Plate slicer build

[SONIC]

Built this yesterday and thought it might help out some of you guys with smaller tables.

Mines a 4x4 so I need to cut sheets in half every day. I've been using a guide and just dragging against it but it's near impossible to get a straight line.

So I built this little guy and now my cuts are 100 percent straight which means more usable area per sheet.

It's a simple wiper type linear slide setup.
I used 1/4" UHMW I had sitting around for the sliders but you could use any plastic or wood.
Made a little carriage that fit over the square tube and the "bearings".
Rather thandrill and tap the UHMW I just cut some little wipers for the front and rear of the carriage so that they cant slide out from under it. The fit is tight enough that nothing falls out.
Works perfectly. Took all of about 30 minutes to make.

I drilled a 1" hole in an aluminum.block and attached it to the carriage and the drag head of the torch just rests on the sheet as I slide it across.

[acourtjester]

Slick idea thanks for sharing

[Largemouthlou]

Awesome !!

[Bobcat320]

Great idea!

[SONIC]

I've been using this little guy a lot, takes all the work out of cutting sheets down!
I clamp it roughly in position and then put the torch in the holder and position one side, walk over position the other and cut. 30 seconds!

[little blue choo]

Great idea. Love it.

Rick

[SONIC]

Last modification to this thing.
I added a square edge (like a T square) so that I can square it up, clamp it down, and cut all from one side of the plate.

[AndrewMawson]

Very neat idea. I was thinking of making a 'plasma table height' trolley to put an 8 x 4 sheet on, to aid loading my 1500 mm square table, and hold the offcut, but maybe that idea in just a bit more compact

[Craig]

Great idea, thanks for sharing.

[SONIC]

Very neat idea. I was thinking of making a 'plasma table height' trolley to put an 8 x 4 sheet on, to aid loading my 1500 mm square table, and hold the offcut, but maybe that idea in just a bit more compact

Andrew,
I actually built one of those as well. On my table (LDR) the slats sit 3" below the edge of the table to contain the mess, so I can't use the table easily to offcut.

I have a small forklift in this shop that I use to lift the 4x8's onto this table, slice them, and then use the forklift to put the pieces on the table.
In retrospect I should have just gone for a 4x8 but you live and learn!

[acourtjester]

Here is a post from a few years back that shows some Irish ingenuity for moving sheets around "good old get-r-done"
http://www.plasmaspider.com/viewtopic.p ... ver#p90395

[AndrewMawson]

When I rebuilt my table I deliberately set the top of the slats 6 mm above the framework to let me slide things on. I'm only mucking about at home as a hobby so volume is minimal, but age takes it toll, and lifting heavy sheets these days is a bit of a strain !