[av8or1]

I have a green weenie I bought first. Wasn't bad for me, actually worked out pretty good, but I don't like the people or the company. I won't go into that, but I dealt with them in person, not over the web.

Yeah I ordered by phone also. One of the knobs doesn't work the way it should but I elected to leave it as-is since I can work around it. It would be somewhat intriguing to see how they'd respond. I've thought about reporting it just to see what would happen but most of the times that this thought has arisen I haven't wanted to deal with it, so it just sits.

Curious about your mail drop and how you designed it. I've pondered about that and what I would do after I build a gate. I don't want no stinkin' delivery trucks up my driveway.

I agree. I also never liked the idea of whoever being able to pull into my driveway, be it a delivery outfit or otherwise. Installing a fence and a big-time gate fixed that issue straight away, 'lemme tell ya. Good stuff. Regarding the "mail center", I chose to purchase the "big boy" variant of the standard mailbox that anyone can purchase off of Amazon. I did that but needed to modify the "I have outgoing mail" flag a bit. So I ended up putting that onto a drawer slider so that it could disappear into the brick if/when not needed, which is most of the time. Otherwise there would be no means to "retract" the flag as it were. So that is for the USPS regular postal service only. Fine. Now for deliveries (to include USPS) I built a 28" x 28" x 40" box. It was comprised of 16ga sheet and 1/2" x 1/2" 16ga steel tubing for support. The door was built from the same sheet and tubing, along with "decorative steel" pieces from that type of metal supplier in Dallas. If I had it to do again though, I would go with thicker sheet and 86th the support bracing. The 16ga needed it though, so in that context it was understandable. And address plates on the sides dontchaknow. Prior to installing the fence I had a couple-to-a-few people pull into my driveway, in the dark of the night, asking if this was "10 valley", when it is "110 valley". They claimed to be purchasing something from Craigslist. I wouldn't have done that personally and didn't like it being done on my property. I mean it's pitch dark save the few house lights, we're on acreage, there is no sidewalk, there are no street lights, it's a rural area and this IS TEXAS after all, where folk have guns on-hand for home defense and that's beyond normal. Anyway I grew tired of that crap quickly. After I learned of those jewelry thieves who would show up at your house in response to a Craigslist ad, then rob you at gunpoint, sometimes killing the home occupants, well things changed. The fence went in as soon as the budget would allow and I discontinued selling anything on CL from the house. Met folk at store's parking lot somewhere, in full view of CCTV cameras and lots of people milling around. I digress.

Anyway a few pictures. This was during the build:

build 1.jpg (73.62 KiB) Viewed 1693 times

The result:

overall result.jpg (229.41 KiB) Viewed 1693 times

And some solar-powered lights for night ops:

at night.jpg (61.41 KiB) Viewed 1693 times

[av8or1]

Time was limited in the workshop tonight, but I managed to cut the remaining three pieces of the collector. I used the frame of the table itself as a workbench of sorts.

Here is one of the longitudinal pieces drawn onto a 4' x 4' sheet of 16ga:

collector 1.jpg (44.86 KiB) Viewed 1680 times

After completing the cuts with the shears and touching them up with the flap disc, and even though there wasn't much time left, I just had to give it a test fit. That fitment showed that the calculations I made in the plans were correct. So that was good news. I needed to use both hands to hold them in their correct locations for this test fit. Thus no ability to take a picture. I could however rest one panel on the next in progression; that allowed me to be hands-free and take a couple of pictures. You'll have to take my word that they mated up well.

[av8or1]

And here are the pictures of the no-hands test fit:

collector 2.jpg (54.96 KiB) Viewed 1679 times

collector 3.jpg (103.59 KiB) Viewed 1679 times

Then it was time to clean, lock up the outbuilding and get inside to help with the lil' un. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow night after work to weld the collector to the table. TBD.

Thank you for reading.

[TraditionalToolworks]

That mail drop is awesome!

Table is coming along.

