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-   -   CNC Plasma Table build - Valley Grande, Alabama (http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4769)

Rusty Nuts Mon 06 October 2014 19:08

CNC Plasma Table build - Valley Grande, Alabama
 
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Hi Mike

Here is the start of my plasma table build. Thanks for the fast shipment of the laser cut parts. This will have a water table in the bed and will probably have a storage tank underneath to store the water when not in use since it will be in the same room with the router table. I will be using be using CandCNC touch height control connected with an Ethernet cable since parallel cards are not in use much any more. Hope to cut the rails and bevel them this weekend.

Gary

1planeguy Mon 06 October 2014 19:44

Looking forward to seeing this build!

darren salyer Sun 12 October 2014 08:58

I am as well. Looking good so far. Good Luck!!

Rusty Nuts Tue 21 October 2014 18:29

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Finally got time to take a few more photos. Gantry and Y Car built, rails ground and beveled, and cable tray rails built and installed. I should be able to get the water table bent this Friday and will weld the end plates in the water table this coming weekend. I have decided to go with all CandCNC electronics as they offer a complete package with touch height control, control cabinet wired and tested with the servo motors and all assorted wiring. This will save me a lot of work and for the price of the control box and motors, the cost difference in me building one is very little. I had planned on using the Thermo Arc 45 Pasma Touch but by going with the Thermo Arc 65 Plasma Torch all setting will be adjusted through the software and gcode.

Rusty Nuts Tue 21 October 2014 18:42

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These photos are of a roller that I am fabricating. It will be mounted on the front end of the table to help with loading the steel sheets onto the bed. My wife has informed me that she is not going to be lifting any metal. The two circle pieces will be bored then welded in the ends of the pipe and a rod inserted all the way through the pipe and mounted to flange bearing on each end.

Gary

Rusty Nuts Tue 21 October 2014 19:00

7 Attachment(s)
Here are some updated photos of the Mechmate router. I have added a vacuum system and mounted the computer in a box with the monitor in a cabinet. There is a fan and filter in the box which keeps fresh air circulated through the box. It will swing from the front to the side of the Mechmate.
Also a few photos of some cuts. My wife has retired and does hand turned pottery. I make her quite a few stamps. One photo shows the small details of a stamp. This was cut out from a scrap piece of decking board.

Gary

Alan_c Wed 22 October 2014 00:41

Looking good Gary, I like the computer cabinet.

1planeguy Wed 22 October 2014 19:53

Gary, would love to see a few more pictures of the computer swing arm apparatus...have been planning something similar...would love to steal a few ideas from yours:)

Rusty Nuts Wed 22 October 2014 20:10

Thanks Alan.

1planeguy, I will take some close ups tomorrow.

Gary

MetalHead Fri 24 October 2014 05:21

I want to know how you keep that floor so clean !!! :) Are you OCD ? :) !! Ha !!!

racedirector Fri 24 October 2014 05:25

Ditto, my machine has only been running for a short time and boy, am I having problems keeping things clean!

Machine and what you have done look great Gary, looking forward to seeing more creations from the beast.

Rusty Nuts Tue 28 October 2014 19:40

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Hi Mike

I just have my wife go out everyday before I get home from work and vacuum and mop the shop. If you believe that, then I have some land I will sell you cheap, lot 1009458 on the far side of the moon.

1planeguy,

I took photos of the cabinet but for some reason they are not on the camera. will take some more.

Here are some photos of the water bed. Will pick up some more materials to finish the bed with this Friday.

Gary

KenC Wed 29 October 2014 06:56

Nice! u planned to cut very heavy plate?

Fox Wed 29 October 2014 09:44

Looing good but...:

why are you not slotting both members of your waterbed half way like most do ? And you do not want a straight grid in a bed either I think, so it's less likely you will cut on a strip ?

Rusty Nuts Thu 30 October 2014 12:57

Ken

I decided to go ahead and build the table heavy since I don't want to have to build a second table later on. I probably won't cut much over a half inch thick but I want to be able to do more if the need arises.

Fox

If I understand what you are asking, the photos show my supports for the bed slats. The slots are 4 inch on centers and each roll is 12 inches on center. They are running in the Y axis. I will use 0.125 X 3 inch plate for the slats and will weave them in a snake fashion through the slots. They will run the long direction on the X axis, this should make sliding the plate steel easier on the table which will be loaded from the end where I have fabbed up a roller assembly. I will post some photos tomorrow night with the water bed complete.

Gary

Rusty Nuts Fri 31 October 2014 19:19

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1planeguy

Here are some photos of my computer and monitor mount. Hope this will give you some ideas. The monitor box is mounted to a Lazy Susan so I can turn it to me when I'm on the side or end.

Gary

Rusty Nuts Fri 31 October 2014 19:26

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Hi Fox

Here are photos of the slats installed. Turned out to be more work than I had planned. I couldn't bend the metal slats sharp enough by hand so I had to use a torch with a rose bud and heat and bend at each slot.

Gary

Fox Sat 01 November 2014 03:03

Ah I see, I am no expert. I just thought that it would be better to curve them (quicker to mount and replace) and less points that will touch a cutting curve. Merely based on what I have seen others do. But this will work also I guess.

Tom Ayres Sat 01 November 2014 03:07

...a cheapo Harbor Freight brake might have saved you some time. Looks great, I want one now. I'll consider yours as the poster child for a plasma mm.:D

Tom Ayres Sat 01 November 2014 03:13

Hey Gary, did you use a delrin or PE or just plain washers on the arm bracket?

Rusty Nuts Sat 01 November 2014 08:43

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tom Ayres View Post
Hey Gary, did you use a delrin or PE or just plain washers on the arm bracket?
I think it may delrin. I had a piece of round stock that I made the bearing washers from. I used a removable locktite for the bolts so that they would not unscrew themselves while swinging the arm assembly back and forth. I wish I had gotten an electrical box from Mike for the computer, like the one I used to house the electronics in. I got mine from a local electrical store here in town and am not reel happy with it.

Gary

1planeguy Sat 01 November 2014 13:46

Very slick Gary...I'm gonna be driving the MM with a laptop so I won't even need the computer mounted on it...great concept.

KenC Thu 06 November 2014 01:31

The slat bars are consumables, depending how often you do cutting, it will need fairly frequent replacements. I personally would skip bending them to save trouble. BUT I'm a lazy person, others can do as they wish. :D

danilom Thu 06 November 2014 11:52

Ken is right, the slats are consumables, usually they are made of thin metal 2mm and tension is applied so they don't wiggle the plate on them while cutting.

Nothing wrong with thick bent slats if they dont wiggle in place (might be problem with your unsupported ends), except maybe while crossing them if cutting thick material the plasma may blow back to the torch as there is no space to blow out molten steel below.

KenC Thu 06 November 2014 14:05

Maybe it is just me being paranoid, I always keep my electronics as far away as I could from fire (plasma) & water (water bed). I don't believe electronics like to live close to smoke, dust, free flying molten metal spatter, plasma flame & splashing water.
You really don't need thick slat bars, unless the slat bars are very narrow (less the 25mm deep) & sparsely spaced (8" c/c spacing). I can see you can have 3"~4" deep slat bars, 2mm would work, or if you really like to see some meat & it doesn't hurt your wallet in the long run, 3mm (1/8") should do the job with acceptable blow-back.
At one glance, your slats are good for 6" thk 5' x 10' MS plate, but I doubt the structure will hold it effortlessly.


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