Re: Changeover from Plasma to Router?

> >
> > Hi,
> > I'm wondering if any home-builders out there have a good method of
> > designing the tool holder on a gantry-type machine so that it can

be

> > easily switched from a Plasma cutting configuration to a router

head

> > (for cutting wood)?

I recently built a combo router plasma table. I made two removable
sub-tables, one frame with an MDF surface and the other a grid of
steel. Under that I included a way to slide in two large water tanks
for plasma. The Z axis was built with a universal subplate. It is
just a grid of tapped holes on a plate that goes up and down. I used
a large piece of aluminum L bracket to build a base for the router
and matched the pattern on the universal plate with through holes.
The whole thing attaches to the subplate with four 1/4-20 SHCS.
Takes about 5 minutes to remove it and unplug the AC to the router.

The plasma head was another story. I had to fashion a "floating
head " with a custom holder to take my handheld torch. It was custom
machined, but it is attached to a right angle plate that once again
matched the Z axis subplate. There are pictures of the floating
plasma head over on the Yahoo Master5 list
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/master5/) in the photos section under
THC Project.

Honestly, after running for several months with the router and
switching to the plasma I have never switched back. Something about
a white hot flame slicing through cold steel at 80IPM that mesmerizes
me and has caused me to lose interest in wood and routers!