Torchmate Upgraded with Flashcut controls - up to 300ipm

[gamble]

Had my torchmate 2x2 for almost 3 years now and it's been great. Everyone has always been saying height control this, that blah blah. So I wanted to try it out. Well torchmate height control was around $3k. Plug n play. Was going to go that route then found out that FlashCut CNC was local to me. Gave them a call and drove on up there.
Met with the sales lady Ann who is by far one of the brightest sales people I have met. She really knows the products in and out.
Met with the owner Ron. The guy is a genius. Not much else to say about him.
And also met with the head engineer Zach. Super smart guy and I think he is the brains behind a lot of what happens there.

So they demo'd the software, the height control and I figured it was worth a shot. Since flashcut made the control box for torchmate it was all compatible. They opened the box, added a board, loaded new firmware and tested it to make sure it was all functional. Gave me a license for the software key as I had to use their software going forward.

I did cheap out and bought a generic lifter which did work but eventually I crashed it a few times and it broke. So I returned to purchase theirs. Its about 3x the size, very rigid and made by a well known company that we all know of. But in addition it's anodized black, and has a magnetic breakaway. It's truly a very nice piece. My only grip is that it's large and takes a way a lot of my cutting area but it was well worth it. I plan to upgrade my table to a larger size anyway so it shouldn't be that huge of an issue then.

I was a little bummed that I couldn't use the torchmate cutting software since that was what I was used to, but I have to say a few hours later I don't miss it at all. The software they have created is brilliant. One piece of software that you can design, do toolpaths and cut all in the same program.

Now I did have to go back and purchase the standard software because the torch height software was great for cutting and torch height but I wanted everything to be seamless. I still love my torchmate cad software and it's what i use the most. But for other stuff the flashcut software works great for point to point type stuff.


So I will say that I did have some major issues when first starting. My anti back lash cuts were starting to show signs of wear and I didn't know. What this did was cause the z axis to crash a lot. As the machine was cutting, voltage would change and the Z would adjust but slipage of the other axis would throw everything else off. It took me a long while to figure this issue out. It wasn't until they both went out completely that I knew there was an issue. I was driving myself and the guys at flashcut nuts trying to figure this out. Tossed in some new ones and the machine has been running PERFECT ever since. Literally not a single hiccup of an issue.

So after some use I decided that I wanted some faster speeds for ramping up. My torchmate control cards were already maxed out at 2.5amps, so another trip to flashcut and I got some 5amp cards. Installation was very straight forward, new power supply needed and then just tell the software what size cards you use and you are done. Make sure after you install this, you power cycle everything for a fresh start.



Software:

Cool features on the flashcut that come standard - nesting!

Features that come on pro that would be nice to have. Welding shapes, export to DXF.

Other pro features: parts library. Turning torch height on/off on the fly while cutting. Adjust sampling voltage and speed on the fly.

Other notes:
If you keep your laptop in the shop and close it when you are done, disconnect the software then close the lid. Otherwise you have to close and reopen the software. This could also be a usb/windows 10 issue as well.

The other cool part is that you can purchase the standard software and then buy the options you want as an al-a-carte option. Not sure how much it costs, but they are working on being able to rotate the part in cutting section which is great for files that i have imported.


Speeds:
torchmate was limiting me to 150ipm. Flashcut limit is 500ipm however that's not possible on such a small machine like mine and anti back lash nuts won't allow it. I'm still fine tuning my settings but as of last night I was cutting aluminum at 290 IPM without an issue.
On the software you can select your material type and size. The hypertherm book cutting chart is automatically integrated into the software. Click the button and your voltage, speed, height,kerf etc are already set!

By the time I was done with 5amp cards, torchheight hardware, software I spent a little more than what I would have with torchmate. However I feel I got a better deal. They are local so can fix any issues if needed. Ron has answered my emails on Sundays, holidays and even at midnight. They stock a lot of parts, cables. Being able to customize the software for the features I need is awesome! Why pay for features you don't need or want?

Since I've had the flashcut setup there has been a few different versions released so it's nice to always be on the cutting edge of the software they have coming out.

Bottom line: any cutting issue I had were not the fault of them, they were all mine. They are a top notch company and stand behind their product. They even offered to send a tech to my house to troubleshoot my issue before I found it.

In addition to cnc controls, they also offer conversion kits to convert mills, lathes to cnc and they have a lot of other products too.
They do a great job, have a great product and now have a customer for life.

I did toss a few cutting videos on youtube if you search torchmate flashcut and if anyone is interested I can do some on the software side of things too

[jimcolt]

Gamble,

I am glad you followed through with your Flashcut upgrade on your Torchmate machine. Flashcut worked really hard over the last few years to develop a complete package of software, hardware (electronics and height control) that allows a full, relatively easy upgrade of the older Torchmate systems (as well as other cnc plasma brands) to a modern , intuitive system. Keep us posted!

Best regards, Jim Colt

[gamble]

The only issue I have no is the limited size of my table and anti back lash nuts. Wondering if i can convert it to gear/track setup to make full use of the flashcut.
Lol almost half tempted to cut the gantry and half and expand it.

[gamble]

Another thing I should add as I feel it's pretty important is the license key.

You get one license key for the software.....BUT....you also get a license key built into the control box. So I can design all my stuff on my laptop inside and save it to drop box. Open up my pc that I cut with, and once the software is connected to the control box it's a full version so I can cut, or edit or change tool paths or whatever I want. This feature I love as it keeps me from having to bring my laptop back and forth.

[busterm8]

really glad to read this post as i've just been crushed to learn that my TM AVHC has finally died and that they (Torchmate)don't have parts for fixing the problem . I couldn't believe it! fortunately I've found out about Flashcut and already have a quote. Not looking forward to the debugging process as its hot and nasty down here in ALabama and my shop doesnt have AC. I just want to say goodby to Torchmate, you really blew it in my book , but i will use your table til it falls apart -sayonara !

[gamble]

Glad I could help!

[modelaratrod]

I've just upgraded my TM2 ish 5x10 over completely to flashcut v8 thanks to Paul for all the help.
I stayed with Flashcut because it just works! The only issue I had with my Torchmate AVHC was cutting thinner materials, this was not
at all any fault of Torchmate as my table was built to cut thick pipe flanges slow and steady. As work changed I've been upgrading.
The torque AVHC works great on thicker material the doesn't flex but as I've started doing more thinner material moving to ohmic is the way to go.
I use CorelDraw for designing everything so I won't get much use out of the CAD but so far I'm liking the CAM & CNC just design in CorelDraw and export as a DXF, import into CAM and send to the table.