Esab Crossbow cnc plasma

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Anyone use one of these machines ?  It looks pretty cool.  I'm guessing China made,  as the Chinese have been making these for a few years now.http://www.esab.ca/ca/en/crossbow/index.cfmJourneyman / Red Seal Welder (What a useless test)Miller CST 280Miller XMT 350Miller 12vs XtremeEvolution Evo 28 mag drillEvolution 380 Dry Cut saw
Reply:It takes up a LOT of room. Saw it at fabtechTorchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:They do take up slot of room but very cool.
Reply:Originally Posted by GambleIt takes up a LOT of room. Saw it at fabtech
Reply:They don't take up as much room as a dedicated CNC table. The crossbow is a portable machine which can be nice in some situations. I've seen one in action at a shop I used to work at. The operation program rather sucks in my opinion. The drive motors would slowly ramp down speed and stop in mid operation on the machine I saw run. ESAB replaced the motors and it didn't fix the problem. I'm not sure what ended up happening with this machine. Last I heard ESAB was sending a support guy to the shop to help trouble shoot the machine.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:Thats pretty neat! Almost to the point of a field plasma cnc machine.12v battery, jumper cables, and a 6013.I only have a facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/pages/VPT/244788508917829
Reply:Koike has one that looks identical as well....both seem to be private labeled imports. I watched both of them at Fabtech and Sema shows....very poor cut quality compared to the entry level machines like PlasmaCam, Torchmate, Bulltear and about a dozen others....and a higher price and larger footprint. I don't understand the concept!If you look at the actually cutting area vs the total size and weight...then a conventional machine makes more sense to me.Jim Colt   Hypertherm
Reply:Originally Posted by jimcoltKoike has one that looks identical as well....both seem to be private labeled imports. I watched both of them at Fabtech and Sema shows....very poor cut quality compared to the entry level machines like PlasmaCam, Torchmate, Bulltear and about a dozen others....and a higher price and larger footprint. I don't understand the concept!If you look at the actually cutting area vs the total size and weight...then a conventional machine makes more sense to me.Jim Colt   Hypertherm
Reply:I would be interested to hear why it's junk. And what is better ? Also who else makes them that large?Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:Just to make sure if it wasn't clear I never said the Torchmate was junk, the operator did.  If I recall I had said something to him about the table being awesome, then he went on to tell me it was junk, he also said it was relatively cheap compared to a good machine.  If I recall he is an Esab guy.   I haven't worked at that shop in over 2 years, according to him they were supposed to upgrade the table,  I doubt they ever did.  It seemed to work fine to me, and for what they needed.  All I would have done is buy a bigger plasma to save on gas usage.  The guy did say Hypertherm made the best plasma though.As I said in my last post id probably go with a 5 x 10 Torchmate if I could use a regular machine torch when things got too heavy for the plasma... Originally Posted by GambleI would be interested to hear why it's junk. And what is better ? Also who else makes them that large?
Reply:http://www.esab.ca/ca/en/products/in...e=500002&tab=2A pretty big and heavy duty machine.  Can be up to 10 ft wide and 60 feet long,  that's a lot of area to cut plate.  I like the fact the track is down out of the way.   Id imagine one could sell just about every internal organ they have and still not have enough cash to buy one.Journeyman / Red Seal Welder (What a useless test)Miller CST 280Miller XMT 350Miller 12vs XtremeEvolution Evo 28 mag drillEvolution 380 Dry Cut saw
Reply:How much is a new one? With a ten foot track .
Reply:Originally Posted by GambleI would be interested to hear why it's junk. And what is better ? Also who else makes them that large?
Reply:Originally Posted by Brand XLot of tables are Better..Different audience for sure.. Messer is one. Many like Esab. Koike have been at it long before there was a torch-mate hobby table.
Reply:Reliability of the table, run ability of the table, support from the company when you have issues are things to look at also.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:Originally Posted by GambleI have never used another table. So I am curious as to why one likes one over another ?Aside from stepper vs servo and ballscrew vs leadscrew. If they all cut proper circles and such what else do people generally look at? Also aside  from software
Reply:Originally Posted by jimcoltI don't understand the concept!If you look at the actually cutting area vs the total size and weight...then a conventional machine makes more sense to me.Jim Colt   Hypertherm
Reply:Correct, you can put it in the back of your truck, move it around a plant or yard, etc. That is the concept behind it.  Not a bad setup, can be done in about 20 min or so. As someone else already said, it has a pre-programmed shape library (24) but comes with the software to create your own.  These now come with either Powercut series or Thermal Dynamics A-Series plasma since ESAB purchased Victor (A-Series plasmas are now ESAB branded and yellow).  If someone is serious about purchasing, ESAB will set up a demo at your shop before purchasing.
Reply:I agree, however there are conventional machines like the GoTorch and the 2x2 Torchmates that are portable, 1/4 the price, are easy to learn and run. Thes have height control, use standard software and are from the USA! Esab and Koike could easily build their own, why import these?Jim Colt Originally Posted by snoeproeI believe the concept is the portability of the machine.
Reply:We have a Crossbow setup in our shop. It does a fairly good job. We had some issues with it at the start with the drive motor not working. After talking to ESAB several times over a month or so they told us to go ahead and open the unit up and look for bad connections /broken wires. Found some loose connections and fixed them and has been working good ever since. There is a pretty good learning curve for the machine if you have never felt with CNC stuff before with the M and G codes for programming and adjusting the programs. We have nested 40 pieces out of 3/8" T100 plate and had okay success. Had to clean some slag off the tip a few times(think we need to work on the pierce height and pierce delay settings to fix this). Also it has problems sensing the initial height on plate that is not ground, has a thick mill scale, or is rusty. With the arm hanging out about 3 feet or so when it does not sense the height it will lift the arm and sometimes move the machine so you need to reposition afterwards(best to just mark all your pierce areas on a dry run and grind the plate). I am having some issues with consumable life and cut quality at different times(think we need another filter possibly on our air system). Also have a tough time getting up to the machines recommended cutting speed parameters and making a good cut. Oxy/Acet cutting works pretty good. If you are sticking the arm out a long way it could cause the angle of cut to vary a bit. I can see if you were moving this machine around a lot could run into problems like we did on our first start up.