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I have been building a 5X10 CNC plasma table and as of late last night it moves under it's own power. I still need to calibrate it. And get it moving in the right direction, but it's a great milestone for me just to see it up and running. It has been aprox 4 months of tinkering on the weekends, and it's now getting close. I started with nothing, not even the power I needed in the gerage. So I installed 2 220 outlets, purchased an air compressor the gantry kit, electronics, a bunch of steel, and got to work. There is 2full days in just cutting steel. About 40 hours in the fabrication of the table and close to 60-70 hours in electrical. Then there was the few days given up to hunny do's and the few days given up to rebuilding and installing the swamp cooler, and building shelves for the gerage. But it has all been worth it now. I don't k iw how many of you will really care buti had to share as I'm excited.Offering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.
Reply:You should be excited.  Congratulations!!  Keep us posted and some build details would be nice to see as well.  Home built plasma tables are amazing.MM200 w/Spoolmatic 1Syncrowave 180SDBobcat 225G Plus - LP/NGMUTT Suitcase WirefeederWC-1S/Spoolmatic 1HF-251D-1PakMaster 100XL '68 Red Face Code #6633 projectStar Jet 21-110Save Second Base!
Reply:Very nice man, I want one.Miller bobcat 225g  - spoolmatic 1Mm250 - 30a spoolMiller spectrum 375Thermal arc 95 Everlast Ex 250As the boiler turns, these are the days of our lives
Reply:Originally Posted by NoBigDeal FabI don't k iw how many of you will really care buti had to share as I'm excited.
Reply:Originally Posted by Rick VWhere did you ever find an empty double-bay garage? !!!!
Reply:Thanks for the comments guys. I'll get some details up of the build. I just was excited and had to post. Once I get home from work. I'll see about posting up some pics.Offering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.
Reply:Living in Glendale AZ I guess you don't have to worry about honey's car being buried in snow. Still, the car must get the easy bake treatment - hot to get into and higher risk of paint fading. I'm impressed... You Cleaned UP Your GARAGE!  WOW!!!I mean let's face it, many wish to do the clean up but... the effort... doesn't happen too often! Rick V 1 Airco Heliwelder 3A/DDR3 CTC 70/90 amp Stick/Tig Inverters in Parallel1 Lincoln MIG PAK 151 Oxy-Acet
Reply:Yeah be the easy bake happens just the same in the gerage. Now the UV is something diffrent altogether. There are 2 kinds of plastic in AZ. Broken and about to break. (due to the high UV)Yeah my motivation to clean it up was the huge money I spent on this new toy. I talked about cleaning it up for about 8-10 months, and just kept putting it off. Once the money was spent, it was time to make room. It's amazing what dropping enough cash for a nice car will do to motivate you....Offering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.
Reply:Hey NoDealCognates’I to am about finished with my CNC plasma table and understand your excitement.  I think if others understood the savings in cost they too would build one.  Mine is not a big but it still was a great project and works fine.  Here is the video of mine.  I have also attached a router to make it double duty. Here is a test route.Have funTom Attached Images
Reply:Looks great. Congratulations!
Reply:Tom, I thought about adding in a router, but with the water table, it would be a pain to keep the sawdust out. Eventually I'll build another one, and it will be for wood. Most of my business is going to be artwork type stuff, so being able to do wood and steel is about ideal for me. Everything I read people say "wish me CNC plaz was bigger," so I decided to go 5X10. I'm completely happy but due to space I wish it was smaller. Although the first time I do something out of 4X8, I'll be glad I did go large when I get handed the payment.Offering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.
Reply:Nobigdeal,I've got a project where I need (5) 30" circles cut and (5) 22" circles cut from 1/8" hot roll plate. I'm in Tempe. If I bring you material, could you knock these out for me? Originally Posted by NoBigDeal FabI have been building a 5X10 CNC plasma table and as of late last night it moves under it's own power. I still need to calibrate it. And get it moving in the right direction, but it's a great milestone for me just to see it up and running. It has been aprox 4 months of tinkering on the weekends, and it's now getting close. I started with nothing, not even the power I needed in the gerage. So I installed 2 220 outlets, purchased an air compressor the gantry kit, electronics, a bunch of steel, and got to work. There is 2full days in just cutting steel. About 40 hours in the fabrication of the table and close to 60-70 hours in electrical. Then there was the few days given up to hunny do's and the few days given up to rebuilding and installing the swamp cooler, and building shelves for the gerage. But it has all been worth it now. I don't k iw how many of you will really care buti had
Reply:Originally Posted by Jimmy_popNobigdeal,I've got a project where I need (5) 30" circles cut and (5) 22" circles cut from 1/8" hot roll plate. I'm in Tempe. If I bring you material, could you knock these out for me?
