CNC Plasma Table 006

Complete real-world build with simple plasma cut/routed parts, a few easy bends, low unique part count, and common parts/fasteners on scrap/drop 2" steel tube and phenolic resin (lab countertop material). NEMA 23 steppers, XL belts and pulleys, OpenBuilds smooth idlers. Inductive sensors. Gecko G540. LinuxCNC/Plasmac.

Inclusion of the 3D printer grade NEMA 17 with T8 captive lead and sloppy brass nut was temporary, but good torch height control makes all of the inaccuracies and shortcomings disappear. It works too good to change it at this point in time. Z switch for now and ohmic may be added at some point. Stacked Z rails ended up working out fine with quality rail and trucks.

Torch is modified/parts from Hypertherm PAC120 hand torch. Tried several plasma power supplies but best performer (by far) turned out to be a (very) old transformer based 50A Century (MAC tools/Snap-On, etc.) unit that lacks all of the modern inverter based unit features.

Build began with intent to copy a Langmuir Crossfire pro that someone saved from a dumpster at work in parallel with efforts to get his working, at least until it became obvious that it and the original belonged back in that dumpster.

This was a $300 +/- build, not counting motors or electronics. I've built or helped build 3 others. Only thing I'd change is mounting the RM2 bearings on carriage bolts to allow easier adjustments - but as is, once adjusted and torqued they aren't going anywhere...

Oddities in this design are due to two people with two half built tables and no plan. Odder: Temporary-to-permanent torch mount was 3D printed from PLA and has survived 1000+ cuts without any bruises or scars...

Result is two tables that are by far my favorites for cutting thin (3/16in. or smaller) material.

Update: In near-daily use since first test cut and the only changes or adjustments have been smaller X and Y pulleys and adding nozzle and solenoid for flood cooling.