Thread: CNC plasma cutting

Hi there,
I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction. At work we are looking at buying a small CNC table for plasma cutting, and hoping to find one we can utilize our existing plasma machine with. I have tried searching, but can't find anything available in Australia. Plenty of high end stand-alone units, but we're after something for art projects, not production runs!
Here is a machine supplied in the US, and it would seem to be what we're after, as you can see a standard handheld torch bolted on.
http://www.torchmate.com/4x4/index.htm

Thanks,

Hi Andy,

I haven't had much exposure to Plasma profile units for 20 years or so but,even then the unit I drove had a link to an apple Mac that was used to draw up the shapes.The facility was there to shape and dimension a number of set shapes eg. square,rect,round,hex etc.

The machine was capable of adjusting the nesting of the shapes to mimimise waste.Ours had the electronic eye where you could draw your own shape on paper and cut an exact copy in metal.
The CNC bit happened between the puter and the plasma unit.

The question I would ask is what is small? 1 x 1 Meter?
Others may say 2 x 2 is not enough room?.

Be aware that an existing oxy acetylene profile unit does not really lend itself to conversion as the plasma profile are quite high. Plasma cut speeds are in the "goes like a shower of ?????" range. I reckon someone will suggest a conversion , but its not viable.

I know of some big city sheetmetal shops that have had these beasts and have paid for them very quickly with big volumes of same shape items (wrap arounds and the like.)

I know it does answer your question properly, but I am at a loss to understand why there is not a local item suitable.

Grahame

A quick google resulted a few Aus options.
One aus site http://www.matcam.com.au/
Or a search on Ferret revealed.... http://www.ferret.com.au/search.asp?qu=cnc%20plasma

Thanks for the replies.
I just received a quote from Torchmate in the US, who can supply the basic model for about A$8750, which doesn't include the plasma cutter itself (we already have one), computer or software (add $3000 minimum), or shipping. It doesn't appear they have a dealer/supplier in Oz. For sake of the argument, we can get one set up here for $13,000, which can handle 1m x 1m...a fairly small and basic machine.
There doesn't seem to be any similar low end machine available here. Just rang Matcam on the coast, their starting model is about $40,000, and can handle 3m x 1.5m. Overkill for what we're hoping to achieve.
The other option is to make one from scratch, using the CNC router approach which has been posted here. Time to look into costs for that I think.

Cheers,

Andy
I work on a budget of about $2k to $2.5k for a 500mm square gantry router. I would think you could build what you want for under $4k including computer and software. Plasma cutters do not have cutting forces like a spindle does so you no not need servos to drive a large machine. This means you can use steppers and much cheaper electronics. There are a few kits available for motors and drivers that are turn key.
Mach3 will run plasma and that and a cad package is really all you need for software. Any old Pentium 4 PC will be fine to run the software.
Don't try to do it cheap or you will be forever adjusting and then changing parts out for better quality. Use linear rails and ballscrews or rack and pinion and you will have a very reliable machine.
Go to CNCZone and read for a week as there is all you need on that site. It takes a while to absorb things and initially I found my questions were answered by more questions.

Thanks Rod,
I'll look into it.

Regards,

Hi Guys, just an update on the pricing. The Dollar rate has shown some serious change over the last few months and this has been reflected in our pricing. A 1000 series CNC Plasma with a table size of 1250 x 1250 WIthout THE PLASMA cutter, only costs $28 000. You would only need to add the plasma cutter and you would be running! have a look at [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OLh7KG3yOE"]YouTube - MultiCam 1000 Series CNC Plasma[/ame]

Link to a site for a home made cnc plasma cutter.....................
http://majosoft.com/engraving/html/h...g_machine.html