NEW BUILD / Dynatorch Upgrade

[Edwardo]

Thanks for the update and pics Joe, i didnt relise DT used the coarser R&P gears before, i can see where there will be a big difference with the new style...i havent sprung for the DASH yet so im really keen on seeing how you like it... when tof1 mentioned being able to turn off the air and move the gauntry around by hand, it reminded me that i do that once in awhile, especially when cleaning the rails and rollers, ive even thrown a sheet on the table and quickly lined it up by hand moving the gauntry and using the laser crosshairs....WSS im following your build also, thats quite a impressive table you are building and i enjoy watching your progress...

Regards to all

EDD

[WSS]

Hey Joe, I looked close at the picture of your table and slats, do you have a center support that pulls them into an arc? Are they supposed to be "flimsy" feeling? I put them in today and was surprised at how they wiggled. How is the retro going? Hopefully you are so busy you don't have time to put her down for the retro. I have one more day on the table and then back to the "regular" job.

Edwardo, You would be more than welcome to stop by So.Cal on your way back from Acapulco and take it for a test drive! I am shooting for three weeks to make the set-up call to Leon.

[magma-joe]

WSS, I had the same experience with wiggly slats when I first assembled my table. I bought a piece of t rail, cut some slots with my chop saw and installed it in the center of the table.

I spaced the slots the same distance apart as the outside slots however when I installed the slats I off set each slat in the center to the next slot in the t rail, creating a bowed effect. It made for a very tight grid. The other benefit is when you cut from side to side you won't be cutting right on top of a slat. The more bow the better. It is a real pain making a diagonal cut along the top of a slat. It leaves alot of slag and wipes out the slat edge.

I have been busy working on a vehicle in the shop I am making some modifications to. I did manage to get the gantry cut to length. I am also making a jig to hold the 12" wide gantry on my 10" x 50" mill table. I intend to bolt together the gantry ends and supports with countersink bolts. I don't want to weld it as I am concerned about distortion. I will be back on it within a couple of days.

Edwardo, since you went back to work early, does that mean you get extra time off when you come home? I'm sure you are itching to make a few things on your Dynatorch?

[Edwardo]

Hi Joe

We must have basically built our tables with the same thing in mind, i cut my slat groves with a chop saw also ( its all i had at the time ) and off set the center grooves to the center of the 2 outter ones giving the slats a nice curve and tightening then up, i tacked the center slat to the slat holder near the middle of the table to hold it up as there is no cross piece underneath the center of a 4x8 table to support it, a year later after digging small peices out of the air handler i finally bought a sheet of expanded metal and laid it under the slats to catch the small parts... makes cleaning easier too..
I am itching to get home and onto the DT, i have a few ideas on things i want to make and areas to target the marketing... with our climate i only have 4-5 months a year for this type of metal work, then will have to shift gears and find something for the winters months... i wasnt ready last X-mas to have anything made or to advertise, but i will be this year... see how it goes... if anything i can keep coming back and working down here in the mean time, the mining industry is starting to pick up again so the drilling we do for them is following suit, the supervisor i had to take over for here was run outta town by a jealous husband with a gun and a bad attitude.... some guys just never learn!! but yes i would be much happier at home cutting metal.
WSS if i ever end up in your part of the world i will defenitely take you up on that offer, same goes for you guys if ur ever up in central Canada look me up.

EDD

[WSS]

Edwardo, are you doing blast hole drilling?

[Edwardo]

We do diamond core drilling, so we get a rock core sample for the geologist from the top of the hole to the bottom, these holes here are relatively shallow at 600-800 feet in depth, the last project i was on down here we were drilling about 3000' foot holes verticle... 1 pic is the core in a box, the other is of the drills we use ... sorry not a very good 1 though...

EDD

[WSS]

Edwardo, That looks about a 4" diameter core. Looks like a lot of hard work in the remote areas. So assuming no one gets run out of town, drilling in that region is year round? We have in the past put Tungsten carbide on the back of the drill bits were the overs tend to ride and wear out the threaded collar and sometimes on the sticks at the same points. Beautiful country your in.

