My new Craftsman plasma table

[Simko]

OK... so maybe it's not a real Craftsman, but it matches everything else in the garage now.

Even though it's not running just yet, I had to post some pictures. I am pretty excited.

I still need to plumb in the plastic drums to the 2" drain on the table.

I am most likely going to take the back plate off of the Velox z-axis and re-drill the mounting pattern to move the z-axis lower. I used the stock mounting pattern and set it so it would be clear to the underside of the gantry, but I don't like how far the torch hangs down. I could actually move the torch up another 1" in the mount and still have enough Z travel to reach the table. I guess I'll run it and see how it holds at high speeds.

A few final CandCNC cables to connect, a little wire management, and it 'should' be ready to cut. I'm sure I will be posting questions once I start cutting.

Thanks everyone on the forum here that helped me through the build. I also can't say enough about CandCNC, CNC Router Parts, Plasma Torch Protection Systems, and Hypertherm. All top-notch companies with excellent technical and customer support.

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[acourtjester]

Happy days are with in reach
It has been a long journey

[exapprentice]

Hi Steve
Very nice, very nice indeed
You must have that wonderful feeling of building something that looks that good
That's the easy bit done and dusted? Now onto the real work of dialling it all in and cutting parts that match your build quality
Well done and keep going

[Capstone]

Well... Would you do it again? I'm guessing yes, cuz you seem like a lot of folks here that like to build their own stuff.

Looks good. Now the fun part comes... dialing in the cutting process. You're barely halfway done.

BTW, you'll have to point me to the details on that magnetic holder for your torch. It looks very good.

[Bigrhamr]

Congrats!
Now that the "Craftsman" picture is on the internet people will be going into Sears looking to buy one just like it

[tcaudle]

Better hurry! Sears is in hospice care.

[tcaudle]

One tiny suggestion : maybe mount the torch further down in the holder? It may get some vibrations or wobble when cutting at higher speeds and making quick turns or direction changes.

[Simko]

Thanks everyone!

I do get the feeling that the project is only half done. I have to take out my CandCNC manuals and start going through all of the set-up and testing. I did have everything running with a Sharpie on the end not long ago so I at least have it figured out enough to do that.

I would do it again. It's taken about a year and i'm sure that I could have bought a prebuilt table and would already be making a little money by now. The nice thing about long drawn out projects is that the wife is much more accepting of a hundred dollars here and there rather than $10k all at once. Most of that cost was in the CandCNC kit and the Hypertherm 85. The rest came from discarded industrial machines, EBay... oh and it helps to have a great father-in-law with a full CNC machine shop.

The torch holder is made by Boss Manufacturing (Plasma Torch Protection Systems) and is a spring loaded mount with a limit switch to stop the machine if it crashes. The kinda cool thing about it is that the mount has detents and you can set the torch at an angle for bevel cuts. http://plasmatorchprotectionsystem.com/ ... on-system/

I agree 100% on the torch hanging too far down. I have enough z-travel to move the torch another 1.5-2" in the holder, but I think the best option is going to just drill the Velox back plate and move the whole z-axis down 4 or 5 inches. For the few times that I might need to cut something 9" high, I will unbolt and move the z-axis up.

The other option would be to give up the gantry clearance and cut the top of the side plates down and move the whole gantry lower. I guess I'll see how bad it jiggles at high speed.

[Dana gear]

Your table looks great, I really like the custom builds, You truly get to build them the way you want them to be.
We operate 2 of the Boss Plasma Torch Protection System torch holders on our two air plasma tables and flat love them.
We operate long machine torches and have had no problems with vibration or high speed movement.

[Rodw]

I would do it again. It's taken about a year and i'm sure that I could have bought a prebuilt table

Well, there is hope for me yet, says he 10 months into his build.