I am considering buying a Torchmate 4. Has anyone had experience with this machine? What are your opinions.

Well I run one every day so I have a few opinions, but I suppose they could be considered bias.

On the other hand if you have any technical questions I'd be happy to answer. Also just curious if you have talked to a sales rep with any of your questions yet?

the only thing I dont like about Torchmate is they seem (Like every other company) to appear to hide things like height control and other optional add ons. Look on Ebay once and you will see lots of torchmate auctions for everything BUT one single complete system. Seems fishy to me but I wont be shopping for a budget plasma for another 6 mos.

the only thing I dont like about Torchmate is they seem (Like every other company) to appear to hide things like height control and other optional add ons. Look on Ebay once and you will see lots of torchmate auctions for everything BUT one single complete system. Seems fishy to me but I wont be shopping for a budget plasma for another 6 mos.

I can see your point. It can be frustrating to see a price, then later realize it doesn’t include options you’d want. We don’t intentionally try to ‘hide’ costs associated with the machine. We’ve actually had many discussions about creating ‘packages’ that will allow people to see what the final costs would be to get running. Problem is, our customers have very different uses for our machines and there is no complete package we could put together to satisfy everyone. Our customers have very specific needs and we select the accessories appropriate for them. Many people already have a plasma cutter they want to use. Many don’t feel the need to add a AVHC, and others choose to get running without one and add it at a later date. Many of our customers are in the custom fabrication business and prefer to get the most basic kit possible so they can build it they way they want and add many custom features.



I recommend anyone who is interested take a few minutes and call us up. We’ll work up a quote that will include the items you need. Our quotes a firm and there are no surprises later on

Ok Mike I need a table capable of 4'X8' with a THC. I already have a brand new TD 1080. I need the stouter more accurate version. Feel free to PM me a number

We’ve actually had many discussions about creating ‘packages’ that will allow people to see what the final costs would be to get running.

And I'm one of them. I knew how much money I had to spend, and TM worked with me to get me the most bang for my dollar. I'm very satisfied with the company.

Bob

IP check in aisle 3

IP check in aisle 3

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I think he thinks that You are I? :)

He is not I assure you.

Sorry Mike even though their are other usernames coming from your PC cnczone.com does not condone false advertising and you are so far cleared. Some other mfgs are using false usernames to make their products look good and Torchmate hasnt done this. All Ip addresses are logged.

Sorry Mike even though their are other usernames coming from your PC cnczone.com does not condone false advertising and you are so far cleared. Some other mfgs are using false usernames to make their products look good and Torchmate hasnt done this. All Ip addresses are logged.

Wasn't meant to be a plug for the company, from within. I am an owner of a Torchmate 2, quite happy with it, and also the moderator of the Torchmate User Group on Yahoo. I go by two handles, depending on which computer I am on at the moment, and you might also see me as "hayscountybob". You can delete my posts on this subjuect if you feel they were inappropriate.

Sorry Mike even though their are other usernames coming from your PC cnczone.com does not condone false advertising and you are so far cleared. Some other mfgs are using false usernames to make their products look good and Torchmate hasnt done this. All Ip addresses are logged.

It's very understandable. We have several people in the office here who frequent CNC zone.

Hi, this is my first post. Please Mike or any other person can tell me about tm4. I want a machine that I can update to hi definition plasma, someday. Will this be possiable? How accurate is it?

IP check in aisle 3

lol

It's very understandable. We have several people in the office here who frequent CNC zone.

? so your saying it was from the office?
:confused:

? so your saying it was from the office?
:confused:

No, I was just saying that we have a few members in our office so I would not be surprised if you saw the same IP address for multiple accounts. Jmsrbt is one of our customers who is also a member of the Yahoo users group.

I have been working with Josh at Torchmate. They are right that they will put together a complete quote with options. I purchased the bolt together system two weeks ago. I already received the Alum extrusions and THC, Plate marker, and UPS informed me 9 more packages are due tomorrow.

