Introduction

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trucutcnc
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Introduction

Post by trucutcnc »

Hi All...

We are pleased to now be advertising and participating on PlasmaSpider. We are more than happy to answer any questions on our machines either here in this forum, over the phone or in person. If you find yourself in or near the Nashville area, we welcome you stop by and see a TruCut machine in action. We run them in our shop every day.

Our SeriesOne machine is an industrial strength plasma table without the industrial price. It is capable of plasma and oxy/fuel cutting. SeriesOne table are available in 4x8, 5x10 and 5x12 and are available as open frame tables or with water or downdraft . The Titan series machines, which will be available by the end of the year, are an affordable option for the heavy industrial user and will be available in sizes starting at 5x12.

Ross Carlisle
RC Enterprises
Nashville, TN
615-290-6260
www.trucutcnc.com
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http://www.trucutcnc.com
Ross Carlisle
Jackson, TN
Redneck
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Re: Introduction

Post by Redneck »

Hey Ross,

It was good to meet you and Cindy when we were passing through Nashville. If anyone is looking at a new cnc table, take a look at a TruCut~! :P
muzza
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Re: Introduction

Post by muzza »

G'day Ross and firstly thanks for becoming a contributor to this fantastic community.

I've been cutting for about 4 1/2 years initially on a Plasmacam and now on a C&CNC based table I built myself.

I'm looking at setting up another table in the new year when I move to another shop so I have been to your website and viewed the information and videos. Firstly whoever the operator was in the first video was needs their butt kicked for leaving that tipped up part sitting there for the duration of the cut ;) .
Question is that you cut speeds are almost half what I currently do and amperage is way higher, (ie your cutting 1/8 inch cold rolled at 80ipm at 60 amps, I do the same material at 140 ipm at 45 amps) is this because of the weight of the steel gantry (which looks a lot more substantial than mine) or is the Thermal Dynamics rated much lower than the Hypertherm I use? Also what is the dross like on the bottom side at these speeds? Although I see a couple of things I don't like about you table there are other features I do like.

I'm still undecided as to whether to buy a ready to run table, gantry kit or build my own again, each has their benefits but being that I am in Oz the later 2 options seem most likely.

Thanks
Murray
trucutcnc
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Re: Introduction

Post by trucutcnc »

Most of those videos are a couple of years old. We're working on putting some new ones together. They were shot using a Cutmaster manual machine. We see faster speeds on the A series TD and PowerMax machines. I typically cut 1/8"CR at 40A @ 100 on a TD A120. It will go faster, but I find that at faster speeds, the cut degrades more rapidly with tip wear. At 100IPM there is virtually no dross. 140IPM doesn't yield a better cut.

Speed is all about the plasma power supply. It has nothing to do with the machine or gantry weight. The PowerMax machines do tend to run a little faster for a given current setting, especially on heavy plate (3/8" or greater). Customers have told me that consumable life isn't good, but I can't confirm that yet. Our new machine will have a PM105. Our table runs 4 - 6 hours a day every day, so consumable cost and life is a pretty big deal for us.

We've made a number of improvements over the last two years and are in the process of prototyping a new table which will be available in sizes ranging from 5x12 to 8x20. It will have a completely redesigned controller. We're going away from standard PC's and going to an industrial embedded PC running Win7. That will be connected to an Ethernet controller and Gecko drives. We're designing this table to deal with the issues involved in High definition, they are all HF start. It will be available in three configurations....steppers with our controller and THC, AC servos with our controller and THC or AC servos with ProMotion controls and THC.
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http://www.trucutcnc.com
Ross Carlisle
Jackson, TN
muzza
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Re: Introduction

Post by muzza »

Thanks for that explanation and info Ross, I too cut 4 to 6 hours a day but mostly on lighter stuff, 16 gauge to 1/8 using a Hypertherm PM 45 and consider I get excellent consumable life but find the cut quality only drops when I drop speed and dross is almost non existent . The reason I thought the gantry weight may have been a factor was that Tom Caudle had told me to keep my total gantry weight down to below 100lb or the inertia of the gantry would cause gantry overrun on corners, my original gantry design was much more robust and heavier than what I have now.
I am happy with using Sheetcam and Mach3 although there are features in Plasmacam I miss.
I look forward to seeing your new range and will keep on eye on your site.
Thanks
Murray
muzza
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Re: Introduction

Post by muzza »

Hi Cindy,
I'm actually from Perth/ Western Australia but have been living on the east coast for the past 4 years but heading home again next year.

Being who and what I am I guess I don't like change and stuck with Plasmacam because it was what I had come to know and was comfortable with and had every intention of buying one of their Sampson tables at the beginning of this year but that's another story. I have used Sheetcam/ Mach 3 for most of this year now and realistically I don't know what I was hesitant about as I'm now quite comfortable with both, still learning all the time but happy in most respects. I wasn't aware until recently when Ross pointed out how to rotate a part in Sheetcam that it could be done although when I tried it, it rotated but wouldn't generate a code but will have a play when I get a few moments. I'm still learning.

Main thing I miss about the Plasmacam software is the fact it's all in one and so much easier to manipulate parts in position, size etc. on the run which makes it so much quicker and easier to fill voids with small pieces etc. or multiply and mix up parts for cutting.

