Has anyone added a drill to their machine?

[bunky]

I would like to add a drill motor to my Dynatorch machine. Does anyone have experience with this?
Also, I would be interested in comparing parameters people use to cut 12 gauge mild steel.
I run a Cutmaster 151 at 40 amps with a set point of 96 and a feed rate of 90 imp. Have not found a perfect setting to get consistent square edges.
While I am posing questions, Does anyone have problems with their z axis sticking in cold weather?
Thanks, I have been reading this forum for about 3 years but never contributed. I apologize.
Bunky

[forhire]

I looked into putting an auto feed drill on my table to pre-drill edge start holes for 1" plate. I haven't done it as I'm afraid that the gantry couldn't handle the upward thrust and risk of losing position. I discussed it with Leon and he suggested some locking ideas but it wasn't as easy as just putting a drill on the gantry. Even a small drill can generate quite a bit of upward pressure in the range of a few hundred pounds.

At the present I'm marking the location and drilling by hand. I might buy a mag drill if I get more heavy plate work.

I'd be interested if someone has this working as I'd put one on in a heart beat.

[morvaman]

I saw this company using drill machines on their tables. Victory CNC Plasma Systems

[KerfNZ]

I wouldnt recommend it; there are a lot of loading forces on the frame when you add a drill to a gantry machine.

Commercial plasma/drill machines are built like a brick s***house. A light dynatorch frame will not be able to sustain this.

[teachagmech]

bunky,

I have had problems with the z axis sticking and giving false plate readings and torch misfires since day 1. It was a little disheartening to say the least that when I purchased the master series(supposedly turnkey) table for upwards of $40,000 that I would have all of these problems. I have spent quite a bit of time on the phone with both leon and russell. Both of these guys are brilliant, but for some reason, the gremlin that lives somewhere inside the ballscrew on the Z axis shows its face every once in a while.

My brother runs a shop with a koike Arnson table, and I can't help but compare the speeds of the two tables. I always want the torch to find the plate faster, but when the speed goes up, so do the torch misfires above the plate. I know there's some magical number sequence out there to match the speed and acceleration to meet the current draw limits for flawless operation, but i'm still searching....18 months later.

I purchased the ohmic sensor because the factory values would either lift the gantry off its rollers or severly bend the sheet metal it was cutting on pierce points. BE CAREFUL THE TORCH DOES NOT FIRE ABOVE THE PLATE. The stray arc voltage has a way of feeding backward into the smart motors and burning the output circuits in the Z axis.

Good luck!