Another CNC plasma cutout

[Gadget]

I made this cutout today after many hours of work creating the drawing and machine code. I will get faster than that as I learn the design process. I had too many segments in the drawing which made it hard to get any speed out of the cut but it turned out ok.

Dan

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[denrep]

Gadget - That's a great build and adaptation from the gantry's original wood working use. You did a sweet job.

I'd like to have an automated table; the trouble is for my type of one-off burns, for maintenance items and such, it's just not practical to spend the programming time it takes to enter a shape into the system.

I wonder how complicated the programming would be for a DIY system that "learns" the pattern to be cut by first having the gantry passed over the shape manually?

Thanks for the film! :waving:

[Gadget]

Gadget - That's a great build and adaptation from the gantry's original wood working use. You did a sweet job.

I'd like to have an automated table; the trouble is for my type of one-off burns, for maintenance items and such, it's just not practical to spend the programming time it takes to enter a shape into the system.

I wonder how complicated the programming would be for a DIY system that "learns" the pattern to be cut by first having the gantry passed over the shape manually?

Thanks for the film! :waving:

For that I would suggest a pantograph plasma cutter. They have plans for them on the torchmate website. You will have to dig around there though, they aren't easy to find.

Dan

[Joe H]

Gadget - That's a great build and adaptation from the gantry's original wood working use. You did a sweet job.

I'd like to have an automated table; the trouble is for my type of one-off burns, for maintenance items and such, it's just not practical to spend the programming time it takes to enter a shape into the system.

I wonder how complicated the programming would be for a DIY system that "learns" the pattern to be cut by first having the gantry passed over the shape manually?

Thanks for the film! :waving:

You'd be suprised how fast it can be. I can draw a sketch on a piece of paper of a fairly complicated shape, hand it to the guy that runs our laser, and have my part in 30 minutes or less.


Again, Gadget, great work man.

[denrep]

You'd be suprised how fast it can be. I can draw a sketch on a piece of paper of a fairly complicated shape, hand it to the guy that runs our laser, and have my part in 30 minutes or less.
Again, Gadget, great work man.

Joe H - Do you think the laser man's programming coordinates or tracing a sketch?

Gadget - Do you see where you could become able to quickly program a somewhat complicated shape?

[Jeep07]

Gadget are you using the Mach and Sheet cam software or writing the straight GCode? Are you happy with the size table you built? I have a gantry etc setup for a 5x2 table and was saving for THC but seeing you don't have it makes me want to try to build it without THC first just to get the project going. How thick was that stock? I would expect that plasma to move faster than it is.

[Gadget]

Gadget are you using the Mach and Sheet cam software or writing the straight GCode? Are you happy with the size table you built? I have a gantry etc setup for a 5x2 table and was saving for THC but seeing you don't have it makes me want to try to build it without THC first just to get the project going. How thick was that stock? I would expect that plasma to move faster than it is.

Jeep07,
So far I am happy with the table size. I have limited space in the garage unless I want to park outside.
I am using EMC2 and Sheetcam TNG (beta free version) to write the code and I manually modify it further to suit my setup.
I use the non-contact start method on my plasma and keep the torch set at .080 above the material. This seems to work pretty well. THC would be much better but it is also too expensive for hobby (make that non profit) use. The stock was about .090 aluminum.

DenRep,
My setup will not reverse design. That would take a completely different table to map coordinates. You could possibly take readings with a pointer on the head and manually move the unit to each position and write the coordinates down but that would be quite slow and tedious.

Dan

[Edwardo]

Hi all, i'm new to this forum and found it browsing for cnc plasma, hats off to Gadget for building his own cnc plasma table, it looks great. I built my table from manufactures design 6 months ago, and everything else was shipped to me, i wouldnt have known where to start going from scratch... I also just use mine for a hobby for now, ( set up in my garage) but would like to someday start up a small business with it..
I also run corel3x, sheetcam, Dynatorch programs..

EDD

[denrep]

Greetings Edwardo,

Congratulations on your cnc table build. Maybe you can post the details sometime.

Well, does your software provide for a fairly simple way to duplicate a somewhat complex shape?

