A Thread for Those Who Want A Water Table

[magma-joe]

I have seen many water table builds for CNC plasma tables here on the CNC Zone. They always look great during the the table build. I have had one for six years now. I use my table for proto type and one off cutting, mostly aluminum.

No one ever posts any pics of the cleaning. The following pictures show what you can expect. This will be my 3rd cleaning of the table. I have been using plasma quench since day one. It still seems to be controlling the rust for everything below the water level but the evaporation is finally causing rust on the parts above the water level.

Fun Fun Fun!!!!!!

Magma-joe

[WSS]

Are you taking advantage of the 1250-to-85 transition? The picture of the full dust pan is scary.


I should add that it is scary because you trapped it, otherwise a large part of of it could be in the air.

WSS

[magma-joe]

Are you taking advantage of the 1250-to-85 transition? The picture of the full dust pan is scary.


I should add that it is scary because you trapped it, otherwise a large part of of it could be in the air.

WSS

WSS,
You are right about taking advantage of the transition. The LWS says the Powermax 85 should arrive tomorrow. I thought it would be a great time to clean the table. It is a messy job. Maybe I should call the Discovery channel's dirty job guy, Mike Rowe?

Magma-joe

[landmark]

Yeah the water table gets disgusting but I'm glad all that dust gets trapped as mud rather than being all over the shop and in my lungs. I've been using the Homemade plasma quench formula that others have posted on this site for about 6 months and I haven't seen any rust at all on my table. It might be because I'm in a really dry area.

[Teknition]

Thanks for posting that. Its really not as bad as I'd thought it would be after 2 years of cutting. How many gallons of slop did you end up with? Did you siphon off the plasma quench for reuse or are you making a fresh batch?

Brad

[Gyrobuilt]

Hi,
I seem to remember Mike Rowe cleaning plasma tables in one of his shows. I think he was at a train factory.
Gyro

[magma-joe]

Thanks for posting that. Its really not as bad as I'd thought it would be after 2 years of cutting. How many gallons of slop did you end up with? Did you siphon off the plasma quench for reuse or are you making a fresh batch?

Brad

Brad,

I got about 5 gallons of mud and yes I did save the plasma quench I drained. I live in a very dry area and every couple of weeks I have to add water to the mix. I did not really have any rust until this year (6th year).

During evaporation small amounts of plasma quench collect on the metal parts directly above the water level. This is a bit corrosive and over time it broke down the painted finish resulting in rust.

Even though it sucks to clean I would still choose a water table over an air type table. I keep the water level about 4" below the table surface. I do not like cutting with water just below the material as it effects the cut quality as well as splashing water everywhere.

Magma-joe

[Sperstad]

I keep the water level about 4" below the table surface. I do not like cutting with water just below the material as it effects the cut quality as well as splashing water everywhere.

Magma-joe

I have seen videos on youtube where they cut when the water are in contact with the metal piece. I thought that this would improve the cutting quality, but am I terribly wrong?

[HC B]

Are you taking advantage of the 1250-to-85 transition? The picture of the full dust pan is scary.


I should add that it is scary because you trapped it, otherwise a large part of of it could be in the air.

WSS

Hey, not to hijack the thread but what do you mean by the "1250-to-85" transition? I have a 1250 and it seems Hypertherm is no longer making it in lieu of some new model...but what's the "transition"?

--HC

[magma-joe]

Hey, not to hijack the thread but what do you mean by the "1250-to-85" transition? I have a 1250 and it seems Hypertherm is no longer making it in lieu of some new model...but what's the "transition"?

--HC

HC,

I sold my 1250 to upgrade to the new PowerMax 85. During the 3 week wait time for the 85 to come in (transition period) I chose to clean my table. This is what WSS was referring to.

Magma-joe

[WSS]

HC,

I sold my 1250 to upgrade to the new PowerMax 85. During the 3 week wait time for the 85 to come in (transition period) I chose to clean my table. This is what WSS was referring to.

Magma-joe

Ya, the new 85's are so good that you have to wait for them.

WSS

[jimcolt]

There are many applications with water levels at the plate, and many more with submerged cutting. For cutting steel...any contact with water will make the cut edge rougher, and will tend to produce more dross. The reason behind having the water up to the bottom of the plate is that it is more effective in trapping all of the smoke and fumes. Cutting submerged is used often with higher powered plasma torches (up to 1000 amps) to cut down on the audible noise as well....these torches are very noisy!

There are some cases...specifically with stainless steel and other alloys...where underwater cutting can improve the edge metalurgy by minimizing edge oxidation....however this does not work with an air plasma torch, rather it would require an industrial torch with dual gas capability.

Keep in mind that most plasma torch manufacturers do not recomend cutting submerged with their air plasma torches....as the water getting inside the reatr service connections can affect the operation.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

I have seen videos on youtube where they cut when the water are in contact with the metal piece. I thought that this would improve the cutting quality, but am I terribly wrong?