Main thing I see about your design I don't like is the chain drive. Why? probably more because I'm not too familiar with it and everything I have ever had with any sort of chain drive has meant wear and maintenance. Yes a rack and pinion will also wear and I have minor wear on my Y axis rack already but it is quite light for the work it does. The way I see it a chain is made up of many individual parts being each link, a thou of wear or stretch in each link equates to 100 thou or a tenth of an inch over a 100 link chain. Maybe I'm wrong and linking it back to my agricultural upbringing too much but that's what puts me off chain drives. Years ago I built a mandrell bender and it wasn't until we changed it from a chain drive to a gear drive that we could get the consistency and repeatability that we needed.

I like to think I have an open mind, don't take my comments to heart or as criticism but more feedback of my opinions and that's all they are, my opinions, I have been wrong before and expect I will be many more times in my life, he who has never failed has never tried.

Murray
muzza
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Re: Introduction

Post by muzza »

I had the opportunity to join a couple of mates who flew out to the states this week for SEMA but had to decline, I need longer days and more of them in a week but a trip over in the new year is a possibility.
Murray
trucutcnc
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Re: Introduction

Post by trucutcnc »

We run chain because it is basically maintenance free. It's been used on all sorts of machinery for many years. It is typically run dry on motorcycles with little maintenance. We do a lot of machine maintenance for local industrial clients and one of the more common requests is rack and pinion replacement. On larger machines that can cost upwards of $100/foot. The amount of wear will depend on how much it gets used and often the machine is cleaned. Look at it this way....You have a steel rack meshed with a steel pinion engaged with compressed air with no lubrication. Throw some plasma dust on the rack and you're looking at about a 2 year rack life on a table....not to mention the noise they make when they get some wear on them.

Roller chain is designed to run in harsh environments with little to no maintenance. Accuracy and repeatability is the same and offers zero backlash. Resolution is determined by pinion sprocket diameter. The only thing that will change that is a change in the pinion diameter....no different than R&P. That chain we use is designed with an 1100lb working load. Used the way we use it, is only exposed to less than 10% of that, which means it never stretches. We have machines that have been running for 10 years with the original chain. It just never wears.

We've been in this business for about 15 years and have built machines using ball screw, lead screw, R&P, linear servo and roller chain. Roller chain is by far the most economical from a purchase price and maintenance perspective. Ball screw with a driven nut would be 2nd choice. Linear servo is very cool, but VERY expensive. Most or the $500K+ fiber laser machines are now using linear servos.

Gantry overrun can occur if the motors are undersized and/or machine acceleration is set too high. A properly designed machine will not overrun because the designer would have...or should have...taken things like gantry weight and primary and secondary drive reductions into consideration when designing the machine. A Koike Mastergraph gantry weighs around 3000 pounds and it stops on a dime. The smaller hobby machines use aluminum so they can get away with smaller motors and drives, which cost less.

We actually prefer the separate approach to CAD and CAM. We have much more control over the process that way.
--------------------------------------------
http://www.trucutcnc.com
Ross Carlisle
Jackson, TN
muzza
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Re: Introduction

Post by muzza »

Thanks for the explanation Ross. I know you guys are much more knowledgeable than me when it comes to the best practices in machine design and I have no reason to doubt your design or choice. Like I said above I'm always willing to learn and consider myself fairly open minded. I have based my assumptions on chain drive on past experiences in different fields to this. I think if you research hard enough you will find a negative response to any system you look at and probably often based on misinformed information, that's why I'm grateful you as the manufacturer are explaining things first hand.
As you say the ongoing maintenance cost is an important factor to consider in the overall scheme of things and judging by your explanation I was totally wrong in my assumption.
I totally agree with what you have written elsewhere here about utilizing non proprietary components and software especially with me being at least 3 days away from spares even with express freight.
I consider the purchase price is an important deciding factor in which way I go with my next table but it is only part of the equation, the overall investment for the expected life can often mean paying more up front can translate to a huge saving over the next 5 years or more in many ways. Time is money and downtime costs money as you are no doubt aware the same as parts cleanup is time costing money as well as consumables used in the cleanup costing money.
My final decision when the time comes will be based on many factors. If I believe that your table is the best option for me that is the way I'll go, the more I know and understand about you setup the greater the chances I'll purchase from Trucut.
My decision to purchase a Hypertherm plasma cutter rather than other bands was really not influenced by price, please Jim don't take this comment back to your pricing department before I buy my next one ;) but based on the overall package, largely customer support which really doesn't have a tangible price. I will teat my next table purchase in much the same way.
A month ago you weren't even in the running as I wasn't really aware of you and if I had of seen your table I probably would have discounted it based my wrong belief in chain drive so thanks for taking the time to educate me. Your investment of time here is appreciated and could also lead to financial rewards further down the track. Even if i don't purchase from you I'm sure there are others reading along if I haven't bored them to sleep who too are more educated on your table than yesterday.

Thanks Murray
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JJsCustomDesigns
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Re: Introduction

Post by JJsCustomDesigns »

Im glad TruCut explained it too. I was against chain drive machines in the beginning of this thread. Reading this has opened my eyes.

Thanks
"There are bigger things planned for you in your life, be patient"

Im on the prowl for a good used Hypertherm Plasma with hand torch.
PM me with details
Thanks
cindy carlisle
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Re: Introduction

Post by cindy carlisle »

Cindy
http://www.trucutcnc.com
615-290-6260
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