New Build - Hypertherm 65, iplasma 4x8 table, CandCNC

[DesertFabworks]

I finished my table sump and drain system. I have been worried that this would work during the entire build. I had people tell me it wont, but I'm happy to report that it does work and it was fairly inexpensive to build.

Most has been documented in my earlier posts. The only thing that I would change at this point is to use larger diameter pipe and tubing. The table takes about 10-15 minutes to fill or drain. Not what you would consider fast, but I really did not need fast. By the time I get ready to cut and get everything set up its an easy 10 minutes. I don't plan on draining or filling on a daily basis so I think it will be fine.

One of the other things I did that is both good and bad is that I welded the drain bung on the top side of the bottom of the pan. This caused it to sit 3/16 above the bottom of the pan. The intention was to help limit the amount of crud that drains back into the sump system. I think it will help cut down on debris flowing back into the sump. But is does not allow the system to drain completely. It leaves about 8 gallons in the pan. Which is not bad and if I was going to clean it out that would be coming out with a shop vac anyway.

I found that it only took about 5 psi to create some great fountains during the fill. I did not have a pressure gauge on the system the first time I tried it. but added one to keep an eye on the pressure in the drums. I installed shut offs in several places in the system to allow for maintenance and to deal with a problem should it come up.

I let everything set under pressure and full of water over night to check for leaks and problems. It passed so everything has been sent out to powder coat.

Cant wait almost time to start cutting.

[DesertFabworks]

Still waiting for everything to come back from the Powder Coater its taking much longer than expected so I took the time to upgrade my air delivery system. I have a 4.5 hp compressor with two 80 gallon tanks. From there is runs through a hose and into a 25 foot coil in a tube I can fill with ice to chill the tube and the air during long run times and hot humid weather.

It then goes into the primary oil and water separator. Then into the first 3405-60 Coalescing air filter. It then runs into the shop. In the shop it goes through a second water separator and through a regulator and into the second 3405-60 Coalescing air filter. From there its off to the tools and the plasma unit.

This should provide me with all of the clean dry air that I will ever need. Maybe in the future I will invest in an air dryer but for now this is an inexpensive and effective option for me now.

[DesertFabworks]

Its been a bit since I have posted on the build. I was in a standstill waiting for the pan and other parts to come back from Powder Coating. There Back! I can see the light at the end of this build.

I think I only have a couple more posts in this build!

So I got everything back from Powder coating. I installed all of the components in my computer cart, set up the sump drums and hooked everything back up to the table. I had the pan powder coated. Little expensive but looks great.
when I had the pan powder coated I had them tape off the groves in the center of the table that holds the slats. The center support is my grounding back bone. This is where I have my grounding connection from the plasma machine and my earth ground hooked up to.

I also painted the slats, Ya I know they are a consumable and are going to get torn up and its not necessary ect. So before you kill me in the comments over it I know. It was mainly for looks. I did a couple of things to make sure there were not going to be any problems. I did not paint the top edge, bottom edge, ends, or a small section in the center where it contacts the grounding ridge. I checked every slat and made sure I had the lowest possible resistance, and continuity. Not that I will need it but I installed an secondary ground lead that attaches to the primary ground and is a 10 ft cable with a clamp that I can connect directly to the work piece.

I got everything in place checked level, checked square for the table and squared the torch head. I was amazed that I did not have to adjust the torch head it was perfectly square on all four sides. Precision plasma did a good job on the torch mount.

I powered everything up and started running the torch around the table. Everything worked great. All of the home and limit switches worked just as they should. That is where I stopped. I did not fire the torch or cut anything. I have a few more things that I want to configure and some settings to tweak. Heading off to the SEMA show next week so it will have to wait a bit. It does look good though.

I could not fit all the pictures here but there are lots and more info on the build website at: http://www.cncplasmabuild.com

[jimcolt]

Looking good....can't wait to see the cuts. Drop by the Hypertherm booth at Sema when you get A chance...I will be there for the duration!


