6'X12' DynaTorch build log

[magma-joe]

WSS, Nice oxy cuts! Is the part with the hole in it plasma cut? It looks like you are well on your way!

[WSS]

Well, I have completed our first parts off the DT machine. I am pleased with the results for many reasons. First, If I had to buy them, I would have to purchase 100pcs. Three years ago that was fine. But now our customers are ordering fewer parts more often. Now I can cut five pieces or whatever is required. Second, I like the quality. I can control what goes to the next stage, be it drilling or applying Tungsten Carbide. Our last supplier would let the parts fall through the slats and keep cutting, which left many parts drenched in slag (dross is too pretty a word). I have a lot to learn in the we-cim software.

The motion of the machine surprised me. I had no idea what to expect as I have only cut with cantilever and mag tracer machines. In reading a presentation that Jim Colt sent me before cutting with the DT, I could not grasp what he meant by acceleration and terms like that. I see it now. I was used to machines "rolling" around corners. The DT responds instantly to direction changes. You don't need to loop the corners to keep them square. This will be a big feature when cutting small holes.

Anyway, here are some photos of the parts and cuts.

Cheers!
WSS

[magma-joe]

WSS, Those are some clean looking cuts. How thick is the material? Just curious, now that you have made a few cuts what kind of money do you think your old supplier was making when he was doing 100 pieces at a time?

[WSS]

WSS, Those are some clean looking cuts. How thick is the material? Just curious, now that you have made a few cuts what kind of money do you think your old supplier was making when he was doing 100 pieces at a time?

magma-joe,
The cuts I have made so far have been on 1" plate, I cut some 3/16" plate during set-up w/Leon just to make sure the plaz fired. I took a look at the last bill from our supplier and it was not as much as I thought it would be. Assuming they paid the same as I paid for the steel, then they only charged me $285usd to cut the plate. The parts could be cut from a 4X8 sheet.

I am hooked now. I am always on the look out for ways to use the DT. Today I made a new jig for our press to hold some thin edges we are working on that warp like a rainbow. I figure the jig will cut my press time in half over the old set-up. It took 2.25 hours from thought to finished part. I sketched it on paper with dimensions then drew it in autocad to we-cim to DT. The slot in the center was drawn at .875" and cut at .860". Very close by my standard. It could have been as small as .800" and worked fine.

WSS

[WSS]

I did a two hour session with Gary @ whittlock eng. online Friday. It was well worth the effort. I learned an immense amount about the software. Notably how to make the type of lead I need in any situation. Basically put it anywhere and any type. I have a few nests built but have not had the time to run the file. I am new to windows let alone cnc software. It was pretty neat the way it worked, Gary walked me through a website that loaded a program that let him control my screen along with me. It was like being on-site. I will certainly do more of it later after I apply what I learned so far.

I also picked up a air dryer off of craigslist that needs to be installed. I do believe it is never actually finished, just fine tuned and reaching for that state of perfect-ness.

WSS

[magma-joe]

WSS,

Gary has done the same for me when I had a problem. It makes for very personalized service. The more you learn about the We-cim software the more powerful it becomes. A question was asked about offsets for kerfs in We-cim. Easy to adjust in the configuration manager.

I will be interested to see how your drier works out. Please post some pics of your water table build. I am considering making some modifications to my table to adjust the water levels.

[WSS]

We did our first production job on Tuesday and it went better than I had anticipated. This due to Leon's help with the .tap file. I had to cut the same piece 100 times. Leon built it so it would cut and retract the gantry out of the way for us to remove and replace the part and hit the enter key to do it again. Worked great and the holes were clean with little bevel using 80amp parts @30ipm (parts were .69"). I believe the air dryer and coalescing filter combo worked because I had no bad pierces or wonky cuts. I didn't take the torch apart to inspect once or even when finished. The last cut looked like the third cut (OK, I made a mess of the first two cuts, had to de-check stop on lost arc).


"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPfawIIGll0"]YouTube- debri hole cutting


WSS

[magma-joe]

WSS,

Excellent video! I like the way you have the plasma and drier mounted up and out of the way. Its a great feeling when those first paying jobs start coming in. Are you still planning to start your water table on Dec. 1st?

Magma-joe

[Edwardo]

Way to go Tommy!!!

Nice to see your DT in action... they look like cat track pads??? and it looks like you have a jig set up to save time by just placing the next pad in the same place...

EDD

I always wondered what WSS stood for, now i know...lol

[WSS]

Edwardo,
Ya, they are D8N track pads. We cut holes in em' for guys who are in snow, mud or trash. It lets the debri escape out the hole so it doesn't over tighten the rail and snap pins or bushings. We do a couple jobs a month on different sizes for a local distributor. I used to do them with a two hose oxy torch mounted on a 1960's magnetic tracer. It worked good but took forever. The pre-heat took as long as the cut. If you look at the jig, you can see it has a spot for two pads. With plasma, it's as fast as you can go so no need for two spots. Here are afew pics of the finished hole.

