smoke trap as well as coolant to help eliminate warpage of the plate.

The water is held in a storage tank equaling, but preferrably a bit larger than the volume needed to fill your water tray. Valves are needed to (1) regulate air going into your holding tank to force water to your tray. (2) to hold water in tray after fill. (3) To vent pressure from holding tank back to atmosphere to allow tray to drain back to tank.

To fill tray: Valves 1 & 2 would be open, 3 would be closed.

Once tray full: Close valve 2 & 1, open valve 3 to vent air pressure from holding tank.

To drain tray: Open valve 2. water will drain back to holding tank.

This is about as simple of a version of water table as you can get. Float level switches, solenoid valves etc could be incorporated if something automatic is desired.

[plain ol Bill]

Ron since you already use a plasma you understand just how nasty these things can be. Controlling all that black crap is what the water is all about plus helping to control distortion from heat. The principle is simple really. I use full line air pressure on my table to raise the water and just control it by not opening the valve all the way. I crack the valve and the water level rises into the working part of the table. When the level gets to where I want it I just shut the valve off. The water stays at this level until you open a valve to let the air out and then the water goes back to the bottom of the tank.


I know there are some folks that do sumerge the work under water. The torch suppliers do NOT reccomend this - but some folks do it and get away with it. If I were cutting thin stainless I would likely try it myself.

I have a .pdf file that is too large to load here from Thermal Dynamics about water tables I could send you if you want. Drop me a private message w/ your email addy if you want it.

[ronateah]

Bill - Thanks so much Bill I will send you a my email. Ron

[plain ol Bill]

I am not the fastest person in the world but I'm great at slow and steady! thought I would update the thread. I did get my electronices package in from Tom at CandCNC and started installation of them. I have all four motors wired back to the controller now and ready to check them out. I still have to build a mount for the Z axis and will get the couplers for it next week. It should be a simple direct hook up and the linear slide has a 5-1 reduction already. Should be ready for first fire up before long now. Anxious to get it fired and going before I get a knee replaced as that will put me out of commision for a spell.

[PlasmaGuy]

Bill,

You table is looking very sharp.

Take care of the knee too!

Tom

[millman52]

http://www.atlweldingsupply.com/Acet...ors_c_485.html

Bill, Here is the link to the tips. The adapters & tip nuts are also listed on the site somewhere.

I use the M6-0 size tip for everything from 1/4" through 1". I have tried using them sized by American Torch Tip's chart for these tips. I could only gain about 2 IPM by using what they say for 1" & the cut across the face isn't quite as nice & use loads more gas(s)

Once you get going contact me again & I'll try to give you a few regulator settings & feeds that I have found that works well for me.

I think their quality control likes just a bit being perfect. For example; I recently purchased 10 of these tips. From the 10 at least (1) wasn't worth a crap (very poor cut quality) (7) was at least as good as other name brand (Oxweld), in my case tips & the remaining (2) cut so nice I can't compair them to anything else I have ever used.

For some reason almost all seem to get better after a few cleanings. Can't figure that one out at all. For the price though you can throw 2 of 3 away & still be at about the same price as the big name brand(s)

I have a couple each of the sizes I would use ordered in their divergent bore High Speed tips. (supposed to increase IPM speeds by about 25-30%) but require high pressure Ox on the cut orfice. About 100# as best I remember.

I'll report back after I have had a chance to try them out.

Neil

[skippy]

I've had an interest in cnc plasma cutters for some time and in the near future I would like to buy or build one with waterbed. What I haven't figured out is why the level of the water would need to be varied (including emptying and refilling) to the point where valving is required. Can't you just fill it up with the hose to the level you want and for emptying, dump it down the drain via a ball valve? Obviously there is a reason for needing constant level changes but I just don't know what it is.....
Thanks for your help.
Phil

[plain ol Bill]

Phil of course you can fill a pan type water table with a hose and never vary the depth (or vary it by just filling and dumping to the point needed). Doing it that way you can dump right into a sewer connection or onto the ground without any problem when needed. You might have to dig around in rusty water that way to find your parts that drop in and evaporation is fairly quick with a large surface area of water exposed. Nothing wrong with this method and many, many people do it this way.
With an air operated water table you can add rust preventive chemicals that will protect the table and the work. It is easy to raise or lower water level to any desired height. High water level for thin material that will help keep the work cool and aid in keeping distortion to a minimum. Lower for heavier material that doesn't distort so much. Lower levels still capture black crap but don't splash as bad when cutting. Another benefit of this type is that when not in use you can drop the water level into the sump area cutting down on exposed water to lessen evaporation. Myself, I don't want too much evaporation in the shop because of other tooling that might start to rust.

Why did I do it this way?? Just cause I thought it would be so cool! I admit to loving to build things and wanted to try making my own plasma table. I am not fast anymore but manage to do something to the table almost daily. It is getting very, very close to going into operation now. Still waiting for the couplers for the Z axis and another computer to run it when the old one I had puked out on me.

[millman52]

Why did I do it this way?? Just cause I thought it would be so cool! I admit to loving to build things and wanted to try making my own plasma table. I am not fast anymore but manage to do something to the table almost daily. It is getting very, very close to going into operation now. Still waiting for the couplers for the Z axis and another computer to run it when the old one I had puked out on me.

I picked up my computer off Ebay It was listed as "refurbished". Realistically I think it had just had the 80 G hard drive erased & reformatted with XP Pro, 512 RAM, Pentium 4 2.X Ghz, Gateway. $149.00 When I opened the case to install the second parallel port & upgrade the RAM to 1 Ghz., it was dusty inside. Not bad but if it had actually been worked on, one would think the tech would have blew that out. Anyway it has worked great. It just doesn't take a computer with loads of bells & whistles to run one of these tables. In fact The less software that's on one the better off you are.

[skippy]

Bill, thanks for the explanation.
Phil

[tinman13]

Hi Bill, I have been watching and waiting for lift off!
Are you close or is the knee slowed progress too much.

Let me know if there is anything I can do.

Steve

[plain ol Bill]

Finished up the table mechanically today with the last motor mount. All the electronics are mounted, wiring run. Just don't have the electronics checked out yet and will not be able to do that until after knee surgery recovery. Added a pic of the table in current condition.

[Big John T]

Looking good Bill. Hope you have a speedy recovery.

John

[ronateah]

ditto Bill get well soon