[av8or1]

As per normal, my available time in the workshop tonight was limited. I did manage to tack the 4 collector panels into place and apply rusty metal primer. They still need a little touch-up but are for the most part ready to go.

collector 4.jpg (75.49 KiB) Viewed 1634 times

collector 5.jpg (206.25 KiB) Viewed 1634 times

The plasma itself is supposed to arrive tomorrow. The air dryer that I ordered for it is also supposed to arrive tomorrow. If that is the case, I may use the plasma to cut the diamond plate for the table floor. Why not?

[TraditionalToolworks]

Jerry,

Looking good. I've seen the chute offset like that in the past, what's the purpose of offsetting it rather than centering it?

[av8or1]

Jerry,

Looking good. I've seen the chute offset like that in the past, what's the purpose of offsetting it rather than centering it?

Hi Alan,

Yeah it is an offset design. The purpose is merely to make room for the plasma cutting machine to live underneath the table and on top of the lower shelf. I factored this into my design from the outset:

collector 6.jpg (54.7 KiB) Viewed 1622 times

Though I'm hardly the first to employ this design. Here is a snapshot of a similar build that was done by a guy in Europe somewhere:

europe guys table.jpg (41.82 KiB) Viewed 1622 times

His offset is a little more extreme than mine (referring to the angle). Not by much I suppose. The bucket he uses is taller, which is the reason for the steeper angle. My bucket will just be the one I picked up from a box store a few Christmases ago when we actually had cold weather. I built a fire in the fireplace that year, which was the first and still-only time we've used the thing in the 11 years we've owned the house. Furthermore, my design incorporates a 1" lip (for lack of a better term) at the base of the collector whereas his does not. Not a big deal, but I liked the idea of that lip being present to further marshal the crusties and dross into the bucket.

Raining like cats-n-dogs at the moment. I have to move out the lawn tractor and other stuff at one end of the outbuilding in order to do any fabrication work, since there just isn't space otherwise. So I'm not certain that I'll be able to do anything with the plasma once it arrives today, but we'll see. TBD.

I am making a video of this build and will upload it to YouTube when finished. Not sure if it's permissible to post links to your own video content in this forum, but if so, I'll include a link. I'm hardly a "YouTuber" by the way. My videos have so few views that it is beyond laughable. A content creator such as Jodi Collier I am not! lol The point being that any reference to one of my videos would be for the purpose of passing on information, not to increase my viewership. Again, in my case, any assertion that would favor the latter scenario is absurd.

Thanks!

[av8or1]

So ... the evening began well enough. I had a whole cart full of goodies for the plasma table project:

parts 1.jpg (228.47 KiB) Viewed 1598 times

The sheet metal was extra, granted, but everything else was intended for the table. Given the recent rain and the need to shuffle stuff in-and-out of the outbuilding, my priority tonight was to get the casters installed. Because this table will need to be used outdoors or at least wheeled around outdoors, I decided that the first set of wheels would need to be pneumatic. And so I went with a set of 8" casters:

wheels 1.jpg (62.43 KiB) Viewed 1598 times

That decision would represent a compromise that in the end I wasn't all that happy with, but more on that in a minute.

[av8or1]

WRT the building of a work table of any sort, these are huge. The wheel itself is 8" and the overall height is 9.5":

wheels 2.jpg (66.66 KiB) Viewed 1596 times

This, as mentioned, is the compromise that I need to make. At least for the time being. I've simply exhausted the available space in my outbuilding. For that reason, this table will likely need to live outside the majority of the time. And that means moving around on unpaved surfaces, usually plain-ol' grass-n-dirt. I'll pull it inside to use it when needed. In that use case scenario, to install thin, small casters is futile. We are on the hunt for a new-to-us property with a larger workshop, but until then I have what I have. Perhaps at that point I can modify the table to have more suitable casters. In the meantime, it is what it is. And what it is is entirely TOO TALL. I'm only 6'2" and it comes to just a smidge above my belly button. With "shop casters" however it would be the proper work height.

