6'X12' DynaTorch build log

[WSS]

Our Dynatorch gantry showed up today! Here are a few pics. I have not had much time to go over it in depth. It is still in the crate. All arrived safely. I will post some pics of the table build progress tomorrow, They are in raw format and need to be batched to low res jpgs. The gantry is proudly made in U.S.A. It appears very well made. I cannot imagine how they can build an item like this at that price.



Tommy

[magma-joe]

WSS, Nice pics! They remind me of the day a crate just like that arrived at my place. My first thought was, its here! My 2nd was, and no freight damage! What a relief! I like the made in USA on the box, especially in this day and age.

I can see from the picture you have the new all steel gantry and y axis carriage with dual linear rails. Its amazing how much Dynatorch has improved their product since I bought mine in 2005. I was told by the Dynatorch crew when ordering my upgrade parts that this is the way they make all their gantrys now. They have not updated their website pics so your gantry picture is the first one I have actually seen. Thanks for posting, keep the pics coming.

At first when I learned that they had upgraded to all steel gantrys I wondered about the increased weight. Then I remembered these guys

http://victoryplasma.com/victorycnc/currentimages/

they use the same Dynatorch hardware / software to run their machine which has a much heavier gantry. I found them while looking for ideas on modifying my gantry. In their pictures you can see the Dynatorch Z lifter station, Dynascribe, laser locator and the Animatics smart motors, but they also added a drill station to the gantry! When I first saw them advertising on Ebay they used Torchmate controls but then switched to Dynatorch?

Now that your gantry has arrived; Let the fun begin!

[WSS]

magma-joe,
Ya, the freight damage is always in the back of your mind. I do have to say it was crated nicely. I did not have time to open it when it was dropped off, but I did not see any fork holes or broken corners.

If you want to see any specific part of the gantry, let me know and I will take some pics. I had noticed that others were using animatics' smart motor servos, but I really couldn't imagine the "compactness" of those servos! They must pack a punch. The Victory gantry is a monster and those little servos are no bigger than a coffee cup.

Here are some build pics of the table,I welded in forty 4X4 gussets on the table already! I will try to keep them updated as we go along. I have three more days to work on it. I should get pretty close.

Cheers!
Tommy

[magma-joe]

WSS, your table looks excellent. Nice work with alot of attention to detail. I like the I beam design, very strong. Those 2" thick sheets should be a breeze. I am curious to see your design for the x axis rails, especially on the slave side which drops below the surface of the slats.

Do you plan on incorporating a water table or some type of ventilation system? As for the Animatics servo motors size, they do look small however I think the gear boxes are key. They multiply the torque and increase the resolution. Once you get the gantry installed you will see that there is minimal force required to move the gantry.

I am not sure what Animatics motor and gear box combination came on your new gantry. I do know Dynatorch made some changes from the earlier machines. My servo motors turn at 6000 RPM and use 28 to 1 gear box reduction. I think the newer gantrys like yours use more powerful motors with less gear reduction and helical gear type gear boxes? During my info search I found this company that uses Dynatorch hardware / software but they incorporated some type of belt drive on their system?

http://www.fastcutcnc.com/

When you get your gantry out of the crate please take some pics of the whole thing. On the Dynatorch website in their pics it appears they might have upgraded their lifter station to a more compact design. Just curious what comes on the new gantrys now. Also what kind of Miller welder is that in your pics?

Thanks for posting. I am looking forward to seeing your progress. It helps get the wheels of inovation turning.

[WSS]

Joe, I will leave room for one or the other. I am thinking I will use a down draft suction set-up, mostly because of the oxy/fuel. Do you think a water table would work with oxy as well? The fastcut machine was a serious consideration for us, They offered us a demo machine that was or did end up at the los angeles westec show. It was just to expensive and light for us. I am not sure if they actually made it to the show.

The welder is a Dimension 652 w/ a D-74 DX feeder. We have a bunch of the 652's hooked to S-64's & S-74's. We have had good luck with Miller feeders and power sources. This is the only portable welder in our shop, it has NR-211 3/32 innershield on one side and 70S-6 1/16 hardwire on the other (usually, it has .035 now), it is pretty neat as you just pick-up the gun you want and pull the trigger, it switches the process and settings automatically. This is the first time we have run .035 with the dimensions, I was pleased with the results, I had it set at 24.5v and about 180a and it moved along pretty good. I should have changed the liner in the gun to match the wire because it had to much play and the wire would spiral out the tip slightly.

