Mk3 Diy breakaway torch mount

[tothwelding]

Wish I would've seen this when I was building my table. I ended up countersinking 3 round magnets and gluing them to the aluminum that way it sets flush and put in pins to keep straight

[N2 Welding]

I like the idea of this break away torch mount..

[ForceDesigns]

This awesome. Thanks for sharing your design man.

[Boneyard Welding & Fab]

Nice, Going to give this a try before ordering a premade one.

Thanks

[trtilton61]

Looks like a great design. Thanks for the files.

[SegoMan DeSigns]

Here is my spinoff to Sean's designs with tilting & laser alignment holes. I recommend you cut the alignment holes small then step up holes incrementally with a drill bit to get perfect spacing for magnets and ball bearing fit. The DXF's are a splined CorelDraw export, if you have trouble with them I can fix it for you.

LZ.jpg

Front.jpg

All painted, Air drill will be on the left - plaz center - air scribe will be on the right

Painted.jpg

Edit:

Check the continuity of the wires to the housing ground of the laser modules as they may or may not have a positive ground and shield accordingly.. Ask me how I know this

[SegoMan DeSigns]

2-1/2 + year update on my spinoff design of Sean's original:

Pros:
The breakaway feature has saved some expensive torch parts on collision (400 lb gantry in motion).

The torch tilt head design has saved many grinding discs when miter cutting some 3/4" & 1" plate projects (Hyp 105 torch)

2 separate line lasers vs the single "X" style prevents having to use an offset program on alignment.

Cons:
The eyes for the lasers needs to be mounted in a separate arm that pivots off the lower torch mount, the current 1 pce design distorts the X & Y axis alignment when you tighten the holding clamps. You can adjust the cross hairs to the center of the torch however the 2 lines are no longer true to X & Y which is handy for alignment in previously cut drops.

A 3D printed arm would fix the positive ground issue.
Buy cheap lasers as they don't last long with a water table or plasma smoke.
Red is hard to see on a bright & sunny day so the next order will be green.

I'll do some R&D and post up some new files.

[N2 Welding]

Nice 3 point ball locating & magnetized torch breakaway unit. That will save some money. How’s it holding up?

[SeanP]

It's still in daily use for me, only thing I have done is perhaps add another magnet or two, I have had on occasion when you get that bit of spatter under the shield from the pierce combined with slightly low cut height,it tends to build up more round the shield and when not watching, damn thc dives and knocks off the torch with much cursing!
I know I should rig up a switch trip to stop the machine,,,maybe one day.
Other than that just have airline hand to get rid of any bits around location holes and magnets and take care to make sure it's properly seated.

[acourtjester]

Here is one I developed and 3-D printed has both magnetic break away and floating head switch. I go with the remote laser aiming for torch positioning with a simple crass hair laser.

[N2 Welding]

acourtjester,

Do you ever have problems with the torch randomly popping off the magnetic brakeaway perch or the 3D printed plastic melting or loosing its rigidity from heat in the torch ?

[plasmanewbie]

Super slick setup Tom, I like it. Blown away with what you make with that 3D printer!

[acourtjester]

the body of the torch don't get that hot. Those magnets are strong
3-D printing just another tool. Its fun try it you like it.

[plasmanewbie]

the body of the torch don't get that hot. Those magnets are strong
3-D printing just another tool. Its fun try it you like it.

I plan to try it one day, just too many irons in the fire to think about getting started in something new. Love seeing your 3D projects though.

[acourtjester]

Thanks I will continue to post projects of interest to share, along with the STL files for those that want to use them. Printing knobs for bolt heads today for another project.

7-16 nut handla.JPG

DSCN4485.JPG

DSCN4503.JPG

[adbuch]

Some very nice work there Tom! For me it's just about as much fun to model them (I use Fusion 360) as to print them. Thanks for sharing your work.

David

[N2 Welding]

That’s pretty cool Tom. Do you use an adhesive to secure the 3D printed knobs to the bolt heads or undersize them and heat the bolt heads and push them onto the bolt heads effectively welding them to the bolt heads?

[acourtjester]

They are snug but also a little super glue.