I am a retired engineer and believe they have the best value and a very sturdy system. I have a Power Max 600 plasma which is not mentioned in the THC manual, but their tech support put me on the right track of what to do.

Great experience so far, and very quick delivery on parts and options. Their assembly and set up directions are great too.

Retired Ray

I am a retired engineer and believe they have the best value and a very sturdy system. I have a Power Max 600 plasma which is not mentioned in the THC manual, but their tech support put me on the right track of what to do.



When you say THC, do you mean Torch Height Controller? If so, can I get some more info about this? I have a Powermax 600 as well, and back when I purchased my TM1 (about 3 years ago), I was told that the 600 could not be used with the THC. (Well, I think they had some sort of proximity sensor type THC, but the sales rep I spoke to did not recommend this option, sounds like it did not work very well.) If I remember correctly, the basic gist of the conversation was that the proximity sensor style wasn't worth the hassle, but the Powermax 600 did not have the ability to interface with the arc voltage style. I figured at the time maybe I would rig up a manual toggle switch or something. It looks like I may be using my Torchmate for doing some light gauge sheet metal work, in which case an automatic height control might be pretty useful. As painful as the thought is ($$$) :(, I have even been considering purchasing a new plasma cutter in order to be able to use an AVHC.

Have things changed in the meantime to where the AVHC can now be used with the 600, or did I misunderstand your post?

Thanks!

My question to tech support was how to find the wires inside. They helped me with that. Let me set it up and get it working before i proclaim complete success. Just wiring up the gantry now, so still have some work to go.

My question to tech support was how to find the wires inside. They helped me with that. Let me set it up and get it working before i proclaim complete success. Just wiring up the gantry now, so still have some work to go.


So, just to clarify, you were indeed talking about a torch height controller? (I'm not sure from your reply if the wires you were looking for inside the unit were being used to hook up a torch height controller or just to interface the plasma cutter to the relay box to fire the torch.)

Thanks, and best of luck with your gantry! Having been there myself, it is an exciting time. :)

The AVHC system is not sold to be compatible with the Powermax 600 because on the older models, there were a few customers whose systems did not interface well with the 600. Particularly the Arc Voltage reading.

The 600 is different from the 1000+ Hypertherm cutters in the way they sense a connection between the positive ground clamp and negative electrode. On some customers older AVHC systems attached, the 600 would read a direct short between these two points and when you try to fire it, the machine will purge air but never create an arc. Remove the arc voltage points, and the machine would fire fine.

In our new AVHC electronics box we have added more resistance across the arc-voltage take-off points in hope of adverting this problem. I believe Ray is the only one so far to purchase the new AVHC system for the 600, so we will have to wait and see how it works out for him.

Thanks very much for the reply and clarification, Mike! That sounds interesting. I've got a 600 now with your manual torch holder which has worked well (I had purchased the plasma cutter a couple of years before I found out about CNC and bought a TM1 so to save costs I didn't bother purchasing a new cutter or a machine torch). After reading some of the things on your web site, I'm thinking a machine torch would be beneficial, along with the AVHC, as opposed to trying to cobble something together to make manual adjustments and keep having to babysit it. I'm working on a project now which may require cutting lots of intricate parts out of 18 gauge sheet metal, which is sort've what is driving my looking into AVHC. If your new control ends up working with the 600, that might be an option for me since I'd just have to purchase a machine torch and the AVHC, but I'm still considering upgrading the plasma cutter (leaning towards the 1000 I think) as well. Still not sure what I'm going to do there. Been meaning to shoot your sales folks an e-mail to see what sort of price I could get on an AVHC along with a 1000 or 1250. I need to get a stepper motor problem resolved on my TM1 before I can think about any of that though.

Anyhoo, thanks again for the clarification. If Ray's experiment works out, the ability for the Powermax 600 to use AVHC should be attractive to a lot of people!