New member

[Creative25]

I am new to plasma cnc.
I Just built my table and have lots of fun learning.
Eager to learn from others.
The first plasma table I saw live in action is my home built one. So I have no idea what’s possible and what not.
I also don’t know how well it performs but so far I am happy with what it can do with it.

[adbuch]

Welcome aboard Creative25! Perhaps post some photos of your table setup so we can see what you have built.

David

[acourtjester]

Great another DIYer, great for the learning, fun project too, great addition to your shop. Remember you can add optional attachments to your table too, like a router, diamond scribe, and drag knife. You can find these things with the search function in the upper right for a look around. Are you a craftsman/hobbyist or is it for expanding a business? Projects can include custom parts, neat gifts, other tools let you mind wander. have fun

[adbuch]

Tom shows some excellent examples of creative projects using optional attachments to his cnc plasma table. Nice work Tom!!

David

[Creative25]

Some pictures of my machine.
I am still planning to add a rotational axle etc.

IMG_0401.jpeg (57.89 KiB) Viewed 721 times

IMG_0401.jpeg (57.89 KiB) Viewed 721 times

IMG_0262.jpeg (166.24 KiB) Viewed 721 times

IMG_0262.jpeg (166.24 KiB) Viewed 721 times

[Creative25]

These are some of my latest photos.
This machine has zero backlash also hardly any noise from
Chains.

Most of the gantry parts are experimental.
But I must admit it already works better than I expected.

I plan to redesign the whole gantry to make it lighter and more rigid. Which now will be easy with a working machine.
First thing will be the Z axis.

Machine works with an old MacBook Pro. And Linuxcnc with a mesa board.

[SegoMan DeSigns]

These are some of my latest photos.
This machine has zero backlash also hardly any noise from
Chains.

Most of the gantry parts are experimental.
But I must admit it already works better than I expected.

I plan to redesign the whole gantry to make it lighter and more rigid. Which now will be easy with a working machine.
First thing will be the Z axis.

Machine works with an old MacBook Pro. And Linuxcnc with a mesa board.


IMG_0450.jpeg
IMG_0448.jpeg

Welcome to the site,

Tom and I are fellow sprocket heads

Chain drives are an economical and precise moving option. I have a rear drive line with one motor so no programing arguments there. I can appreciate the comment about have a CNC table on hand to build your CNC table. I used a 2x2 TorchMate to make a lot of the parts for the 6x12 table:

Here is some ideas for your Z and torch holder. Think about mounting a pen or scribe while your in the design stage:

https://www.plasmaspider.com/viewtopic. ... 10#p152510

Keep those pics coming.

Steve

[acourtjester]

You may look into Proximity Sensors to replace your switches, Much smaller and easy to work with. Here is a post about my installation.
viewtopic.php?p=230902&hilit=proximity+sensor#p230902
I also went with LinuxCNC with the QTPlasmaC GUI it has some nice options. I have a circuit I used for the Ohmic sensor which is a small module easy to wire and cost bout $10. Works great. Modules come in 5, 12, and 24 volts some it fits right in with the Mesa controller.

[adbuch]

These are some of my latest photos.
This machine has zero backlash also hardly any noise from
Chains.

Most of the gantry parts are experimental.
But I must admit it already works better than I expected.

I plan to redesign the whole gantry to make it lighter and more rigid. Which now will be easy with a working machine.
First thing will be the Z axis.

Machine works with an old MacBook Pro. And Linuxcnc with a mesa board.


IMG_0450.jpeg
IMG_0448.jpeg

Creative25 - thanks for sharing those photos of your table. I'm sure you are having lots of fun designing and testing as you go.
Great work!!

David

[Creative25]

Welcome to the site,

Tom and I are fellow sprocket heads

Chain drives are an economical and precise moving option. I have a rear drive line with one motor so no programing arguments there. I can appreciate the comment about have a CNC table on hand to build your CNC table. I used a 2x2 TorchMate to make a lot of the parts for the 6x12 table:

Here is some ideas for your Z and torch holder. Think about mounting a pen or scribe while your in the design stage:

https://www.plasmaspider.com/viewtopic. ... 10#p152510

Keep those pics coming.

Steve
[/quote]

I have one question.
What maintenance are you doing on your Sprockets and chains?

[SegoMan DeSigns]

Other than an occasional blast with compressed air, I have only had to replace the idler sprockets on the tensioners In the 5 years it has been moving. I have sourced another brand of idlers with a bigger bearing that should help on the wear factor, the sprocket itself showed very little wear. I used a nickle plated chain to cut down on the rust factor, this winters maintenance will probably include chain removal / cleaning / dipping it in some hot wax.

I went a different route on running sprockets / chains as I wanted to keep as much weight and moving parts mounted to the frame vs gantry (40 pitch chain / rated to 4,000 lbs):

Drive shaft / reduction sprockets / single larger "1400 oz NEMA 34" servo motor (35 pitch chain / rated to 2400 lbs):

I started out with a spring for chain tensioners but swapped then out with urethane bushings:

You can see the chain in motion at 6:16 of this video:

[acourtjester]

Here is an image of the chain on my DIY table similar to Segoman's. My path for 2 side drive has a shaft going through the upper rail tube.