Reply:sounds like money beating a path to your door Cha Ching.As for your wather table why not cover it with a plastic sheet and put a MDF platform to cover that.  If you hook a vaccume to the router the saw dust will be very little.  Hook one of these between you router and vaccume and all the dust will be under this thing.http://www.amazon.com/Oneida-Molded-.../dp/B0037MFZN0have funTom
Reply:Yeah, unfortunately, I gotta get these circles cut like now. No center holes or anything, I'm not really too concerned about the cut quality either since I'll have to prep/flap disc the perimeter edge of these circles and then weld on a 2" side edge. I've got a layout of how these circles can be nested on two 4x8 sheets. You could fine tune your torch on my job, lol. I sent you a PM.
Reply:Mabe a silly question, but where do you guys that home-build your tables do your research on the build specs? I am very interested in progressing to a CNC table in my small fab shop, but am kinda scared to drop the cash on parts to build one for fear of hitting the proverbial brick wall before it is operational. Sorry for the derail, but this group seemed like the right guys to ask.
Reply:Originally Posted by rancher76Mabe a silly question, but where do you guys that home-build your tables do your research on the build specs? I am very interested in progressing to a CNC table in my small fab shop, but am kinda scared to drop the cash on parts to build one for fear of hitting the proverbial brick wall before it is operational. Sorry for the derail, but this group seemed like the right guys to ask.
Reply:looks good nobigdeal..  I'm getting close to finishing mine up,  I built mine pretty cheap, have under $1500 in mine..  I built mine from the ground up also, even built my gantry and my gear reduction assemblies.. I had more time designing mine than actual fab work.. what size plasma you going to put on yours?tackleexperts.comwww.necessityjigs.comhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/mach...dingequipment/
Reply:I'm running s hypertherm powermax 65 with machine torch, and my lelctronics will have control of the amperage and air pressure from the mach3 program. I don't know how it works just yet, but my understanding is that the g code will be able to change amps and air pressure for tight corners to maintain a constant feedrate vs using a constant voltage and adjusting feedrate for curves. We shall see soon enough.A bit of an update. I have the machine actually moving an inch when told to move an inch, and all the motors are now moving in the correct direction. So I'm happy about that. I'll be checking the lenght of travel over 10 ft and see if it's accurate tomorrow.if so I'll see about getting the torch set up. And see if the software will actually fire the torch.Last edited by ★ NoBigDeal Fab ★; 06-12-2012 at 02:01 AM.Offering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.
Reply:Looks like you have done great job with this build I have followed several builds here on the forum and all have been educational to say the leastBacked my CATMA over your CARMA oops clusmy me  What would SATAN do ?? Miller Trailblazer 302 AirPakMiller Digital Elite  Optrel Welding HatArcair K4000Suitcase 12RC / 12 VSHypertherm PM-45Rage 3 sawRusty old Truck
Reply:So I forgot to post up more build pics last night. Here are a few, (sorry for the crappy cell phone pics its all i have) the first is of the steel needed for the table. the next is of the basic frame that are in the plans from precision plasma. and the last is a pic of the added supports i addedd to hold up the water tray and to provide storage under the table. the bonus pic is fo the water tray after draining and discovering i had 2 leaks. (but it was 18 guage welded to 1/4 inch angle not the easyest to weld so i cant complain too bad.) the whole assembly could be moved via forklift. (without unloading the bottom shelves) the tubing is 3X3 1/8 wall for the entire frame. the cold rolled steel for the gantry rails is 4X1/2 bar stock. I am really happy with how it has ended up. Attached ImagesOffering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.
Reply:That is awesome! And HOA approved I'm sure I owned a Hypertherm PM45 once upon a time. A great machine. Glad to see you're using a 65!
Reply:You are the man!-AaronJet 17.5" Drill Press1942 South Bend 16x84 Lathe1980s Miller 320A / BP --- 2013 Power Mig 2562012 Jet 7x12 Horizontal BandsawVictor O/A Setup
Reply:Originally Posted by Jimmy_popThat is awesome! And HOA approved I'm sure I owned a Hypertherm PM45 once upon a time. A great machine. Glad to see you're using a 65!