As with most any project, it's all about tradeoffs. And however ugly this one is, I'm willing to live with it for a while. So with that in mind, it was time to get-on with installing these things. I decided to just minimally weld these onto the bottom of the table, then use a sawz-all to remove them if-n-when that day comes 'round in the future:

wheels 3.jpg (222.88 KiB) Viewed 1596 times

[av8or1]

Being careful 'course to first grind off the zinc plating:

wheels 4.jpg (137.36 KiB) Viewed 1595 times

And wear a respirator just to be sure. Then drink milk afterwards. Ok so they were done in no time and I spritzed them with a dose of rusty metal primer:

wheels 5.jpg (211.86 KiB) Viewed 1595 times

[av8or1]

It indeed sits a bit proud:

wheels 6.jpg (50.73 KiB) Viewed 1595 times

Other than that however the mobility endeavor came together well-enough. I coated everything including the slats with a good spritz of rusty metal primer since it'll need to be outside for a while:

wheels 7.jpg (203.47 KiB) Viewed 1595 times

[av8or1]

I found an air dryer composite online that had good reviews:

dryer 1.jpg (46.63 KiB) Viewed 1594 times

So the plan is to build a bracket and mount it to the side of the table such that it will rest just above the plasma cutter's control panel. I'll need some short air hose too; unfortunately all that I can find at the local box stores is 25' or longer, so I may have to source that online too. Sigh. Anyway the box's contents:

dryer 2.jpg (239.5 KiB) Viewed 1594 times

The plan is to have this finished off by the end of the weekend for certain. However given that it is a holiday weekend and that we're supposed to receive even more of the wet stuff ... we'll see.

Thank you for reading.

[av8or1]

Alright so we had family stuff to do for the majority of the day. Daddy grilled steaks in light of the holiday weekend and all was well. Afterwards I was able to make it to the workshop. The goal for tonight was to unpack the CUT60 and put it to work. Its first task would be to cut the 1/8" diamond plate that will serve as the bottom shelf. And so here we go...

The box arrived yesterday (Friday) and was well prepared for shipment:

plasma 1.jpg (63.69 KiB) Viewed 1565 times

Internally packed well too, with the machine being fully covered in Styrofoam and boxes that fit snugly within the outer box:

plasma 2.jpg (60.67 KiB) Viewed 1565 times

Thus first impressions were good.

[av8or1]

The boxes were even numbered, which the engineer in me liked:

plasma 3.jpg (36.16 KiB) Viewed 1564 times

Box 1 had the workpiece clamp, the cheap-o shield and a couple of minor odds-n-ends:

plasma 4.jpg (45.72 KiB) Viewed 1564 times

[av8or1]

Box 2 had the torch and a few consumables to get ya started:

plasma 5.jpg (53 KiB) Viewed 1563 times

The machine was well protected:

plasma 6.jpg (69.44 KiB) Viewed 1563 times

And as has been demonstrated in other pictures and YouTube videos (I think Alan did this when he unboxed his PrimeWeld TIG box), the outer box was reinforced with metal supports in the corners:

plasma 7.jpg (38.83 KiB) Viewed 1563 times

[av8or1]

The front of the box:

plasma 8.jpg (215.14 KiB) Viewed 1574 times

And the rear:

plasma 9.jpg (227.67 KiB) Viewed 1574 times

[av8or1]

The torch is a pilot arc (PT60 blowback):

plasma 10.jpg (57.27 KiB) Viewed 1575 times

And it came pre-assembled:

plasma 11.jpg (48.53 KiB) Viewed 1575 times

Which was cool, but I took it apart to verify that everything was present. It was, so thumbs up.

