Howdy from Texas

[QuantumTX]

My name is Durk, and I am in the Houston, Texas area. I would like to introduce myself and say hi. I have certainly enjoyed the wealth of information on your forum. I have been studying information on cnc plasma table builds for a while. We are looking to build a 5x10 table perhaps by the end of the year and pairing it with a Hypertherm. I am simply studying all the facets of table designs, softwares and accessories.
It is noticeable there is a pleasant and common sense of help and sharing across the site. Some forums only want to belittle and talk down to others. There has been a very nice sense of helpfulness and open dialogue between all of you.
I appreciate the opportunity to learn from everyone along the way. I look forward to all the experiences on the long road ahead.
It looks like about ten years ago build kits and gantry kits were common. Today it looks like many of those providers began making commercially, turn key machines. Good for them and their success. I am simply studying all the available options, suppliers of components, designs, etc. We are a metal fabrication business and have access to machining; therefore, we are looking into fabricating a very nice table.
Again, I just wanted to say hello and thank you for the opportunity to learn from all of you.
Have a great day.
Durk

[Joe Jones]

Hi Durk,

Speaking only for myself, a cnc plasma table is a cnc plasma table. It is the SOFTWARE that makes or breaks the table.

I am of course partial to the PlasmaCam tables, and their "Big Brother." the SAMSON 510 table, which is their 5'x10' version.

http://www.samsoncnc.com/

There are some who will pooh-pooh the PlasmaCam tables as "flimsy," and "bolt together," etc. But I can make ANYTHING on my Samson table, that anyone else can make on any other equivalent cnc plasma table, and I can do it in less time. The proprietary software, "DesignEdge" is superior to all of the others in my humble opinion, because of its simplicity, and its speed.

No, you will not be able to pound your chest and boast about learning G-Code and rambling off endless cryptic codes to make the table do this or that. But you WILL be able to draw anything you want, QUICKLY and ACCURATELY, and cut it out, using the Samson 510 table and DesignEdge software. Add a Hypertherm 85 or 45XP or whatever, and a machine torch, and you are cutting!

Where are you located? I visit table owners for social calls if they are any reasonable drive from my home here in Kentucky, and I do training on DesignEdge via in-person visits, as well as train people on the software for free, online.

The other tables, including anything YOU might build, all use two or three different software packages to get an image from a thought to a finished piece. The "Edge" that PlasmaCam has is that it is an all-in-one system. You can take a napkin sketch, draw a vector cut file, and cut out the piece, all using one single piece of software.

Everyone has their own pet brand, and their nemesis. It is the "Ford vs. Chevy vs. Dodge" arguments of the 70's muscle cars. It is the DOS vs. MAC vs. ATARI PC wars of the 80's. Nothing ever changes. Today, and even HERE on this forum, you will find the Langmuir lovers, the Torchmate fanatics, the PlasmaCam junkies, and many, MANY others. They will ALL sing the praises of their chosen machines, and attempt to steer you away from the competition.

The PlasmaCam tables are not "better" or "Worse" than the others. There really isn't much difference. It is the SOFTWARE that makes the difference.

Good luck on your adventure into the mad, mad, mad, mad world of cnc plasma cutting!

Joe

[acourtjester]

Welcome aboard Durk, many DIY types here and help with your decisions on a path of building your own table. You can use the search function in the upper right for a quick look around. And when you have a question about sections like software and vendor locations will be answered as you ask. With your companies fabrication business building a table should make a great help both in construction and how to use it.

[robertspark]

this may be a useful document to understand some of the aspects of plasma cutting and the need for acceleration (lightweight) as part of your design considerations.

https://linuxcnc.org/docs/stable/html/p ... rimer.html

may be some of this may be useful for you:

i know that acourtjester (Tom) makes his tables using chain and sprockets with a shared (solid shaft) between the 2x Y axis'

rack and pinon seems to always be the most chosen option (especially for large tables), i use it on my small table, along with a stepper (or servo) gear reduction, I use something similar to this that i fabricated using some plasma cut plates, similar, not the same, using standard parts bearings and shafts, and it's spring loaded a bit similar to the similar belt gear reduction drives.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/132994274061
https://www.avidcnc.com/pro-rack-and-pi ... p-226.html
https://www.avidcnc.com/standard-rack-a ... -p-80.html

I have not seen one of these drive mechanisms in the flesh, but they looked to be the fastest, been around a little while, but does not seem to have taken off, would take some clever design to integrate the pinion.


if i were to build anything new now, i'd probably use clearpath servo's and stepper drive alternatives
https://teknic.com/products/clearpath-b ... placement/

please don't use mach3 as it's very old now and there are (better?) alternatives available that integrate THC control into them. Mach3 is also no longer developed (10+ years?) Mach4 development is I think still ongoing....
for windows, probably uccnc https://cncdrive.com/UCCNC.html
for linux (and the most lowest cost + not being locked into a manufacturer or supplier) linuxcnc + mesa hardware + qt plasmac
https://linuxcnc.org/docs/devel/html/pl ... asmac.html

there are other control box sellers who will sell drives, motors and controllers, software and a pc, such as candcnc https://www.candcnc.com/

there are others such as:
myplasma cnc https://myplasmcnc.com.pl/ (some love it, couple of posts on here)
masso https://www.masso.com.au/ (be careful, everything is an extra, seems to have a faithful following)
centroid acorn https://www.centroidcnc.com/centroid_di ... oller.html (this is built on the back of a commercial offering from centroid, it does not allow modification.... it just works as it is.... I don't know anyone using it, but I did consider them before i went with uccnc after mach3 + mach4)

I am now using linuxcnc, but I am just a hobby user and i use it with plasma, mill, routers and a lathe.

I don't work in the industry and have no bias other than what i've used (mach3, mach4, warp9 usbSS + ESS, uccnc (+uc400eth & uc300eth), + linuxcnc (+mesa hardware various)). I'd never used a parallel port setup, or grbl, but I've got a laser running lasergrbl and a 3d printer using klipper (I have used marlin in the past).

welcome, and would be good / interesting to see your build thread and choices.