Good to see you've surfaced!

[Edwardo]

Hi Tommy

Things are finally starting to go our way here, so i get alittle more time to slack off... did the pictures come through?? i sent about 3-4 emails with a few pics each just incase.
Debri Holes... makes sense, i have run alot of cats in my time never really gave that much thought, never really looked to tell you the truth...

Now i get to run a stubborn 4x4 mule, it comes complete with a natural debri hole (Tail pipe) that gags the next guy if he's riding to close behind....lol

EDD

[WSS]

Edwardo, I didn't get them. I'll PM you another email to try.

Hey, I have a question: I purchased a handful of dxf's from cascade and they won't load correctly in we-cim. Do these have ellipses as part of the drawing? What happens is we-cim will not recognize some of the curves and fails to add a toolpath to it. Drove me nuts. We had all sorts of family over for Thanksgiving and I was hoping to show off and cut some signs for them. Thats what I get. I know you use CorelDraw but was wondering if you ever had this happen? The drawings I generate are pretty simple compared to this art stuff, one dxf had 5000+ entities. I want to figure it out just to be able to add that to our list of things to offer.

Pretty cool transport. Four leg drive. I wonder if the remnant/drop from the debri hole would be of any use? I suppose after a year or so in the sun, it could be used as a wear plate...

You sound rather cheery, how much did it cost them (LOL)?

WSS

[Edwardo]

Good Morning WSS

As a coincidence or because he has a ad on the zones home page i had a quick look at his website yesterday, he has some nice drawings that i'll probly ad to my collection eventually, im not sure how these drawing are sent, are they .bitmaps that need converted or are they vector drawings ready to cut?
So far i have Iron Shadows, EZ art collection and one other series but the name has vacated my mind. Regardless most of the drawings i cut need some touch ups before hand and thats were sheetcam comes in handy as it will let me know if a drawing isnt proper, so i go back into corel and fix it. Most of the problems are within a curve, so i end up deleting a section of nodes and redoing them, which just made a flicker in my mind... that the drawings need to be saved a curve when i export them out of corel, but im not sure if that applies to we-cim. On his web site he guarentees his drawings so it may be best to send him a email, from the little i know about WE-CIM and from reading his info and options, it wouldnt surprise me if he is using WE-CIM him self.

EDD
Its not all low tech on this job, we did have our own up close private air show one day...

[WSS]

Good Morning WSS

As a coincidence or because he has a ad on the zones home page i had a quick look at his website yesterday, he has some nice drawings that i'll probly ad to my collection eventually, im not sure how these drawing are sent, are they .bitmaps that need converted or are they vector drawings ready to cut?
So far i have Iron Shadows, EZ art collection and one other series but the name has vacated my mind. Regardless most of the drawings i cut need some touch ups before hand and thats were sheetcam comes in handy as it will let me know if a drawing isnt proper, so i go back into corel and fix it. Most of the problems are within a curve, so i end up deleting a section of nodes and redoing them, which just made a flicker in my mind... that the drawings need to be saved a curve when i export them out of corel, but im not sure if that applies to we-cim. On his web site he guarentees his drawings so it may be best to send him a email, from the little i know about WE-CIM and from reading his info and options, it wouldnt surprise me if he is using WE-CIM him self.

EDD
Its not all low tech on this job, we did have our own up close private air show one day...

Edwardo,
I have been communicating with Jason from Cascade, he replied immediatly. He will make it work,no doubt. I will contact Gary at we-cim to see whats happening on Monday and get back with Jason to see what we can do. I looked close a some of the files to see if they looked like curves or ellipses. They look like super short lines to me. SoI am not sure why we-cim is not seeing them.

So what kind of Miller welder is Ms. Claus going to squeeze down the chimney?

I am doing a R&D project in our main shop room. We installed a "SAR" system (supplied air respirator). Lately, we have noticed the new paint being used continues to smoke and off gas longer than it used to. We have used the under hood/low profile respirators for a long time, but this new paint seems to get through the filter. We tried using paint filters and they worked but don't fit under the hood to well. So we are trying this new system where we install an air pump outside the room and plumb it through the wall bringing fresh air to you. You can quick connect all sorts of apparatus to it. I tried the welding hood adapter but it was to hard to get in and out of. The half mask is fine for grinding but not so under the hood. I fabbed a kydex adaptor for the top of the hood to blow fresh air over the top and circulate around inside. It works good so far. No more headaches or stinky paint smell. It is also cooling, when you are staring at a 450amp arc for awhile the hood gets real hot and the cool air feels refreshing. They even sell a cooler that runs through ice water. I am hoping to get one for the summer and plumb it through the fridge in the tool room. Here is a link to the system components:

http://www.turbineproducts.com/servl...ory+protection


WSS

[Edwardo]

