[microdot]

I'm designing a 4x8 table and was wondering, for those of you who made water pans, how deep did you make them and why? I'm currently thinking 6" for mine but want to make sure it isn't too shallow, or so deep I have to go swimming to fish dropped parts out.

[Bigtoy302]

Mine is only 2.5" deep. No problems running that little water in it. It does heat up quick though. Easier to dig parts out of a shallow tank then a deep one.

[plain ol Bill]

My table is a 5x10. The water level is 4" on the shallow end and 6" on the deep end. I use an air assisted lift to raise and lower the water level thus the different depths since it drains into the sump on the deep end and then the table is dry.

[Weldtutor]

A 4" deep water tray works well on my table.
There are pictures & a line drawing HERE in post 161 of the project log.

Too shallow might allow the pieces that fall between the slats & rest on the bottom, to still project above the water surface & cause torch movement interference.

6" should work, although I don't think it is needed.
You would just fish in deeper water to recover small pieces. :drowning:
.

[tof1]

I've found the deepth of the water isn't as large of an issue as how close the surface of the water is to the back of the material. Closer the better. My water table is 3.5-4" deep and works great.

[plain ol Bill]

tof1 I agree that water level in relation to the material is more important than depth. I can raise water level on my table to kiss the back or cover the top up to 1/2" plate (water level will raise to 5/8" above the grates).

[Dustin407]

I constructed my water table out of alum. and is 5-1/8" deep 100" x 52" , just a little larger over a 4x8 sheet. Im sure any depth would work for you really. Also do not put your slats level with the top of the watertank, you will want to almost submerge your material or have the water 1/16" below. So prob. start them about an inch down. 70-90 psi will blow some water around so keep that in mind when designing your sidewalls for water overflow.

[driberif85]

Not a CNC table but just a small table that with slats that we use for manual plasma operation. I made the tray 6in deep. Looking back I wish that I had sloped the bottom so that all the crap would run to one end. As every one else has said the closer the water is to the cutting the more efficient the water will be at trapping all of the crap. In my case the closest I could get was 2 to 3in. Not the best but much better than the nothing that we had before. I did add a drain with a quarter turn ball valve so that I could hook up a hose to drain the tank. Mine is small enough that I drain the tank and then remove it for cleaning. Good luck.