Welding Tips and Tricks

So I have been researching and looking around on the internet at different plasma tables and I am having trouble on deciding which one is best. I have been looking at plasma cam and torch mate, I really like the fact that torch mate offers the gantry kit where I can build the table to save money. I have very little experience with cnc, so I am looking for some advice on what to buy or not to buy. I dont mind to spend the money for a complete unit if it is more preferred, I just hate to spend the money on the table when I could build it myself. Also any advice on what plasma cutters that do well on the tables would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
-Brad

Just my opinions here:
Plasmacam has a large user base and has many, many fanatical users. Proprietary electronics, software, controller, and parts.
Torchmate has many users but not nearly as popular as other systems. Proprietary electronics, controller, most parts can be purchased off the shelf other places
Hypertherm - hypertherm - hypertherm. Hypertherm is the leader in technology and outsells all the other brands by a large margin. Used all of them out there during construction days (rented units). Love my Hypertherm. Like most things figure out what machine you need and then get one a little bigger. MORE POWER - GRRRRRRR.

I built my own system using electronics from CandCNC. Great electronics, great customer service. I built my own system so as not to be tied to any companies apron strings when I needed service or parts. I recommend looking at Arclight Dynamics and Precision Plasma equipment (again all comments are just my humble opinion)

I have a Samson which is the plasmacams big brother and I really like it. It is very easy to use which makes the time I spend drawing stuff on it minimal. Accuracy is good but only as good as the cutter you use, the quality of your gas and how fresh you keep the consumables. I like it because I use it for cutting repair parts and one of a kind pieces for some of the kooky jobs I seem to get myself into. If you want a production machine the plasmacam is not it even though they bill it as such. The only thing Torchmate has above them is the power of Lincoln Electric behind them until you get into their larger more pricy machines with hi def plasma etc... Hypertherm is the cutter no matter what table you buy. Don't cheap out on the cutter. There is Hypertherm then there is all the rest. Maybe you can get the factories to set up on site demos for you. Sometimes that perspective of a machine in use on site cab be valuable when considering such a pricy purchase.

Guys thanks for all the suggestions and the response. I will definitely check out the ones yall suggested and I have a hypertherm now and I love it. I was just making sure that I could go with another hypertherm and it would work good on the table. Again thanks for the response and suggestions.
-Brad

Now are you looking for a commercial table or are you looking for a small 4x4 or 4x8 table, If you are looking at large industrial tables. As far as the plasma if you are going to HD I would look at Kaliburn they have some amazing plasmas, I have seen parts off both and from what I have seen the Kaliburn spirit II out preform the Hypertherm HPR-XD at least in steel. Good table manufacturers are AKS Alltra and many others that are well built, biggest thing is a good servo and gear box,

On the other hand if you are wanting a smaller shop type table, I would say plasma cam they have high acceleration rates and the gantry is light weight for lower wear on the rack and pinion or ball screw. On a light duty plasma table Hypertherm is hard to beat.

We have an arclight with a 4x8 water table and 85amp hypertherm. The water table is nice, but requires some upkeep. We also have the indexer for pipe, which works really well with the table.
We run Mach3 with it. I generally like Mach3, which we run on our other CNC's, but am not a big fan of it for the Plasma Table.

A few more details regarding your needs and your budget would help steer you in the right direction. There are over 25 manufacturers of "entry level" (under $20k, hobby and small shop focused) and "light industrial" (between $20k and $45k, focused on light production and growing shops, heavier duty). Here are a few things to ask:

- Do you have CAD drawing experience, are you fairly comfortable with learning new software? This is important as there are a few manufacturers that focus on an easy to learn and easy to use system for beginners in this area. These types of systems will come with software in instructions/videos that will allow you to self learn how to draw, import and cut efficiently.
-Will you be cutting one part at a time, or do you see yourself cutting multiples, dozens or hundreds of parts out od a single sheet/plate? This will determine the needs for a good quality height control as well as plasma with good repeatable cut quality and consumable life. Height control will add a fair amount of cost to these machines....but is necessary for best plasma performance.

-Thickness. Since the limiting factor on every plasma system its its piercing thickness, ensure you specify the right system for your stretch goals.

- Fume control. Downdraft (properly designed) will produce best cut quality, but the smoke has to be ducted outside or through costly filtration systems. Water trays and water tables are effective in minimizing smoke, but do affect edge roughness and dross formation. There are a few other pros/cons for each, fume control is necessary.

- If you are interested in a build it yourself table.....look at www.candcnc.com and www.precisionplasmallc.com , the parts you buy will be a bargain price, however keep in mind that you will have a lot of time in putting one of these together, much of which requires fabrication and design. The advantage is that you will know every technical aspect of the machine, the disadvantage is you will make mistakes that the big guys (Plasmacam, Torchmate) solved years ago!

- There are a lot of very experienced entry level machine users out there, seek them out (as you have here) and choose the best path!

Jim Colt Hypertherm

BWR wrote:So I have been researching and looking around on the internet at different plasma tables and I am having trouble on deciding which one is best. I have been looking at plasma cam and torch mate, I really like the fact that torch mate offers the gantry kit where I can build the table to save money. I have very little experience with cnc, so I am looking for some advice on what to buy or not to buy. I dont mind to spend the money for a complete unit if it is more preferred, I just hate to spend the money on the table when I could build it myself. Also any advice on what plasma cutters that do well on the tables would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
-Brad