Jim Colt Hypertherm

[DesertFabworks]

Thanks! We will see you at SEMA!

[DesertFabworks]

Just got back from the SEMA show in Las Vegas had a great time, but its hard not to. I put the covers on the table and machine. These are just for when we are not going to be using things for a bit. They take less than a minute to put on or take off and will keep the grinding dust and general shop dirt off the components. Hope to have some cut pictures up early next week. Need a little time to recover from the show.

[DesertFabworks]

This has been a great build! Ran into a few hurdles here at the end and between the SEMA show and FABTECH show I have not been around much to put in the final touches. But it is done and everything is working!!

I have some trial and error left to find the sweet spots in everything but that is for other posts down the line.

I will be keeping the build website going: http://www.cncplasmabuild.com I will keep posting progress reports and changes I make here.

I will be reviewing a few products like the Green Cut cutting fluid and other accessories that I add on and I will be trying out the Patina Finishes from Steel FX.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions from everyone along the way!

[DesertFabworks]

It has been awhile since the last post. We have been very busy cutting. Things have been going well with the build. We have been running the machine about 8 hours a day 4 days a week for the past few weeks. We have been cutting mostly 16 and 30 gauge and have been getting fairly good consumable life. We are on our 3rd set of (electrodes / nozzles) We have not seen a change in cut quality but have pulled them after they have a 2mm depression in the electrode as part of the initial trials.

We have added several pages to the website dedicated to the build with some tips and tricks we have found so far as well as lots of photos of the first cuts and the projects we have been working on.

Here is a link to the web page: http://www.cncplasmabuild.com/index.html the newly updated pages are listed on the right side of the page.

We just uploaded 4 new videos to the site so that people could see the machine in action and some of the cuts that we have completed. Here is a direct link to the videos page: http://www.cncplasmabuild.com/videos.html

So where are we going from here? There have been several updates to the software from CandCNC for the Dragon Cut package as well as new posts for Sheetcam. We plan on making the updates and making the most out of the software. We also have some additions planned to the table.

Most of that will be after the first of the year. We want to clear out the last few jobs that we have pending and shut down the shop and get some rest and enjoy the holidays.

I have included a few pictures from recent jobs and cuts but most are on the website.

Hope that everyone has a good Christmas and a Happy New Year!

[DesertFabworks]

Its been a while since I have posted on this thread. Its been a year since I put my plasma system together, how time flies.

I put some new photos on the build website showing some then and now photos. http://www.cncplasmabuild.com/ I also fabricated up some splash guards for the table. I was frustrated when the water would splash out onto the floor or into the channels next to the water table so I created some guards to prevent that.

Since I'm always looking for the next thing, I have started looking into CNC Routing. Lots to learn in that area so it should be a fun adventure.

I hope to add a rotary tube cutter and a air scribe to my current system soon.

The machine has been performing great. I have been cutting a bunch of stainless steel lately for a customer. The machine has been producing awesome results. The material is brushed finish 20 G Stainless for a restaurant. I have been using the "best Cut" settings out of the Hypertherm Manual for the Powermax 65. I have no dross on the front or back. I have been leaving the protective film on the sheets and cutting film up. I'm not getting any discoloration on the sheets at the cut sites.

Could not be happier with the results.

I also got to clean out the table recently. That was a mess but thankfully I do not have to do it very often.

My evaporation rates have been so high lately I have to fill the table daily to keep up, temps outside have been 126 in the shop its been 110 thankfully its a "Dry Heat" . I was using the green cut but it became too diluted to be effective anymore. I got an order of Plasma Quench in but I'm not going to start using it until the temps cool down. For now I'm using just water.

Still looking for the perfect solution.

I got a look at the new table top plasma tables from Precision Plasma, I have thought many times it would be handy to have one that I could take to the job sites so that I could make custom pieces onsite. That would be slick to roll that out of the trailer and start cutting on a job site.

Time to get back to Cuttin!