The build is moving along OK. I finished the slat rails today. They warped over 5"! I figured 2" and some press time, so 5" was not to far out there. It took about 1.5hrs on the press to get them back were they belonged. The last pic shows the 2"sq tube that I will use for the slave side rails. Basically I will mount the rails according to DTs drawings, using there 2" tube idea. It fits perfect as the slat rails are 3" and the I-beam is 5". I will try to get it all together by wed. and maybe paint next weekend.

Tommy

[magma-joe]

WSS, looks like you have some nice equipment to work with. I heard that the Miller Dimention welders are excellent. I have a Miller Mig and Tig machine that I really enjoy using.

As for the water table with oxy. I have no personal experience with oxy and a water table, how ever I have seen many pictures of tables with them. I do like my water table using plasma. It works excellent and keeps down the majority of smoke and dust. A properly equiped air system works very well also however it can get expensive with the fan motor, electrical wiring, duct work and filtering system if you use one. Space is also a concern.

One thing I have found very handy is the expanded metal screen I placed just under the surface of the water. It catches all the small parts and makes them easy to retreive when the fall. Something to think about if you use an air ventilation system.

I attached a pic of the 6 x 20 table with a air ventilation system on it.

[WSS]

I am leaning toward the air system. It would fit better in our situation. Unless....The benefit from the water causing less distortion would outweigh the air system. When we cut with oxy we have to layout the cut to work with the inevitable warping. The thicker the material, the less shifting. I noticed on a job we did last week with the HP-1650 that distortion was maybe half of what oxy does! Very pleased. Plus no pre-heat and about 5 ipm faster than oxy on 3/4". I will utilize the plasma as much as we can but after 3/4" we have to use oxy. Some parts we will cut will literally fill the table and come off pretty much the same dimension minus a bunch of rectangular slots. Those pieces move! We may have to clamp them, which is why I was concerned about the flimsy slats. So, if water can slow the warping, I may work that way.

Today went well. I am ready to slip the gantry onto the rails. I want to fit check it before I paint. Murphy's law! The 12ga skins that cover the I-beam are at the powdercoater and should be ready friday. The rail set-up was different than I expected. Most of it was ready to fit-up, but the lengths were different. Not a problem since I measured before hand. Both were longer than needed fortunately.

Everyone have a great week!
Tommy

[magma-joe]

WSS, looking good. You are moving along pretty fast. Makes me anxious to get back on the retro. Maybe one more day on my modification job and back to the Dynatorch gantry.

I was using the We-cim software today for some aluminum cutting. It sure makes it fast and easy. At the time I bought the We-cim I also purchased the Arbor Image software. It is very handy. I had to make a custom rear brake caliper bracket yesterday. I took the old bracket, traced it on a piece of paper, changed the mounting hole locations and ran it thru my desktop scanner and and then thru the Arbor Image software and instant DXF file!

[WSS]

Managed to get a few hours today fitting the gantry to the table. I made the few adjustments recommended by Greg and it works great. The gantry is smoother than I expected. Very low COF. I hope to paint it after Church on Sunday. I will let it dry for at least a week. This will give me time to build the dual torch holder and fit the interface console to the command center. So far so good, I have managed to stick with the plan! Here are some pics of the progress.

[magma-joe]

WSS, looks like you are almost there. I am curious to see the dual torch holder. The thought of oxy cutting has crossed my mind. I will be looking to learn from you. Thanks for posting the pics. I was curious if Dynatorch had made any changes in the attaching hardware (motor mts, guides, etc) when they upgraded to the all steel gantry. One thing I can see is that the motor mounting system is much more rigid on the steel Y axis carriage than the aluminum one I have.

Hardware wise it appears everything else is the same as the extruded aluminum gantry I currently have. In my upgrade I will have to fab some new motor mts to make the dual drop design work. Thanks for posting , keep the pics coming!

[Edwardo]

Looking good, lots of changes compared to mine, the red peice on the inside of the aluminum, is that a guard or brace? also i would have to say from looking at this photo the air piston and servo motor is now mounted on the opposite side of the cut out compared to mine... will have a look next week when i get home...

EDD

[WSS]

Edwardo,
The day after we purchased the DT someone called me and asked which side I wanted the machine to home to (I think it was Russell). We figured I needed a "left home" configuration. I noticed that the machine morvaman was working with is a "right home" set-up. I think that is the difference (?). The red sheet metal is a guard, it is slotted up on top for at least an inch adjustment. This section is were I have spent the most time with aligning. I ended up removing the fender washers and replacing them with a 5/8" shaft collar. The hole in the aluminum support is right on tolerance, so I thought the shaft collar would fit better and straighter. Free hand it moves like butter. I have not tried them with power yet! I am afraid to jump steps because I may never get back to the stuff I missed.