CNC Plasma / Router

[Redlunn]

I was thinking of building a CNC table for my hand held plasma cutter. Anyone here attempted anything of the sort? Will probably have a 30"x30" cut area. Seems like a good winter project and should be splendid for cutting new parts for the 1000x.

Cheers.

[Redlunn]

Guess I'm the only one. Oh well, here is the progress so far. Won't be long now before it's moving under it's own power.

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[Redlunn]

The last of my drive train parts got delayed in shipping until Monday so I could only get the X and Z axis cycling.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl6MBwqSZrI

[MrPretty]

This is pretty sweet. Nice work!

[Redlunn]

Got the remaining parts so starting to run some test profiles. Here is a circle test.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cHOHiS8CO8

[Bretmd94]

very impressive. How thick do you think that will cut?

[plastikosmd]

was the frame part of the kit or did you do make it all yourself?
what program will you be using

very nice

[Redlunn]

Bretmd, the plasma I have is just a little guy, it is rated for a quality cut at 3/8" mild steel. I will rarely cut anything over 1/4" so it should be fine for my purposes.

plastikosmd, I did not get a kit. Other than some purchased parts (motors, belt drive parts, and linear rails) it was all home made. I use Autocad for design, sheetcam for converting to G code, and Mach3 for controlling the CNC.

[plastikosmd]

Looks very professional, I have a hypertherm, something close to 1" cut 1.25 sever, can't remember. Torch is now for just heat and beating. Someday when I have the time.....

[Redlunn]

If I find the need to upgrade I will most likely go with a Hypertherm. In the mean time I need to tap into the trigger wire for the Miller.

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[plastikosmd]

Can't say anything bad, was a toss up between hypertherm or thermal dynamics. It is a great machine. Keep us updated

[Redlunn]

Picked out a test pattern and started figuring out cut speeds, amperage, and standoff distance. Here is a slow cut on 0.25" steel. Now I just need something to make with it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAo2Sx34vg

[Redlunn]

which of these frame braces is better? Or do they equally suck?

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[Buster Brown]

I love building higher end tools from scratch. VERY impressive build!
Would love to have this set up at my disposal. Too cool.

[Motorious]

which of these frame braces is better? Or do they equally suck?
You, my friend, have some mad fabricating skills, and are hella humble to boot. Good on ya!:beer

I like brace #1 (spider web) better.

Love your work man, hope you continue to refine that sick 1000X.

[Redlunn]

Thanks for the comments guys. I had forgotten about this thread since there didn't seem to be much interest. I ended up using both styles of gusset but the web style is used in the front where it is most visible. It is all painted, wired, and fully functional but nothing around here is ever complete. The next step is to get the height control to automatically adjust off of arc voltage so it can track warped material. Attached are couple of random pics I had of the project and a design it cut out. If you looked at the latest pics in the 1000x thread, the CNC was used to cut out every single part of the new skid plate. Pretty handy tool to have around the garage.

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[robtech]

A fellow welder, AWESOME!

Excellent job on the plasma table my friend!!!

[hillbilly 200x]

So how much did it cost you to build it. That could be a really great tool to have. Aaron

[2Tim215]

Nice work! Very inspiring! Also curious of cost...

[Redlunn]

I haven't added up all the receipts lately but before starting I made a spread sheet of all the purchased parts like electronics, power supply, motors, belts, pulleys, bearings, linear guides, v-wheels, etc and I think that came to around $1500. So, add the cost of steel and a crappy old computer (if you dont have one) at it's probably around 2K. Not too bad when compared to a purchased table like PlasmaCam starting at around 10K.

[Redlunn]

My computer is on the other side of the garage so getting the plasma torch aligned with the material I want to cut can be a pain....until now. Found an old school joystick in some old boxes and got it connected to move the CNC to a handy starting position.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYlF8xFsMrk&feature=player_embedded

[Lil Earl]

i would have never thought of the joystick idea, thats great, be nice for me to either get one or start paying you to cut things. haha

[Redlunn]

The joystick works great and I never would have thought of it myself if I didn't see the joystick plugin for the CNC software I use. The plugin did not end up working very well but I was already hooked on the idea so I found another way to make it work. This whole plasma project was built because I wanted to build something not because I needed one but now that I have it I don't know how the hobby fabricator could get by without one.

[jensenracing77]

that is some real good work. my uncle would die for something like that.

[Redlunn]

Here are a few of the recent projects...

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[Redlunn]

Replaced the plasma torch with a Rotozip and there is a whole new world of possibilities....


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[briano]

I love the deer mount and the dragon fly. I would love to get that dragon fly for my girlfriend for Christmas she loves them.

[ezmoney1979]

Very impressive! Thanks for sharing, you got some serious fab skills. :beer

[atc007]

Awesome thread !!! Thanx .

[Redlunn]

Thanks for the comments. I guess I wasn't setup to receive email notifications for this thread.

Here are some videos of the latest projects...

This one is from a GoPro camera, the cut is pretty slow as I was trying to test the design and cut paths.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJ7F70RB2Xg

This is a phone video showing a random cut at a far higher speed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2ypA5Q8ms4

Redlunn

[Redlunn]

Had to get some time in the garage before the baby comes. Here are the latest designs...

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[philgipson]

wow what a talent,loose the web too much occ.

[Redlunn]

I'm not a hunter so I had to build my own mount. It's about 70 lbs of 0.125" steel. Not sure if the garage walls can support such a load.

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