Cutting a 5x5 square tube

[AndyZ]

Hi all, I have a piece of 5x5 inch square stock that I plan to use for a address post out by the road in front of my house. My intent is to cut the numbers out using a stencil font, running power to it and inserting an LED light inside to back light the numbers. This is in Alaska and it is dark much of the year. I think it will look great but... but I was thinking that my plasmacam machine does not have enough Z axis capacity for a 5 inch tall piece of material. Outside of removing the grates and placing the material on a different support, are there any other ideas?

Thanks,

Andy

[Joe Jones]

Think OUTSIDE of the box!

Here is a table mod done by one of the men I trained on how to use DesignEdge.

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I also sell a rail riser kit that gives six inches of Z on both the 4x4 and 510 tables. Send inquiry to
addmenow(at)mail(dot)com





In order to gain the full benefit of the six inch rail riser kit, you should also purchase the Customizable Size Upgrade from PlasmaCam for $998.00. I have no control over that. However, you CAN cut 6" tubing manually without the software upgrade.

Joe

[Joe Jones]

You can also create a crane arm for the backing plate which will raise the torch UP and OUT from the stock position, and cut the tubing parallel to the gantry. This works best with dual magnetic mounting plates, one in the backing plate and the other on the crane extension so the torch can be moved from one to the other easily. I use the BOSS MFG magnetic mounts, but the Snap-n-Cut magnetic mount sold by Robert Johnson will do the same job, and for less money!

Joe

CRANE ARM JPG.jpg

[adbuch]

Hi all, I have a piece of 5x5 inch square stock that I plan to use for a address post out by the road in front of my house. My intent is to cut the numbers out using a stencil font, running power to it and inserting an LED light inside to back light the numbers. This is in Alaska and it is dark much of the year. I think it will look great but... but I was thinking that my plasmacam machine does not have enough Z axis capacity for a 5 inch tall piece of material. Outside of removing the grates and placing the material on a different support, are there any other ideas?

Thanks,

Andy

Andy - I didn't want to modify my table or go with a rail riser kit, so I welded my grates together so I can easily remove them as an assembly (DHC2 4x4 table).

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Then I built a simple adjustable frame assembly that rests on the inner lip of my water tray. I can attach large pieces of square tubing (or similar) and position so that the top of the tube is at the same height the top of the grates would be. This only works for pieces around 48" or less, although if the piece of tube is rotated about the Z axis such that it is at 45 degrees to the X or Y axis slightly longer pieces of tube will fit.

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For anything longer I would need to make some sort of modification to my table, but I haven't had the need to do that as of yet.

David

[Joe Jones]

You can also extend the torch straight out from the backing plate, support the tubing OUTSIDE of the table frame, and cut it with the gantry at the far end of the table. If your torch is heavy, you might add a counterweight to the assembly so the torch remains on the same plane as the backing plate as it raises and lowers.

Joe

CUT TUBE OUTSIDE OF TABLE FRAME JPG.jpg

[Joe Jones]

And then there is the Cadillac Solution!

Joe

[Joe Jones]

I built a simple adjustable frame assembly that rests on the inner lip of my water tray.
David

Not bad. I would weld a small sprocket to each of those nuts, and wrap a #15 or larger roller chain around them, so all four nuts could be raised and lowered on the threads equally and simultaneously. They would all maintain the same height, and the adjustment would be much faster. You could even add a small geared motor to automate the process. Also, there would be no concerns about leveling the frame that now rests on the four independent nuts. I assume that spinning them manually and individually requires a bit of time to get them all level.

Joe

[AndyZ]

I like it! Got my head spinning with ideas.

[Joe Jones]

The synchronized linear actuators are available from Progressive Automations. I think the kit is called the FLT-04, or something like that. It is about $900.00. I have one to install onto my 510 plasma table. I just haven't have the motivation to do it.

Joe

Ahh ...

http://www.progressiveautomations.com/p ... 9796713539

[Joe Jones]

Combine the linear actuators with my homemade pipe cutting setup and you're good to go! With the rails raised up, you can lay a long pipe across the grates beneath the rails.