Good Luck

[Edwardo]

Thanks

PlasmaMate was part of the software with the table, it has a bunch of different shapes, gussets, flanges etc. that can be altered to what ever is needed, I havent had the chance to use it yet though. The other option is with corel draw, im just at the stage of learning how to use it, i designed a few gates, signs, with it so far, but it takes time... im sure with more practice i should be able to speed things up.. my biggest hurdle is i work away from home for a few months at a time and do the cnc plasma on my breaks, seems like everytime i go home i have to re-learn everything again, but it is coming slowly..i havent got any pics of my table or things i made on this computer at work, but when i get home i'll post some in a month or so..caught the cnc bug a 1.5 year ago, was surfing the net for a home hobby/business, then boom... knew rite away this is what i wanted, so did a pile of reno's on my garage and bought the table etc last january... got it all together and started learning how to use it... was frustrating at the begining, but once i learnt a few things it got easier and really enjoy it now, just wish i could do it full time, but that may come later on...

EDD

[Joe H]

Joe H - Do you think the laser man's programming coordinates or tracing a sketch?

Gadget - Do you see where you could become able to quickly program a somewhat complicated shape?

Nope, it doesn't have any capability to scan a drawing. He's just quick. He'll draw it up in TurboCAD, put the material on the laser table, and away she goes.

If it's a shape that can be sheared, it's faster to just go shear it. When the shape is more complex, especially if it has curves, it's much faster to use the laser than it is to lay everything out on sheetmetal and cut it by hand.

I'm not sure I understand what you guys mean by "programming" Our software takes a vectored CAD drawing and just cuts it out.

[denrep]

Very interesting.

I'll try to post pics of the patterns for some typical simple shapes that I cut, and then see what you guys would think about trying to make them digital.

I guess it would be nice if you could first print or trace on paper an actual size image of the finished cut, before experimenting with high-dollar steel.

[Edwardo]

Im not sure about other systems, but with mine i can do a dry run, the table goes through all the motions, except Z, only with out turning the torch on, plus on the computer screen it shows the oject you are cutting, where your torch is located, and tracks it motion, shows inside cuts 1st, outside last, lead ins/outs same as it does when cutting. I usually run this when im cutting a larger peice, it has a laser X-hair that i can mark the sheet with chaulk in different locations to measure just to double check. So far, if the table is calibrated proper, the measurements coming out of corel, through sheetcam, and into the DT program have been bang on.... 1 thing i was having trouble with for awhile was kerf width settings in sheetcam, i would either have it to far offset, or not enough, when not enough it would blow out fine lines of steel that were part of a drawing, to much kerf and it would refuse to cut saying it was to small a area to cut... so the kerf settings are important for proper sizing of anything you cut, more so a peice that has to be a certain size, metal art not so much...

EDD

[MoroneysWelding]

Im not sure about other systems, but with mine i can do a dry run, the table goes through all the motions, except Z, only with out turning the torch on, plus on the computer screen it shows the oject you are cutting, where your torch is located, and tracks it motion, shows inside cuts 1st, outside last, lead ins/outs same as it does when cutting. I usually run this when im cutting a larger peice, it has a laser X-hair that i can mark the sheet with chaulk in different locations to measure just to double check. So far, if the table is calibrated proper, the measurements coming out of corel, through sheetcam, and into the DT program have been bang on.... 1 thing i was having trouble with for awhile was kerf width settings in sheetcam, i would either have it to far offset, or not enough, when not enough it would blow out fine lines of steel that were part of a drawing, to much kerf and it would refuse to cut saying it was to small a area to cut... so the kerf settings are important for proper sizing of anything you cut, more so a peice that has to be a certain size, metal art not so much...

EDD

What type of machine do you have???:drinkup:

[Gadget]

My homebrew CNC will do all that as well with exception of laser crosshair. I have a laser pen that I plan on using for that.
I am using the Linux UbuntuEMC2 controller software.
Dan

[MoroneysWelding]

My homebrew CNC will do all that as well with exception of laser crosshair. I have a laser pen that I plan on using for that.
I am using the Linux UbuntuEMC2 controller software.
Dan

Ahhh a linux man... glad to see that does that software allow for importing clipart type images to be cut out??

[Gadget]

Ahhh a linux man... glad to see that does that software allow for importing clipart type images to be cut out??

The linux CNC only used GCode files. You can do the work with Corel and save as DXF or SVG. I bought the DXF tool for Corel from CandCNC.com which reduces the number of notes significantly making the cuts much faster. Once it is DXF I use sheetcam to create the toolpath. More steps but more control too.
Dan