Crossfire XR VS STV table (myplasm vs fire control)

[toddeshpeter]

Hello all, I am looking to get a plasma table to start a business primarily making signs but will also look at other products like fire pits etc.

I have done countless hours of research and have narrowed down my purchase to the crossfire XR and a table from STV. They both seem great but one of the biggest deciding factors is the software that controls the table. Essentially myplasm vs fire control. I am also concerned about how easily the different CAD/CAM options out there will work with these programs.

Can anyone give some advice on the topic? Looking for advice on the software but also open to thoughts on the two companies and tables. Thank you!

[weldguy]

Both machines have come a long way and are both good. I think the STV would be the least proprietary of the 2 in terms of software if the company went belly up. I believe ShopSabre has purchased Langmuir so they have would a great backing during hard times in the future, so not much to worry about. That is a tough decision.

[toddeshpeter]

That is something I hadn’t considered, Langmuir’s software being proprietary and risk of going out of business.

Since doing more research on this topic I came across Arc Light. Although a bit more expensive seems like a better option. Any thoughts on that company in comparison to STV and Langmuir?

[adbuch]

I use and like Plasmacam. Their software is proprietary, but they have been in business for well over 20 years and continue to sell a great product. Their tables may be a bit more expensive than the Langmuir, but the quality of their software more than makes up for the additional cost. I do agree with Weldguy that the fact that ShopSabre now owns Langmuir is good news as far as software longevity is concerned. I know nothing about the myplasm software, so really couldn't comment on that option.

David

[acourtjester]

There is a good amount of tutorials on YouTube showing how to use the software on Plasma tables. Not only the operations but also on CAD and CAM portions of the software. Area to pay attention to are importing different files that you may want to use for products, and being able to import different file formats. CAD files are fairly standard but graphic files is a larger field with different formats.

[East German]

I would recommend that you download the MyPlasm CNC software and try it out without a table.

You can try and simulate all of this for free.

Peter
A satisfied user of My Plasm CNC

[weldguy]

I would recommend that you download the MyPlasm CNC software and try it out without a table.

You can try and simulate all of this for free.

Peter
A satisfied user of My Plasm CNC

Good advice

[CWPlasma]

I run a crossfire xr, for me it has been great. I have run other brands as well (plasmacam and dynatorch), and find fire control to be more user friendly, especially for new users. Any cad program should work for most tables, and sheetcam is excellent for CAM.

[robertspark]

you could download and try both I think

https://www.langmuirsystems.com/downloads

https://proma-elektronika.com/to-download/

[NeverEnuff]

As a new owner of a SparX 4400, with the additional homing switch upgrade, when you home the table you will only be finding a zero point for the x,y,z axis. Not actually squaring the gantry. With the configuration that the table comes with, if the gantry is sitting out of square when you power the table on the steppers will keep that out of square relationship. I was able to download the newest Myplasm software (for free), change some of the wiring it the control box and add one more homing sensor to get my table to square the gantry when running the homing routine.

[adbuch]

I upgraded one of my Avid CNC cnc router tables (Pro4848) to Centroid Acorn Controller with Centroid CNC12 control software. It does the auto square routine as part of the homing/initialization sequence. It is sort of a pain as it takes so long to home. My PlasmaCam DHC2 4x4 stays in square once the table is set up, so no need for a squaring routine. It runs from closed loop servo motors - one each for the x and Y motion. For your Sparx 4400 setup where you have a dual stepper motor drive for the gantry, it may be more important to do the squaring routine to make sure that your two stepper motors are synchronized. I suppose it may also depend on how stiff (or lack of stiffness) your particular gantry is on that machine.

David

[dbchaplin03]

I am not expert at all and this is only my second post on this forum so take it for what its worth lol. I'm getting ready to retire from the Air Force and wanting to start a fabrication business part since that's my hobby anyhow and maybe do it full time at some point.

I have also been researching all these machines. I know the adage buy once, cry once is a true fact and I prefer to buy the best of whatever i can afford when I do buy something. However for this CNC machine I'm nervous to spend a lot because I've never owned one and not sure how often it will get used. Then I'm afraid that if business really takes off that I'll want to upgrade to a fiber laser at some point.

In my research I stumbled on a company LDS CNC. They are a small, one man shop out of Illinois I believe. Reading on forums I understand that there could be risk if he went out of business as others have said but his prices are pretty reasonable for what look like pretty solid machines. The gentleman who owns/operates it is incredibly nice and available pretty much anytime even on weekends. I've talked to him a couple of times about his machines and seems like all his parts and everything are sourceable even if he stopped doing business. This is just another option to look into. I haven't bought anything and have no affiliation with him. Just sharing my experience from my conversations is all.