Mig torch on Plasma Table

[34by151]

Has anyone put a mig torch on there plasma table

The reason ask is I have a bunch of parts (50 sawtooth bucket cutting edges) that im cutting that need to be hardfaced with a diamond pattern.
Lots of time and work to do the hardfacing

What Im thinking is use my mig and connect it to the table using a custom torch holder

I can make a jig to control the warp or use the THC
My mig has an output for the volts, amps and a remote start
Not sure if swapping the plasma volts for Mig volts and start signal fro plasma to mig will work
Id have to set the voltage divider to 1:1

Not sure if the rest would work

Has anyone donr this and can you give me some pointers?

[djreiswig]

I want to try this sometime. I saw a picture of a mig gun on a PlasmaCam table on their flyer. I'm not sure what kind of voltage the mig would return. I'm wondering if it's the same as plasma with the arc gap, I suppose it would be higher as the wire gets further away from the material, but the wire melting might make it inconsistent.

[acourtjester]

Ok I tend to look at the simple parts of a project to get things settled in my mind first.
Mig torch mounting fairly simple and as to THC control not needed since your not dealing with warping or uneven metal surface.
Now to the setting up the G-code look at "hatch fill" in Inkscape this gives a weaving pattern for filling a pattern. Just draw out the shape of the item, do the Hatch fill operation, have not Z movements. You will have only X and Y movements for the mig torch, manually fire the Mig welder. If you wanted layers you can plan a G-code similar to how a router or mill makes their cuts. Make one layer completely then move the Z up the thickness of the next layer and repeat the same pattern with the mig torch.

[34by151]

I dont have any real issues with programming the ZY. Im not an inscape fan but thats just me I use solidworks

Im just looking for info re connecting the THC to the cnc output of my welder and if anyone had tried it
Im sure I could get away without the THC but it would be a lot better with a THC

[East German]

I built a small welding robot with a Mach3 surface that worked very well.

It was for testing purposes only.

I didn't use the THC, you don't have to.

Peter

[acourtjester]

Why don't you research robotic welders they use Mig welding in their process. You may find they don't use the Mig voltage setting as you think.
https://www.thefabricator.com/thefabric ... r-managers

[34by151]

Most modes of the weleder are constant voltage but it does have mode that will vary voltage based on torch height (stick out)
I was going to give this a try connected to the THC

Im sure I can get it to work just using the torch trigger but if I can get the THC working it will make multipe pass and crossover applicatons a lot easier

Going to try some experements in the next few weeks. Not sure what will happen but will give it a go

[acourtjester]

Very good you may find a procedure that will help others, new things are found because somebody tried something different. go for it.
You may need to test the sensitivity or research what voltage change relates to torch distance. I know it has been posted here 1 volt equals a given distance for Plasma(I don't remember).

[34by151]

If I run the welder in constant voltage mode I can use this voltage to set the pass height.
Can use the thc start to trigger the torch.
Would need to set the the pierce to 0
Touch sensor should be fine to set the initial height

Now in this mode Id have to be carefull when crossing welds beccause the THC would not move the torch up/down
This mode will cause the Amps to vary with torch height
So it may be worth doing some tests (lines and passing over welds) with the current output connected to the THC.
Im not sure what current corosponds to the volts at the port. So it may need a high voltag op-amp to get the correct signal to the THC

The other tests would be to run in variable voltage mode as above and see what happens

I sure I can use the THC to set the initial torch height, run the trorch trigger and lift the torch after torch off.
The answer may be to do the rest in the pathing and disable the rest of the THC functions

Ill start testing soon, post my results as I go

[acourtjester]

For crossing the line you may see about using a Macro to have the torch lift X distance the drop after the line. This could be programed into the G-code. Contact Les at SheetCam to see if this is possible. As the software looks ahead it knows when it would be crossing a line. This is similar to coming to a corner and slowing the speed to improve the cut.

[djreiswig]

I don't think SheetCam likes crossed paths.

[djreiswig]

Any updates on this? I'm curious how it worked out for you.

[34by151]

Ended up putting it on hold due to issues with the control system.

Im in the process of building a new table with linuxcnc

The plan is to have a removable mount plate.
I have the Plasma and air scriber mount worked out

Once that's all running Ill deal with mounts for oxy and mig

[dtdetail]

I'm trying this soon.

Dealing with/fixing/programming/setting up mig robots is my day job.
robots just send an arc start/stop signal, that's pretty much it. (basically robot just pulls the trigger, position is all on the robot side)

I'm going to try some things out and report back.

Cheers

[adbuch]

Dtdetail - I will look forward to seeing what you come up with. How about showing us some photos or videos of your mig robots in action.
Thanks,
David

[dtdetail]

Wish I would’ve checked back sooner last night, on Monday I’ll grab some nice pictures

[adbuch]

Wish I would’ve checked back sooner last night, on Monday I’ll grab some nice pictures

Thanks! I'll look forward to seeing what you are working with.
David

[dtdetail]

I'm having trouble uploading pics/vids.
i tried posting a video of a bunch of cells running together but i think i gave everyone access to my whole icloud at the same time, so i deleted it.

[djreiswig]

Upload to a YouTube account and then attach a link to the video. That's what most people do.
Pics you can just resize and post to the thread.

[dtdetail]

Here’s one from a while back. This is about halfway down one of our mainlines for a big frame (fed from larger front, and rear lines, which are fed from tonnes of subs).
I’m standing on top of a tool/fixture verifying that a weld is still following the correct path.

For legal reasons, everything I wrote above is a lie and I found this pic on the internet.

12502C90-BCCB-4A42-A208-730E24DDEF33.jpeg

[robertspark]

some interesting robot kinematics here:






PUMA Kinematics? {or maybe 5axis bridge kinematics?}
http://linuxcnc.org/docs/devel/html/man ... ins.9.html

too complicated for my brain....

what post processor would you use to allow for clearance for internal welds with a 5 axis welder?
ok for vertical sides.... but if they are tapered....

quicker for me to just pick up a welder and weld it than programme it ..... maybe I'm just thick!

[acourtjester]

Here is another video with Mig CNC plus Plasma in one