Let me introduce myself...

[thrailkill]

My name is Mark, I am retired and have always had an appreciation for tools and toys. I built a Torchmate 1 "DIY" 4x4 foot plasma table 12 years ago in preparation to start a new business. It was a mess to use in the garage of the house in town, rental workshops were expensive, so my wife and I bought a property out of town to develop with a house and dedicated workshop. My concept was a modest, maybe off-the-grid, house and workshop with renewable energy. That evolved into a 5,000 square foot house, including the garage and workshop, with a 30x56 foot metal building and a 30x60 greenhouse on 42 acres, with REA power, 35 miles from town. Pretty much just short of everything we could have wanted and could afford at that time.

Now, 12 years later, the property is almost complete and it's for sale. With 3 young grandchildren, my wife wants to be in town to see them often and spend time with them... I do not. I'm looking for a modest, maybe off-the-grid, house and workshop with renewable energy closer to town. I wouldn't mind a developed property on a couple of acres that needs updating but don't want to spend the rest of my life doing it.

Several years ago, I planned an upgrade to my Torchmate 1 by purchasing a Torchmate 2 extruded aluminum gantry and hardware for a 5x10 foot plasma table. I had disassembled the Torchmate 1 and the Torchmate 2 upgrade was stored in the metal building while I continued to work on the 42 acres. A couple of years ago, in order to get back to having a working plasma table, I priced a current Torchmate 4x4 foot plasma table. I laughed when the salesperson gave me the quote of $30K, don't know why I laughed, it wasn't really all that funny. For whatever reason I recently checked back with Torchmate and that table is now $32K so I purchased an Eastwood 4x4 foot plasma table for $8K.

I had tried to sell the Torchmate 1 & 2 hardware for less than the price of the Thermo Dynamics A40 torch that goes with it but no luck. I am in the process of building the Torchmate 2 upgraded table, 4x4 foot with water table, it will be very similar to the Eastwood table I purchased, and I will be using the Eastwood table to cut parts for the Torchmate table. I'll eventually sell one of the tables to offset my expenses.

I have previously used TurboCAD software to design my plasma cut files, I have version 2015. A lot has changed in the last 12 years, I would appreciate any recommendations as to the preferred design software currently in use.

Thanks,

Mark

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[plasmanewbie]

Welcome! Great back story, enjoyed the read. Didn't know Eastwood had a table but that looks pretty impressive for 8K. As for design software I use CorelDraw for artistic drawings and Fusion 360 for mechanical drawings, Inkscape is very popular among folks here on pspider.
Fusion 360 is free for hobby use and awesome for mechanical design, Inkscape is free for anyone and great for artistic design. Corel is a few hundred bucks but I find it easier to use than Inkscape and I prefer it for my artsy stuff.

[acourtjester]

Welcome aboard Mark sounds like your a busy guy for a retired one. But you got to go with the fun things. I use TurboCad 2018 for both Plasma and 3-D printing parts drawing and Inkscape for the arty things. They have done most of what I have needed. Many have moved into Fusion 360 for drawing, I may get there one day. I use SheetCam and EstlCam for the G-code planning for plasma and routing.
Have fun
Tom

[Joe Jones]

It sounds like you have te table issues worked out. I am spoiled, I guess, because I use DesignEdge software which is awesome for drawing just about anything. However, if a person knows AutoCAD and some of the other programs of that genre, then they can also whip out designs quickly.

Good luck on your future endeavors!

Joe

[adbuch]

Hi Mark - welcome to the forum! This is the first I have heard of an Eastwood branded table, but most of their stuff is pretty good quality. Many folks like to use Inkscape for drawing and sheetcam for creating the cut files, while others use Fusion 360 for cad/cam/post processing. CorelDraw is also a great choice. I personally use Design Edge and Inkscape for much of my work, but sometimes also rely on CorelDraw, LightBurn, Vinylmaster, and several others. I guess whatever you feel comfortable with that gets the job done. Good luck with your continuing venture.

David