Looking For Innovative Solution

[ross340]

Hello all,

I'm asking that everyone puts their thinking caps on for this one, I'm looking to mark locations (via PlasmaCAM) for the next step in my fabrication process. I need to accurately locate the positions where I can stud weld on some studs. I was thinking that I could run the program with the plasma turned all the way down to just score the surface of the metal and thus mark my location.

The catch 22 is that we have a capacitor discharge machine, meaning that in the middle of the stud (where it is to be welded) there is a little nipple that is the first thing to take all the current and melt, to weld the stud on. So, having a small scored hole in the piece just isn't an option. I was thinking some way having a felt tip pen or marker attached to the torch itself and instead of actually cutting, just marking the steel where the stud is to go.

But, that was the only idea I could come up with.(I suffer from "intermittent idea block". its a medical condition that I'm currently having checked out.) I was hoping that the overly-clever community on here might be able to come up with an overly-clever solution to my overly-frustrating dilemma.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks again,
Ross

[rock4xfab]

Ross, many ways to overcome but I don't know what all you capability's or options for equipment are. So maybe try this. Get a spring loaded center punch and creatively replace you torch with it. then find locations and Z down to pop a mark into the steal.

[vacextar]

Could you do something like what is usually used to mark bend locations in sheet metal?.....4 very small semi-circle cuts in the edge of the part around the perimeter, where someone could take a straight edge across those cuts to X the stud location?

How about making the exact same part as a template, but out of thin sheet-metal and include the stud locations in that piece. Simply overlay that as a template on the parts you need to stud and mark thru the holes with a marker. You could even add some tabs around the perimeter of the sheet metal template that you could bend over the edge of the parts to be studded so the template drops down over the part in the same position every time.

[geo4932]

You can certainly use a marker and a spring loaded holder. I made one out of PVC pipe and two end caps. Drilled a hole in one cap slightly larger than the marker. Wrapped a rubber band around the marker so that it would not slide down out of the bottom cap. Glued a spring from pen on the top of the marker. Held the whole thing together with rubber bands.
To mark the points you can use coordinates to draw a line with a length of @0,.001
To make a point that is 2" from the left and 3" up from the bottom you would
hit the letter "L" for draw line, type in the coordinate 2,3 Enter, then @0,.001 Enter. Right click to end the command. Hit F3 to zoom in on the tiny little line you drew. Convert it to cut path. After you have the first point, you can copy it to the next coordinate. The keystrokes are C then left click the mouse, then type in the X,Y numbers and Enter, then the next X,Y coordinates, Enter and so on.

george

[AnotherDano]

...outside the box, as they say.


Replace the cutting tip with one that is worn out.
Position the cutter where you want the hole.
Raise the z-axis and press an ink-stamp pad to the tip.
Lower the tip to the metal.

With some tinkering, you may wind up with a big black circle containing a teeny hole (no ink) in the center.

Might work even better with a little felt stick-on attached to the tip.

Just don't forget to remove it before you fire that thing up again.