WSS

That is a interesting concept for fresh air, almost like the divers used to use. In your climate i can see the heat of summer being a real health and safety issue, as well as production...then mix the heat with fumes/smoke and its even worse. At our shop in Mexico i noticed they have the roof about 30-40 feet high with no walls at all, its basically working out side with the roof for shade is all. I really dislike painting, im not set up proper for it so that makes it even worse, i have the spray guns etc and a small compressor i use but still it hit and miss at the best of times, to me theres nothing worse than making a nice sign or something, then watching the paint run... its happened a few times... i use rattle cans alot but they are more money and the rust seems to come through in no time... i plan on building a powder coating oven some day in the future when i have more space, this is a interesting concept also for powder coating.. http://iidbs.com/PPC.ZKB .. i checked into it and its not cheap, around 15 grand for everything out of New York... i guess like everything if you have alot of use for it, it would pay... i havent given up on that idea yet as it is portable and if a guy were to check around there may be other work for it besides my own. I have the millermatic 252 on my wish list, it will do everything i need, can attach the spool gun for aluminium etc, i have a hobart now which is ok, but i would like to upgrade my equipment when i can over time, they're both probly made in the same factory though.
First thing i need to do is finish this tour, boss caught me at a weak moment and i agreed to return here next year... what was i thinking

EDD

[WSS]

Edwardo,

I had a look at the Millermatic 252, I would have to hawk my DT to get one of those! Seriously, Millers are nice. Great support too. IF you have a problem, The help # in the manual will put you in touch with a guy who knows the product. Hobarts and Millers are "continents" apart. I have heard rumors of Miller sending stuff overseas, but have not actually confirmed it. All of our welding gear is Miller now. It's pricey but lasts forever. Even a good used one would work nice. Sometimes used machines have a few extras like a spool gun or regs and are hardly broke in. Take off the side cover and look for dust. The new machine's fans only run when a certain temp is reached, so dust will show how much use it has. Weld dust, like plaz dust is sticky. A simple blow nozzle job usually leaves that layer. You would walk away from any of our machines and wish me luck.

I looked at that powdercoater, do you have to preheat the part? I am not to familiar with powdercoating, except I know it looks good and is durable. With a nice powdercoater added to your arsenal, you could probably skip the trips down south (LOL).

I haven't had a chance to work on the DXF issue today. We just had our Thanksgiving Holiday (4 days!) and back to work to make up for the time off.

WSS

[Edwardo]

WSS

Thanks for the advice on the welder, i will check around for a used one first... i read new they are around 2500 bucks, then add on the spool gun etc.

As far as i know that powder coating system doent need pre heating as they claim to be able to powder coat card board and plastic, anything?? if you contact them they will send you a info package that shows everything.. but i instantly lost interest in when i seen the 15 grand price tag... but it may be worth it to someone if they do alot of painting and want to switch to powder coating or if they are jobbing out the powder coating.. or have limited space for a oven etc... so far i only qualify for the limited space.

EDD

P.S. not sure if i mentioned it before, or maybe you already know, but www.plasmaspider.com has alot of free art work files that other people have drawn and share... there are some very talented artists on that site and i have used some of there files.

[WSS]

I had intended to start a build of a water table insert on my table this week but things have been busy around here. I hope to get on it next week

I am also in the process of making a water cooled torch attachment for our oxy torch, it will fit a plasma machine torch as well. I have noticed a much higher heat (400f) on the main torch body than used to be on any other cutters I have used. Probably the duty cycle and long pre-heats. I now have a longer "flame-on" time, which is a good thing! I am going to build it out of copper and attach it as a slip on and clamp affair. I am copying a Tweco TAM gun nozzle that we use over here. It is made of 3/4" tube with various attachments for flow and is soldered or sweated together. It allows a 500amp TAM gun to run at 100% duty cycle. So I am hoping to get some input if anyone has tried it or has any ideas? This will have a 1.375" inner bore and clamped with a tube clamp or even a hoseclamp. So it will work on a plasma torch as well (assuming it works on oxy). When the parts arrive, I'll post some pics of the parts to show the idea. I will use a Tweco TC-900 cooler to cool the torch. I believe any circulating water supply would work, even a little giant pump in a five gallon bucket (I've done that before).


So... Any input is welcome! Please, if I am running down a dark alley, trip me.

I'll post it as I build just incase it actually work!

WSS

[WSS]

Here is a photo of a spare Tweco TAM gun with the water cooled nozzle attached. It is 3/4" ID, and the one I will build will be 1-3/8" to slip over the torch body.

WSS

[Edwardo]

WSS

So does this water cooling attachment just cool the nozzle by circulating the water through a heat exchanger or does it spray out to cool the piece you are cutting also?

EDD