Re: CNC Plasma cutter

All I intend on cutting is 3/16" and occasionally 1/4".
I do intend on it being water-cooled.
What does a THC accomplish? If all my parts are generous tolerances,
and of a larger size (6"x6") is a THC necessary?
As for the main frame, the entire thing is going to be aluminum
extrusion with bracing in strategic areas. I'm not too intent on
extreme accuracy. I am also not intending to sell these. It's just
for a little hobby of mine.

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, Hal Eckhart <hal@c...> wrote:
> On 9/22/04 2:27 PM, turbulatordude wrote:
>
> >you need to get a machine that is rated for 100% duty cycle.
Cutting
> >a sheet that will take 30 minutes will make lessor machines bug
out.
>
> True, but not every sheet is 1/2" thick.
>
> >Second, a Torch head height control...
>
> I'd sure like one, but without it I only screw up about one piece
out
> of a hundred. Okay, maybe fifty. And I'm not that careful, my
torch is
> fussy, and most of my cross bars are missing about a quarter inch
in
> the center of the table. And steel usually isn't flat. However, a
THC
> would make the cuts prettier.
>
> >I looked at a table a few years ago. I figureded on welding the
frame
> >and grinding all the welds down flat and then haveing the bed heat
> >treated to be stress releaved. One reason is that if they do it
> >right, they can make it really really flat in that process. Makes
> >grinding easier.
>
> This may be a good method, but it sounds like a lot of work to me.
I
> just used 2x2 tube, and mounted the x axis track to it. The 2x2
doesn't
> bend under normal use and the track can be leveled easily enough.
My
> cross supports are strips of 1/8" aluminum about 5 inches wide
> suspended in a big tub of water.
>
> I think having a water table helps things stay flat more that a
perfect
> worksurface does. One of the first things I did with it was to cut
1/8"
> copper in the shape of a fern. For a 4' fern, it was about 40' of
cut.
> Without cooling, the sheet puckered up like crazy in about a
minute.
> You can also get by in a pinch by spraying water on it while it
cuts,
> but this gets boring and makes an awful mess in the shop.
>
> Just my 2 rusty plugs.
>
> Hal Eckhart - Casa Forge - Minneapolis MN -
<http://www.casaforge.com>