I've been wanting a table since TM first came out with their original setup when it was still what I considered affordable. Since then I have built a decent size shop, and have acquired a ton of other tools, but the cnc has always been in the back of my mind. My original plan was to use 8020 stuff and ballscrew drive. A few months of researching table design, options, etc, for a couple hours a month has changed up that plan somewhat. I also bought a prusa i3 3d printer to at least have a decent start to learn what I was doing.
My current design is a 48" X-axis, 59" Y axis machine. My goal is to be able to effectively cut 4x4 material.
Borrowing heavily from this table build, with some changes:http://www.cnczone.com/forums/plasma...-finished.html Using the same single V rail design ont eh X axis. Planning on using china nema 23 steppers, still have not landed on which ozin to go with, and timing belt drive. Again I have not landed on using GT2/3, vs. a 1/2" XL belt. I have a power supply that I purchased but have not picked up to confirm specifics, and will most likely use Keling drivers for the steppers. The physical table will be built from what I can scrounge up, with a downdraft setup rather than water, as I do not run heat full time in my shop yet. My plasma is a Hypetherm 45xp with hand torch.
I've been scrounging around the local industrial surplus store for steel to build the framing, and managed to snag a control stand of some sort with a nice v slot square that I think will become my gantry, and a pnumatic lifting device for $5 that didn't look like much but had a nice set of linear rails that I'm going to try to turn into a z axis. THe box mounted to the control stand looks almost perfect to mount my controls, and it even already has a stop button and provisions to mount a monitor.
As of now I'm finishing up another little fabrication project, then will be diving into building the table and gantry so I can get a more accurate idea of weight to size the steppers. I will most likely start fabrication on it this weekend.
Budget Plasma Table Build by a Rookie
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