Plasma for Ozland

[Remicon]

Hi Guys new here from Australia
were loking at purchasing a CNC Plasma soon for our workshop
Any thoughts on some good machines to cut up to 20mm thick.Quality cuts/finishes are very important I v looked at some Chinese machines but concerned about future services. I also need a Router to do some parts but iv read they dont work well together?
Thanks

[Torchhead]

20mm is close to 1". Cutting 1" without flair and getting nice smooth cuts on arcs and circles is a challenge with any plasma. For some reason we have sold a lot of units into your fine country. We don't sell complete tables so they were to persons either doing a retrofit or building their own tables.

Part of the decision process needs to be the level of support you will get on both the mechanics, the electronics and the software. None of the Chinese machines I have seen look like they could be used with a popular control software like MACH3 so you would be on your own to make it work right.

Back to quality finishes and cuts on 20mm. Better look around and get some samples of cuts before you spend much money. The larger Hypertherms like the 1650 will cut 1" on a mechanized table BUT the cut quality may not be what you expect. The Thermal Dynamics CutMaster 151 cuts 3/4 very good but 1" still has some flair. Since "quality" is subjective you really need to investigate the plasma machines a lot more. Do not believe the marketing hype form any of the plasma mfgs.

One table mfg (PlasmaCAM) claims they get perfect cuts in 1" with a 1250 Hypertherm running a hand torch on their table. If you elect to believe that then have them give you a written guarantee with a right to a full refund (including return shipping) if it won't.

If you are inclined to build your own table to save money we will soon announce full electronics packages that will be plug and go.

TOM Caudle
www.CandCNC.com

[Remicon]

Thanks for that Tom
Do you think its easier and cheaper to build your own table?
Yeah its about the quality im not 100% sure yet but a guy i spoke to said u mite have to machine the edges to get the smooth look
Laser would be better?

[millman52]

Originally Posted by Remicon Thanks for that Tom Do you think its easier and cheaper to build your own table? Yeah its about the quality im not 100% sure yet but a guy i spoke to said u mite have to machine the edges to get the smooth look Laser would be better?

For low tech & low cost don't leave out the possibility of OX/Fuel. It is easy to achieve very clean & square cuts across the edges. On 1" material plasma isn't going to be much if any faster. I have no Idea of cutting gas prices in your country. But My costs here USA, West Virginia is: Large OX is $18.00 Per tank exchange & Acetylene is $0.23 per cu.ft. On 1/2" plate that will average about $30.00 in gasses per 8 hour shift. & that's with standard tips. High speed converged tips will save around 20% on that. I don't use them because I get a bit more dross left behind.

Entire brand new Industrial quality (Harris) O/A machine torch, 3 regulators, and hoses cost around $900.00 . New machine torch, 3 used regs & new hoses I just picked up from Ebay for $360.00

Replacement torch consumables (tips) per year cost is next to $0.00 Yes that's right! In the entire year 2006 I replaced 1 tip $13.75.

[Torchhead]

Laser is definitely better. So is an abrasive waterjet. Laser to cut 1" steel would be about a million USD or more and you would need enough electricity to power a good portion of Sidney.

The abrasive waterjet technology needs lots of power too but it will cut 4" of steel and leave a perfect edge. It will also cut other materials besides metal. Down side is the initial expense of 100,000 to 150,000 USD and the operating expense makes it such that you have to have a LOT of business to justify the costs.

You can buy a good middle tier CNC plasma table for 15,000 USD. You can build your own (buying everything new) for less than half of that. Depending on wheather you use steppers or servos our kits will range from $2500 to $4500 for all of the electronics (but the PC) and the control software .

There are some good projects here on the zone to build a plasma table.

[Torchhead]

I like millman's solution! You can build a dual purpose table that handles plasma or Oxy/acet. It just need to be able to run slow of fast. I think mounting the oxy head opposite side of the gantry from the plasma and making the table a little longer so you could use either one just by changing the software profile and using a new home offset at the start. I have seen 2" thick steel cut with oxy/acet and it's as smooth as glass with little or no flair.

[Remicon]

Thanks Torch and Millman
sorry about the stoopid Q
Any1 have any links on good table plans for what i need?

[Torchhead]

Remicon: I got your private e-mail but for some reason none of my CNCZone responses seem to get delivered. Let me know if you get mine. If you need to correspond use the tom(at)CandCNC.com e-mail address.

Our Support site at Yahoo Groups CandCNCSupport is a good resource as well. You are welcome to join.

[Weldtutor]

Originally Posted by Remicon Any1 have any links on good table plans for what i need?

Welcome to CNCzone.

This LINK will take you to free plans for a plasma table.

Checking the various plasma table project logs (a sub-forum of this one) for what other members have done should give you some ideas as well.

[Apples]

Hey Torchead,

The bit about needing a lot of power to run a laser cutting 1" steel. I was out on the road the other day talking to a customer about plasmas and lasers etc. This other bloke has a laser, but if he cuts over 1/2" he has to do it at night as there is not enough power in town during the day!!!!

I had to ask the bloke that I was talking to if he said what I thought he said.

After that we just laughed....LOL. I'd never heard of that before!

Peter
Australia

[Dale Heart]

Originally Posted by Torchhead You can buy a good middle tier CNC plasma table for 15,000 USD. You can build your own (buying everything new) for less than half of that. Depending on wheather you use steppers or servos our kits will range from $2500 to $4500 for all of the electronics (but the PC) and the control software . There are some good projects here on the zone to build a plasma table.

I'm sorry, but what sort of CNC table are you talking about? If you have links please share. I just haven't even heard of anything that cheap before.