Note: The bottom horizontal steel wheels (bearings) are not mounted for this test. They are intended to prevent the pipe from shifting or dragging on the plates.

Joe

[Joe Jones]

Here is the cut file for the pipe cutter roller plates. you need four steel rollers on bearings, mounted with bolts and wing nuts or whatever. Place the wheels at the 10:00 and 2:00 positions against the pipe on both sides. The gantry will roll the pipe in sync with the gantry movement, so the torch will remain at top dead center of the pipe, which is the same as cutting flat sheet.

Joe

PIPE ROLLER GANTRY MOUNTS.pcm

[AndyZ]

For a temporary measure this is what I went with and am very happy with the results. This is going to be backlit from an internal light. I really like a few or the ideas you guys shared.

[Joe Jones]

There is more than one way to skin a cat! Nice job!

Joe

[adbuch]

For a temporary measure this is what I went with and am very happy with the results. This is going to be backlit from an internal light. I really like a few or the ideas you guys shared.

Andy - "quick & dirty" - nice job. Popping out the grates as an assembly is definitely the way to go. I like the saw horse for support, I couldn't do that with my setup due to my water tray. That's a nice looking cut result, and I will look forward to seeing the finished installation.

David

[AndyZ]

And while I had the old grates out...

[adbuch]

Andy - those look nice! And you've got those extra points - so less tip-ups.
David

[AndyZ]

Post Day.jpg

Update: Project finished, 46 inches above ground, 24 below ground and cemented in place. Power stollen from my lamp post. Pretty happy with the results. Thanks for the help. I need to find a lower output light bulb for it.

[adbuch]

Andy - that turned out great! You might consider using LED lighting back lit. There have been several posts I remember seeing telling how to do it, and showing examples.

David

[Joe Jones]

I( would get a piece of white plexiglass, or frosted plexiglass, or even a colored plexiglass, and slip in inside of the tube, using silicone to hold it against the cutouts. Make sure nothing can enter the interior of the tube through the cut outs. Otherwise the post might become host to a wasps nest, a hornet's next, or a bee hive.

Joe

[AndyZ]

I like the idea of the plexiglass. It can keep the critters out as well as maybe some water as well.

[Joe Jones]

If you really want to get fancy, use a cnc router to route a THICK piece of white plex, creating protruding numbers that will protrude through the cutouts from the inside. Run a small 1/4 round bit around the edges, and you could even inlay another color in the center, if you pocket the white plex.

Joe

[AndyZ]

I like the idea, but I sold my Shop Sabre a few years back when I got into auto racing. I thought about the CNC add-on for my plasmacam.

[Joe Jones]

I like the idea, but I sold my Shop Sabre a few years back when I got into auto racing. I thought about the CNC add-on for my plasmacam.

If you decided to do that, get the router adapter from John Derby. The PlasmaCam "router" is a DeWalt 660 TRIM ROUTER, and although it does the same tasks on soft materials with small bits, it isn't really a router. John's adapter uses the DeWalt 611 router, which is a REAL router.

I have done a LOT of routing with the PlasmaCam table and DesignEdge software. I can tell you that using a router on the PlasmaCam table is a lot MORE FUN than using a plasma torch. I have a BOSCH 2-1/4HP router mounted to my Samson table for routing, and the table handles it with no problem.

Joe

Joe

[AndyZ]

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Sometimes you decide to sell some equipment and you forever regret it. Here is my old CNC I sold a few years back.

[adbuch]

ShopSabre.jpgSometimes you decide to sell some equipment and you forever regret it. Here is my old CNC I sold a few years back.

Andy - I know what you mean! I recently sold one of my DHC2 Plasmacam 4x4 tables that I had set up exclusively for engraving. It sure was handy when I needed it, but my problem was that I was simply running out of room in the shop and needed to make room for more "stuff".

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I do have a 4x4 cnc router that comes in pretty handy at times. I have machined mainly wood and some aluminum with it, but no plexiglass as of yet.

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David