[Beefy]

I'm getting closer to adding a water table and full set of slats to my current el-cheopo "slat system". A high end laser table I looked at uses lots of "spikes" instead of slats. Does anyone have any opinions on one vs the other.

Most tables I see do use slats and it would be easier to make it this way. Always wondered though what happens to a cut when it is running right along the middle of a slat ??? Is the cut quality affected.

Also does anyone have a recommendation for the maximum thickness of slats.

Thanks,

Keith

[Teknition]

Cut quality is deffinately effected if the cut runs along over top of the slat. The table I am making will utilize flat bar slats simply because I dont have a plasma table yet to cut the points. If I aleady had a table to cut the slats, I would make them ponted but closer together than the typical ones you've seen. I think 1/8, 3/16, or 1/4 is fine for slat thickness.

[Beefy]

Good to know, I'll use the plasma table to cut "teeth" into each one then that should solve that problem.

Thanks,

Keith.

[Torchhead]

Cutting across a slat has little effect BUT cutting along a slat does. That is why you see a lot of tables with curved slats....less chance you can match the exact curve for any length. I do like the spiked slats but the spikes will get cut over time and need to be replaced.

[jimcolt]

There are pros and cons any way you build your plasma slat bed. I currently have two cnc machines (PlasmaCam and Torchmate) and a third one will be built with a CandCNC (www.candcnc.com) Bladerunner component kit.

My PlasmaCam has a slat bed with many triangular points. It has little effect on the dross formation of parts, however the points often allow small parts to tip on the slat bed......which often can lead to torch/plate collisions that can damage the torch or ruin the parts being cut. On this machine I use a breakaway torch head as well as a collision sensor that stops motion.

The Torchmate machine has flat 14 ga steel slats....they are placed in the table in a "serpentine" pattern for two reasons: 1. The serpentine patter stops the slats from vibrating in one axis, which would show as a rough cut edge., 2. with the slates not parallel / perpendicular to the axis...there is less chance of having a lot of cuts that ride in a linear fashion on top of the slats. Crossing the slats has little effect on cut quality.

My preference is flat slats installed in the serpentine or diagonal pattern.....and that is the way the CandCNC machine will be built.


Jim Colt Hypertherm

[vacextar]

I cut a lot of aluminum on my table. Everywhere the cut crosses a slat that is in contact with the slat leaves a chunk of dross right there on the part. I could foresee the points causing problems with sheet stability and tip-ups as Jim mentioned, so I ended up cutting "tabs" into my slats. They are staggered from one slat to the next, and fairly shallow, so tip-ups have not been a problem.

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