I have been following along and gleaning a wealth of knowledge while building my small 3ft X 4 ft table. I am currently using 3/8 XL belt drive for the X and Y and ball screw for the Z axis.

I hope to post some pictures as soon as I get things neatened up but i have it moving in the x and y axis quite nicely.

The question I have is for a temporary solution to torch height, would it be better to install a home switch on the z axis at zero height, or implement some type of feeler switch to sense home based on touching the material?? Any suggestions examples? With a "feeler" how would one treat this in mach 3?

I also failed to factor in a number of items when estimating cost, like the small lathe to help produce some of the parts, and oh by the way the Taig mini mill. Oh and did I mention that it would really be cool to adapt them to CNC! I guess that can wait until the plasma table is done! Wouldn't have missed it for the world though in terms of knowledge gained in building this up!

The question I have is for a temporary solution to torch height, would it be better to install a home switch on the z axis at zero height, or implement some type of feeler switch to sense home based on touching the material?? Any suggestions examples? With a "feeler" how would one treat this in mach 3?



The home switch for your Z axis is just that. a referance point to a specific distance of your torch tip to table surface. About all you can do with a feeler switch (floating head switch) is let it touch the sheet you are cutting before each pierce. Then mach will pull the torch tip off the sheet a specified amount.

I borrowed a picture from www.CancCNC.com to post for you to give you some idea of a floating (feeler) switch.

This particular one looks like it is designed to hold a hand torch. Build what ever you need to fit your torch. But this should give you the general idea.