Reply:Not near so fancy,  but works... drill a small hole in the center, put a bolt through it and attach it to the edge of a bench.  The cut will be at the radius, just spin the workpiece and plasma along like you got a clue.  This is fine for a medium to rough edge for say... an animal feeder bottom.  For precision then ya' gotta be kooler huh? Tempe to Glendale  used to be a 30 minute jaunt down VanBuren to Grand right turn to Glendale... now it is probably a 2 hour ordeal via the " freeway".   The valley was so keen when there were about 1/2 a mill living there. Would like to understand the computer control more... like what software, servos etc... share as you go.  The Yuma division might just have to work up an out of town viist to see such a wonder... we go to lunch...hmm ok Bill Johnson Big Apple BBQ on  the west side would do Meet our fellow hot stickers in the Valley? yup could be.thanks for posting this keen project.Last edited by PapaLion; 06-12-2012 at 07:15 PM.Lincoln Power MIG 215Lincoln WeldPak 3200HDLincon ProCut 25Lincoln WeldanPower 225 AC/DCIf all else fails... buy more toolsOriginally Posted by PapaLionNot near so fancy,  but works... drill a small hole in the center, put a bolt through it and attach it to the edge of a bench.  The cut will be at the radius, just spin the workpiece and plasma along like you got a clue.  This is fine for a medium to rough edge for say... an animal feeder bottom.  For precision then ya' gotta be kooler huh? Tempe to Glendale  used to be a 30 minute jaunt down VanBuren to Grand right turn to Glendale... now it is probably a 2 hour ordeal via the " freeway".   The valley was so keen when there were about 1/2 a mill living there. Would like to understand the computer control more... like what software, servos etc... share as you go.  The Yuma division might just have to work up an out of town viist to see such a wonder... we go to lunch...hmm ok Bill Johnson Big Apple BBQ on  the west side would do Meet our fellow hot stickers in the Valley? yup could be.thanks for posting this keen project.
Reply:just for an update i have been able to run a sign with the word "plasma" (its a turtorial in sheetcam) but the torch will not fire. i gotta play with it some to see whats going on. hopefully ill have it cut out tonight if i do ill post a pic of it. i dont have the torch hight control working as of yet. so the cut quality will suck, but i just wanna cut something and ill work on getting it set up correctly once i know the torch is fireing like it should. there are about 5000 little boxes and things you gotta input. i can see this as a huge learning curve but being that i repair medical equipment for a living. it cant be much harder than that as they are all electro mechanical devices.Offering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.
Reply:Here is a vid. The pic will come in the morning.Offering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.
Reply:Well I snapped off the head of my torch tonight. So it looks like I won't be doing any cutting for a while. That is unless the local praxair has the parts I need to fix it. Nothing like a $75 mistake. It's only been running for 5days. And I have yet to cut anything cool. I just wish the stupid hight control would function correctly.Offering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.
Reply:Maybe you need to set it up with a floating head switch so if it hits the metal it will stop moving.  I use that on mine instead of a THC but it needs to be in the Gcode or you could just use it as a safety stop.have funTom
Reply:It's on a floating mount. The problem is the it dropped between the slats, then moved into them and snapped it off.Offering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.
Reply:Ouch!!
Reply:Yeah. It's only a $50 fix, but the parts won't be here untill Thursday at the earliest. So much for playing with it this weekend. And next weekend is a no go as I have a motor swap to do on a friends truck. So in another 2 weeks I'll hopfully be able to actually cut something that will make money.Offering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.
Reply:Originally Posted by NoBigDeal FabWell I snapped off the head of my torch tonight.
Reply:Yeah I looked at it, and will get it as soon as possable.I'm running steppers, and I cannot answer the rest. Because I am not that familiar with it yet. I have a whopping 20 or so hours Gotland in messing with any sort if CNC machine. I think my biggest issue though is using the wrong consumables for the meterial. It's playing havoc on trying to verify THC operation. I was being cheap an it's come to bite me. I now have 1/4 inch meterial, as I only have 65 amp consumables. And trying to cut .060 aluminum was not working too well. I'll play with it more once the torch is fixed. And see about using the correct settings for the materials out of the hypertherm book. Instead of trying fine cut settings with 65A consumables. I'll get it worked out. This has actually been a blessing in disguise. Asi have now spent more time drawing and learning inkscape, as I have never used a drawing of graphics program before eatherOffering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.
Reply:Originally Posted by forhireHave you looked at the setup Mick120 (http://www.snapncut.com/) sells?Are you using steppers or servos? With servos you should be able to e-stop on missed steps and stop the move before it becomes a problem. With steppers... a magnetic mount like Mick120 offers allows the torch to pop-off. On my setup I watch missed steps. Does your software have crash avoidance settings you can play with?
Reply:Well, I'm in Glendale too so I'll be making note of one Mr. NoBigDeal Fab for future reference.Lincoln Squarewave 175Ex-aircraft sheet metal guy
Reply:Well hello neighbor. LOL I'm just arround the corner from harbor freight. Once the thing is up and running, if you wanna see it let me know.Offering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.