Old Newbie!

[Sudsrat]

Hey all
Newly retired machinist here. 43 years in the biz and ready for the next chapter. Recently acquired a PlasmaCam DHC2 and a Hypertherm 45XP with Machine Torch as a retirement gift to myself. I’m sure I’ll have a ton of questions.
Thanks from Bucks County PA

[plasmanewbie]

Welcome Sudsrat! Awesome retirement gift!! Plenty of great folks here who have been through the pains of getting started and willing to help, me included. Best of luck and have fun!

[acourtjester]

Well let the fun begin, retirement does not alway mean stop working. But for sure this can be fun work, a CNC table can advance what you want to do.
All over aid in fabrications, making gifs, things to sell as a small business. Many member have posted projects to give ideas along with files for you to use or modify to fit you choice. You can see the faces light up when they say "you make this for me". Lots of fun "Man Cave" things for your buddies.
A few I have done.

Man Cave 2 (1).JPG

DSCN2110.JPG

DSCN2249.JPG

pelican (5).JPG

[Sudsrat]

Welcome Sudsrat! Awesome retirement gift!! Plenty of great folks here who have been through the pains of getting started and willing to help, me included. Best of luck and have fun!

Thanks!!
Looking forward to learning!

[Sudsrat]

Well let the fun begin, retirement does not alway mean stop working. But for sure this can be fun work, a CNC table can advance what you want to do.
All over aid in fabrications, making gifs, things to sell as a small business. Many member have posted projects to give ideas along with files for you to use or modify to fit you choice. You can see the faces light up when they say "you make this for me". Lots of fun "Man Cave" things for your buddies.
A few I have done.
Man Cave 2 (1).JPG
DSCN2110.JPG
DSCN2249.JPG
pelican (5).JPG

Thanks Jester! Nice work. Looking forward to learning

[adbuch]

Hey all
Newly retired machinist here. 43 years in the biz and ready for the next chapter. Recently acquired a PlasmaCam DHC2 and a Hypertherm 45XP with Machine Torch as a retirement gift to myself. I’m sure I’ll have a ton of questions.
Thanks from Bucks County PA

Sudsrat that Plasmacam DHC2 is one heck of a great cutting table!! What software upgrades do you have - if any? 45xp +++++++ as well!
You've got a great combination there! Do you have any previous experience using cad/cam programs? Robert Johnson has some great videos at his site.



You can also ask questions here as well. Welcome to the forum.

David

[adbuch]

Well let the fun begin, retirement does not alway mean stop working. But for sure this can be fun work, a CNC table can advance what you want to do.
All over aid in fabrications, making gifs, things to sell as a small business. Many member have posted projects to give ideas along with files for you to use or modify to fit you choice. You can see the faces light up when they say "you make this for me". Lots of fun "Man Cave" things for your buddies.
A few I have done.
Man Cave 2 (1).JPG
DSCN2110.JPG
DSCN2249.JPG
pelican (5).JPG

Tom - thanks for showing us some of your great work! It's just amazing what can be done with a few "simple" tools.
David

[Sudsrat]

Hey all
Newly retired machinist here. 43 years in the biz and ready for the next chapter. Recently acquired a PlasmaCam DHC2 and a Hypertherm 45XP with Machine Torch as a retirement gift to myself. I’m sure I’ll have a ton of questions.
Thanks from Bucks County PA

Sudsrat that Plasmacam DHC2 is one heck of a great cutting table!! What software upgrades do you have - if any? 45xp +++++++ as well!
You've got a great combination there! Do you have any previous experience using cad/cam programs? Robert Johnson has some great videos at his site.



You can also ask questions here as well. Welcome to the forum.

David

Thanks David! I have just the basic Design Edge stuff. I’m familiar with Cad/Cam, but have never used it. Versed in various CNC machine programming. Started in ‘79 on manual machine shop machines and have been mostly CNC for the past 25-30 years. I’ll be sure to check out his videos. Thanks!

[adbuch]

Did you buy your table new or used?
With Basic Design Edge, you can still create drawings and import dxf files created with other programs such as Inkscape. Did your table come with any Height Control? You can go to "Settings, Activate Levels" to find out exactly which software upgrade levels you have.

David

settings, activate levels.jpg

[Sudsrat]

Did you buy your table new or used?
With Basic Design Edge, you can still create drawings and import dxf files created with other programs such as Inkscape. Did your table come with any Height Control? You can go to "Settings, Activate Levels" to find out exactly which software upgrade levels you have.

David
settings, activate levels.jpg

The PlasmaCam is about 4 years old. And yes! I do have the height control. Also bought a scanner. And I did download the latest updates from PlasmaCam a couple of months ago.
Thanks!!

[adbuch]

Did you buy your table new or used?
With Basic Design Edge, you can still create drawings and import dxf files created with other programs such as Inkscape. Did your table come with any Height Control? You can go to "Settings, Activate Levels" to find out exactly which software upgrade levels you have.

David
settings, activate levels.jpg

The PlasmaCam is about 4 years old. And yes! I do have the height control. Also bought a scanner. And I did download the latest updates from PlasmaCam a couple of months ago.
Thanks!!

What kind of scanner?
David

[Sudsrat]

Did you buy your table new or used?
With Basic Design Edge, you can still create drawings and import dxf files created with other programs such as Inkscape. Did your table come with any Height Control? You can go to "Settings, Activate Levels" to find out exactly which software upgrade levels you have.

David
settings, activate levels.jpg

The PlasmaCam is about 4 years old. And yes! I do have the height control. Also bought a scanner. And I did download the latest updates from PlasmaCam a couple of months ago.
Thanks!!

What kind of scanner?
David

[adbuch]

Nice! Are you mainly using this to scan in drawings or photos for manual tracing or autotracing with Design Edge? I believe that the Advanced Design upgrade is required for Design Edge to have the full auto trace capability. By the way, it has been my personal experience that Inkscape will quite often do a better job for an auto trace than Design Edge, and it is much quicker and easier to use for that purpose.

David

[Sudsrat]

Nice! Are you mainly using this to scan in drawings or photos for manual tracing or autotracing with Design Edge? I believe that the Advanced Design upgrade is required for Design Edge to have the full auto trace capability. By the way, it has been my personal experience that Inkscape will quite often do a better job for an auto trace than Design Edge, and it is much quicker and easier to use for that purpose.

David

That was my hopes David. Not familiar with Inkscape but will definitely look into it……..I’m here to learn! Thanks