[av8or1]

More regarding their packaging. Both electrical plugs as well as the end of the torch that connects to the box itself were well protected:

plasma 12.jpg (219.69 KiB) Viewed 1574 times

I pulled a 1/4" male compressed air fitting out of my air tool drawer and installed it on the back of the box:

plasma 13.jpg (197.39 KiB) Viewed 1574 times

[TraditionalToolworks]

And the rear:

Jerry,

Could you get a better pic of the electrical label, I can't make out the numbers. I'm interested in Imax and Ieff for both 110v and 220v. (should be 120v and 240v, but Primeweld lists it as 110v/220v)

[av8or1]

I then revisited the air dryer assembly and threaded-in the male and female fittings that came in the box. These were plastic and they felt a bit cheap. The problem with them however was that the female end would not hold the male fitting; I keep a few spares of 1/4" and 3/8" on hand. The fitting that arrived with the dryer were simply of a different shape:

plasma 14.jpg (60.83 KiB) Viewed 1572 times

And so I ripped that crap out and replaced it with the vanilla stuff that anyone can pick up at their local box store:

plasma 15.jpg (69.06 KiB) Viewed 1572 times

These of course were NOT plastic, and even though the dryer housing was plastic, I felt ok with threading these right in. I then connected the air hose to that:

plasma 16.jpg (44.88 KiB) Viewed 1572 times

Meh, kinda bleech. I don't really like this configuration, but seeing as how I wanted to continue making progress on the table, which meant cutting the diamond plate, I elected to go with it for tonight. It would work like this, of course, just isn't the best of configurations. So I need to come up with something else. TBD.

[av8or1]

I decided that I wanted to try it on both 110V and 220V. So I connected the adapter and plugged it in:

plasma 17.jpg (211.76 KiB) Viewed 1572 times

The workpiece clamp is of above-average quality too, what with the copper insert 'n all:

plasma 18.jpg (56.28 KiB) Viewed 1572 times

[av8or1]

I then aligned the first of what I hope will be many successful cuts:

plasma 19.jpg (196 KiB) Viewed 1571 times

My speed varied a bit and so the cut didn't come out perfectly straight. However it was close:

plasma 20.jpg (194.13 KiB) Viewed 1571 times

With a little more practice I'll get the hang of it.

What I discovered was that my instinct was correct. I didn't think that on 110V it would cut the 1/8" diamond plate cleanly. And it didn't. So I switched over to 220V and it made it through with ease. "Like budda". I liked that the 220V plug used on this box is the standard Nema 6-50 plug that is used in many welding applications. I already had that on-hand for the 275p and so it was just plug-n-play. Thumbs up for that PrimeWeld!

[av8or1]

And this is why you need to make those slats removable Alan:

plasma 21.jpg (50.83 KiB) Viewed 1567 times

Even after only one usage they are chewed into. However that's their job, so it's normal. Seems to me that you kinda need to consider these slats as "consumables" as the phrase goes.

Anyway, I managed to cut the remaining panel and weld on another piece of diamond plate so that it was the full width of the longitudinal members. I applied rusty metal primer and plopped them into place:

plasma 22.jpg (54.15 KiB) Viewed 1567 times

I considered tacking them into place, but I dunno. I think I'll leave both panels as two separate, free floating panels. With that choice I can remove them as needed with relative ease.

One development on this project though, 'seems worthy of mention. The wife discovered my plans for the re-purposing of our fireplace ash bucket as the catch-all on the plasma table. She nixed that. 'Said that it already had a purpose in life. Uhhhhh...we've used it once ... meh, that isn't a hill worth dying on, ya know? Many of y'all can 'prolly relate.

So I have a fair amount of 3/16" flat plate lying around as a 3' or 4' square sheet. No plans for it, so I'll cut it up and make my own collector pan. The list is supposed to be getting shorter, but hey, happy-wife-happy-life dontchaknow.

[av8or1]

And the rear:

Jerry,

Could you get a better pic of the electrical label, I can't make out the numbers. I'm interested in Imax and Ieff for both 110v and 220v. (should be 120v and 240v, but Primeweld lists it as 110v/220v)

Hi Alan,

Are you referring to the max input current? I seem to recall that it is 42-point-something amps for 110V and 48-point-something amps for 220V. Thus they suggest running it on a 50A breaker. I'll see if I can get a better picture of it for ya though, sure...

[Oscar]

Nice work. Consider putting a small desiccant dryer after the water-separator/before the plasma. Can't hurt, and they're only $8-10.