Joe, I just caught on to what you are doing with the aluminum rail! You will machine and fit it with SHC screws and such. Working with aluminum has it's rewards, it works easy and looks great when your done.

I have to return to income generating work for awhile so it will be a week or so before I get to work on the DT again.

Tommy

[WSS]

Joe,
I was wondering if those pieces were important to the function of the gantry. I am hoping they are just spacers. I set my gantry on the table today and it is about a 1/2" to wide. I am not sure were the error comes from. If I can remove these, I will be fine. I notice I will probably have to install another hard-stop somewhere, as The plates look to have a hard-stop integrated. It was to close to the edge for me to roll it back and forth to get that feel. So I will have to wait until I get this error fixed before I can walk with it up and down the track.

Did you have to upgrade the DT interface because of the extra servo (slave)?

I hope your build is going along OK!

Tommy

[magma-joe]

WSS, yes those are just spacers. Actually I won't be using them at all with the dual drop table design. The extra x axis drive motor required a upgraded Dynatorch control box. 2 motors = more amps. I have one more day of shop work before I get back on the new gantry.

[WSS]

Joe,
I talked with Greg @DT today and he solved the problem with a little common sense. I did remove one of the spacers and added a washer behind the cam follower to push it closer to the rail. They try to cover all the bases with guys who build their own table this way. We discussed other adjustments that I might encounter later as well. I know you mentioned they were very helpful regarding your retro-fit. They were right on it for me as well. Straight answers and quick. I will have a few hours tomorrow afternoon to fit it to the table. I will take some detailed photos and post them. I am getting ancy (sp?) to rush though it. I forgot about the cable carrier shelf, I will fit it up on Saturday.

Cheers,
Tommy

[magma-joe]

WSS, Greg is a good source of info. When I flew down to Kentucky in 2005 to see the Dynatorch machines before I comitted to buy one I toured their first facility. I met Walt who handles sales, his wife who ran the office and the only 2 employees they had at the time, Greg and Bruce, both still working at Dynatorch. It is definitly a family oriented business. I later learned that Leon Drake who designs the machines and Mike Clem who writes the software, provided machine and software support if needed.

At the time I purchased the We-cim software (about a year later) I flew back to Kentucky for software training and they had moved to a new much larger facility and had added more employees. I recently asked how many employees they had and was told they were up to 15. Talk about growth.

I normally never give Kudos to companies I deal with but I received above and beyond normal customer service from them and think it is only right to pass this on.

Being in business myself, Its easy see how they are hurting their competition. I think they probably forced Plasmacam into coming out with the Samson 5 x 10 table and also extending their time limit on after purchase machine support. Dynatorch offers free lifetime support. When you build, design, direct market, and provide support for your product you have complete control of costs, features, improvements and customer satisfaction.

When I started looking at CNC plasma tables in 2005 there were 2 more players in the market, DynaCNC (which I almost purchased) and Practical CNC. Both appear to be out of busines now.

I am finishing my shop work today and plan on spending Saturday working on the Upgrade. What do you have planned for your first cuts?

[WSS]

The guys at DT do seem to go the extra step. That may be the key to their success. It also seems that what they offered was what we needed. My wife and I went to a few local shops to see other types of machines work and learned a whole bunch doing that. Most of the guys were sharp and really good with their respective machines but we walked away thinking we needed to go to an Esab or an MG or some other high dollar machine. One time my wife said the machine looked like one of those "as seen on TV" scaffold/ladder/step stool things. That did it. I realised I was going to build the table and buy a DT! Servos were a big draw. Support means an awful lot to me. I have never ran a CNC machine before. I had a HP380 I used in my basement shop to cut 440C stainless for knifes by hand, so I will need the help.

Speaking of being in business for yourself, What type of stuff do you do? I assume it is with autos of some sort as you mentioned a brake caliper drawing (very neat tracing to drawing story)?

For the first cuts I will play with some 1/2" A36 to practice some parts that I normally do out of AR500. When I feel comfortable I will switch to AR plate. I did manage to sneak a few hours today and get the gantry fitted to the table. It went good. I will post some pics later tonight.

Good luck working on your project this weekend!

Tommy