Z Axis question

[edclayton1]

Hi, Can someone tell me what a typical Z axis height for a 4*4 plasma table should be. I am trying to make my own gantry system and do not know how much travel the Z axis should be able to travel. Also does anyone know of where to find plans for making gantry parts such as linear actuators, gear reduction pulley systems, etc... Thanks

[pertneer]

Depends on what you plan on cutting. If you just plan on doing flat material then 2" seems excessive. if you are doing corrugated material then you may need more. I have a rotary axis on mine that I wanted up to 2" material to go under the gantry so I needed a bit more travel. Normally when I am running flat material I have my clearance height set to 1" to clear any tip ups. Usually not necessary, but I also don't write the code to save every wasted movement. I save that for work....

[BensPlasmaAu]

Hi, Can someone tell me what a typical Z axis height for a 4*4 plasma table should be. I am trying to make my own gantry system and do not know how much travel the Z axis should be able to travel. Also does anyone know of where to find plans for making gantry parts such as linear actuators, gear reduction pulley systems, etc... Thanks

For the gear reduction pulley systems I used a website in Australia called AusXMods. Pretty good on price especially now the Aussie dollar is down on the US, delivery was really quick, and the range is really good. I used a already proven design for the reduction mounts. In terms of linear actuators, ebay seems to be the go, for me it was cheaper to buy and ship an already built one than it was to buy all the parts to make it. I got a linear actuator with 5 inches of travel for $180 delivered to Australia. Way more travel than I needed, but good for getting the torch out of the way for loading and unloading material. Could come in handy also for cutting RHS.