Alright, I've been collecting parts for a while now to build a full 4'x8' CNC plasma table. But, I can't build it till I move into the new shop which won't be for 10 months or so.
So, I was looking at my mill and :idea: . 30 minutes of work later I had made a tool holder that fit my spindle that held the plasma torch and a make shift table to hold the work that isolated the plasma ground from the mills ground (too not effect the electronics). Basically this was just a test to make sure the setup will work and boy does it! I'll be making a table that will sit on top of the existing mill table and hold 2-3" of water to collect the sparks and do the same job of isolation as well as protect the mills table. Also need to intigrate the trigger of the plasma into the mill, planning on using the coolant on/off (m8/m9) commands to do this, just put a DPDT switch on the output from the control to the pump so I can switch between coolant and plasma. That will end me from having to hold the trigger on/off.
Heres a pic of the part I made, took 47 seconds:
That is straight out of the machine with no grinding/chipping/etc. I was amazed at the lack of slag comapred to my normal hand dragging of the torch.
And heres a video of it in action:
Video
I'll update this thread with pics of the table and torch holder and wiring system as I get stuff accomplished. I just can't wait to get this thing fully up and running, gussets, tabs, cage floor tie-ins, etc :grinpimp: Only bad thing is it makes me want to build my 4x8 table that much more :shaking:
So, I was looking at my mill and :idea: . 30 minutes of work later I had made a tool holder that fit my spindle that held the plasma torch and a make shift table to hold the work that isolated the plasma ground from the mills ground (too not effect the electronics). Basically this was just a test to make sure the setup will work and boy does it! I'll be making a table that will sit on top of the existing mill table and hold 2-3" of water to collect the sparks and do the same job of isolation as well as protect the mills table. Also need to intigrate the trigger of the plasma into the mill, planning on using the coolant on/off (m8/m9) commands to do this, just put a DPDT switch on the output from the control to the pump so I can switch between coolant and plasma. That will end me from having to hold the trigger on/off.
Heres a pic of the part I made, took 47 seconds:
That is straight out of the machine with no grinding/chipping/etc. I was amazed at the lack of slag comapred to my normal hand dragging of the torch.
And heres a video of it in action:
Video
I'll update this thread with pics of the table and torch holder and wiring system as I get stuff accomplished. I just can't wait to get this thing fully up and running, gussets, tabs, cage floor tie-ins, etc :grinpimp: Only bad thing is it makes me want to build my 4x8 table that much more :shaking:
