mytechno3d published a new build:

Read more about this build...

 

First move were done , i will upload some video in few days

 

Hello
All parts came from www.vslot-europe.com
This is project is still a work in progress ( i've to much work to do right know to go faster )
If you need the specific plates to make this build , i can send you dxf files or cut them for you in aluminium 5mm for a good price .

Regards
Michael

 

I have some time to spent , so i come back to this project .
It's now alive ... it move
I will try to make some plasma cutting this week .

 

First cut was finaly done yesterday , all works fine at the first cut , i'm pretty pround of that
This Dragon plasma cutting table is not so fast as my ox cnc plasma cutting table because i use leadscrew instead gt3 belt but its main advantage is to be easily transportable and to be able to put the steel sheets in place on 3 sides
Max speed : 1.2m /mn

 

Hello
I just uploaded the specific plates needed for this build .
There is 2 plates for the floating head , 4 plates to build arch , 2 plates to build the X/Y system , all other plates are standard openbuilds plates .
Just tell me if you need specific pictures .
I also have solidworks files if needed .

 

Hello , the Bom is almost done , i just have to count all screws ... ( no the easyest thing to do ;-) )
I think it should be done this afternoon ( Paris time )

 

I uploaded BOM , it's still a BOM in progress because i am still counting all screws ... but screws apart it seems good .
I also have to check the length of the 2060 rails .

 

Hello
There is 2 parts for this floating head.
One part is motorized with a nema 17 ( Z axis like on a CNC ) and the second part who handle the plasma torch .
The second part is free to move .
The probing is done with gcode ( post processor in fact ) , i ask to go down for 100mm , when the torch is on the metal sheet , the second part goes up until the probing switch is triggered .
I know the offset between the switch and my torch , so i know that when the switch is hit , i have to go up for XX mm (9mm in my case ) and my Z zero is done.
Excuse my poor english , i will post a video tomorrow to explain the process , i think it will be more clear .

 

i think that BOM is now complete .
Just let me know if you find some errors on it .

 

If it can help , this is a solidworks picture of the floating head assembly

 

Hello
Work is done by the postprocessor .
Here is the resulting gcode :
6.2mm is the switch position
i try go down 150 mm (max ) until the probe switch is triggered
i go up for 6.2mm and then i know that my z zero is correct , just on the metal sheet
i do a G92 Z0.0.

Code:

****** z zero****************
N0100 G28.1 Z150.00 F800.0
N0110 G92 Z0.0
N0120 G00 Z6.2000
N0130 G92 Z0.0
N0140 G00 Z3.0000

***************************
N0150 M03
N0160 G04 P0.3

If needed , this is my postprocessor ( sheetcam )
***************************
--************************************************
--*** Set these values up to suit your machine ***
--************************************************
--this is the distance between each torch reference in MILLIMETRES
refDistance = 150
--this is the reference feed rate in mm/min
refFeed = 800
--Put your switch offset value here in MILLIMETRES
switchOffset = 6.2
--Scriber X,Y,Z offsets in MILLIMETRES. Do not use inches here even if you want inch code
--Use the special code 'nil' on the Z axis to disable it.
--In that case no Z values will be output at all while scribing.
--e.g scriberZ = nil
scriberX = 110
scriberY = 220
scriberZ = 0
--scriber axis. Leave this as nil if the scriber is fixed to the same axis as the torch
--scriberAxis = "A"
scriberAxis = nil
--The cutter will slow down for corners and turn off THC below this radius
slowRadius = 10
--Minimum slow down speed.
--This is a scale factor. For instance 0.5 = 50% of the current feed rate
slowPercent = 0.4
--THC on and off codes. Use nil if you don't want THC control e.g:
-- thcOnCode = nil
-- thcOffCode = nil
--here is another example that use M667 and M666
--thcOnCode = " M667"
--thcOffCode = " M666"
thcOnCode = nil
thcOffCode = nil
--************************************************
--***           End of settings                ***
--************************************************
function OnAbout(event)
   ctrl = event:GetTextCtrl()
   ctrl:AppendText("plasma MP1000-THC post processor with engraver\n")
   ctrl:AppendText("\n")
   ctrl:AppendText("Modal G-codes and coordinates\n")
   ctrl:AppendText("Comments enclosed with ( and )\n")
   ctrl:AppendText("M03/M05 turn the torch on/off\n")
   ctrl:AppendText("M08/M09 turn the engraver on/off\n")
   ctrl:AppendText("Incremental IJ - set in mach2\n")
   ctrl:AppendText("The torch is referenced at cut start and every 500mm of movement thereafter\n")
   ctrl:AppendText("Designed for use with Mach3 and CandCNC MP1000-THC and Floating head Touch-n-Go\n")
   ctrl:AppendText("Post variables:\n")
   ctrl:AppendText("refDistance - set the distance between each reference\n")
   ctrl:AppendText("refFeed - set the feed rate when referencing\n")
   ctrl:AppendText("switchOffset - set your net switch offset amount \n")
   ctrl:AppendText("Scriber uses any tool number\n")
   ctrl:AppendText("slowRadius - slow down below this radius\n")
   ctrl:AppendText("slowPercent - minimum percentage to slow down\n")
end
--   created 1/1/06
--   Based on plasma1.post
--  Modified 21/6/2010
--  added option for 'nil' plate marker z
--  Added support for plate marker tool type as well as tool number based plate marker
-- Modified 4/11/2010
-- Added: Reference the torch on the first pen down if the plate marker is the first tool used.
post.DefineVariable("refDistance",sc.unitLINEAR,0,1e17)
post.DefineVariable("refFeed",sc.unitFEED,0,1e17)
post.DefineVariable("switchOffset",sc.unitLINEAR,-1e17,1e17)
post.DefineVariable("slowRadius",sc.unitLINEAR,-1e17,1e17)
post.DefineVariable("slowPercent",sc.unitPERCENT,-1e17,1e17)
function OnInit()
   offX = 0
   offY = 0
   offZ = 0
   post.SetCommentChars ("()", "[]")  --make sure ( and ) characters do not appear in system text
   post.Text (" (Filename: ", fileName, ")\n")
   post.Text (" (Post processor: ", postName, ")\n")
   post.Text (" (Date: ", date, ")\n")
   if(scale == metric) then
      post.Text (" G21 (Units: Metric)\n") --metric mode
   else
      post.Text (" G20 (Units: Inches)\n") --inch mode
   end
   post.Text (" F1\n G53 G90 G40\n")
   minArcSize = 0.2 --arcs smaller than this are converted to moves
   firstRef = true
   currentZAxis = "Z"
   dist = 9999999
   lastz = 0
   thcstate = 1
   ThcOff()
end
function OnNewLine()
   post.Text ("N")
   post.Number (lineNumber, "0000")
   lineNumber = lineNumber + 10
end
function OnFinish()
   endZ = safeZ
   OnRapid()
   endX = 0
   endY = 0
   offX = 0
   offY = 0
   offZ = 0
   OnRapid()
   post.Text (" M05 M30\n")
end
function OnRapid()
   if(endX > 1e17 and endY > 1e17) then return end
   local len = math.hypot((endX + offX)-currentX , (endY + offY)-currentY)
   dist = dist + len
   post.ModalText (" G00")
   post.ModalNumber (" X", (endX + offX) * scale, "0.0000")
   post.ModalNumber (" Y", (endY + offY) * scale, "0.0000")
   if(offZ and firstRef == false and currentZ ~= safeZ) then
      post.ModalNumber (" " .. currentZAxis, (endZ + offZ) * scale, "0.0000")
   end
   post.Eol()
end
function OnMove()
   local len = math.hypot(endX - currentX , endY - currentY)
   dist = dist + len
   if(len > slowRadius) then
      ThcOn()
   end
   post.ModalText (" G01")
   post.ModalNumber (" X", (endX + offX) * scale, "0.0000")
   post.ModalNumber (" Y", (endY + offY) * scale, "0.0000")
   if(offZ) then
      post.ModalNumber (" " .. currentZAxis, (endZ + offZ) * scale, "0.0000")
   end
   post.ModalNumber (" F", feedRate * scale, "0.0###")
   post.Eol()
end
function OnArc()
   local radius = math.hypot(currentX - arcCentreX, currentY - arcCentreY)
   dist = dist + radius * math.abs(arcAngle)
   if (radius < slowRadius) and (math.abs(arcAngle) > 0.5) then
      feed = (radius / slowRadius)
      if(feed < slowPercent) then
         feed = slowPercent
      end
      feed = feed * feedRate
      ThcOff()
   else
      feed = feedRate
      ThcOn()
   end
   if(arcAngle <0) then
      post.ModalText (" G03")
   else
      post.ModalText (" G02")
   end
   post.ModalNumber (" X", (endX + offX) * scale, "0.0000")
   post.ModalNumber (" Y", (endY + offY) * scale, "0.0000")
   if(offZ) then
      post.ModalNumber (" " .. currentZAxis, (endZ + offZ) * scale, "0.0000")
   end
   post.Text (" I")
   post.Number ((arcCentreX - currentX) * scale, "0.0000")
   post.Text (" J")
   post.Number ((arcCentreY - currentY) * scale, "0.0000")
   post.ModalNumber (" F", feed * scale, "0.0###")
   post.Eol()
end
function ThcOff()
   if(not thcOffCode) then return end
   if(thcstate ==1) then
      thcstate = 0
      post.Text(thcOffCode)
      post.Text(" (THC off)\n");
   end
end
function ThcOn()
   if(not thcOnCode) then return end
   if(toolClass == "MarkerTool") or tool > 99 then return end
   if(thcstate ==0) then
      thcstate = 1
      post.Text(thcOnCode)
      post.Text(" (THC on)\n");
      return
   end
   if(thcstate == 2) then
      thcstate = 0
   end
end
function OnPenDown()
   if(toolClass == "MarkerTool") or tool > 99 then
      if (firstRef) then
         Reference()
         post.ModalText (" G00")
         post.Text(" Z")
         post.Number (safeZ  * scale, "0.0000")
         post.Eol()
         offX = scriberX
         offY = scriberY
         offZ = scriberZ
         post.ModalNumber (" X", (currentX + offX) * scale, "0.0000")
         post.ModalNumber (" Y", (currentY + offY) * scale, "0.0000")
         post.Eol()
      end
      if (offZ) then
         post.ModalNumber (" " .. currentZAxis, (currentZ + offZ)  * scale, "0.0000")
         post.Eol()
      end
      post.Text(" M08\n")
   else
      if(dist >= refDistance) then
         dist = 0
         Reference();
      end
      post.ModalText (" G00")
      post.Text(" Z")
      post.Number (pierceHeight  * scale, "0.0000")
      post.Eol()
      if (preheat > 0) then
         post.Text ("\n G04 P")
         post.Number (preheat,"0.###")
         post.Eol()
      end
      post.Text ("\n M03\n")
   end
   if (pierceDelay > 0) then
      post.Text (" G04 P")
      post.Number (pierceDelay,"0.###")
      post.Eol()
   end
--   thcstate = 2 --leave THC off for plunge move
end
function Reference()
   firstRef = false
   if (refHome) then
      post.ModalText(" G28.1 Z")
      post.Number(3 * scale, "0.00")
   else
      post.ModalText(" G31 Z -100")
   end
   post.ModalNumber (" F", refFeed * scale, "0.0###")
   post.Eol()
   post.ModalText(" G92 Z0.0\n")
   post.ModalText (" G00")
   post.Text(" Z")
   post.Number (switchOffset * scale, "0.0000")
   post.Eol()
   post.ModalText(" G92 Z0.0\n")
end
function OnPenUp()
   if(toolClass == "MarkerTool" or tool > 99) then
      post.Text(" M09\n")
   else
      post.Text (" M05\n")
   end
   if (endDelay > 0) then
      post.Text (" G04 P")
      post.Number (endDelay,"0.###")
      post.Eol()
   end
end
function OnNewOperation()
   post.Text (" (Operation: ", operationName, ")\n")
end
function OnToolChange()
    if (toolClass == "MarkerTool"  or tool > 99 ) then
         ThcOff()
         if(scriberAxis and scriberAxis ~= currentZAxis) then
            endZ = safeZ
            OnRapid()
            currentZAxis = scriberAxis
         end
         if(firstRef ~= true) then
            offX = scriberX
            offY = scriberY
            offZ = scriberZ
         end
    else
         if(scriberAxis and scriberAxis == currentZAxis) then
            endZ = safeZ
            OnRapid()
            currentZAxis = "Z"
         end
         offX = 0
         offY = 0
         offZ = 0
    end
end
function OnNewPart()
   post.Text(" (Part: ",partName,")\n");
end
function OnDrill()
   OnRapid()
   currentX = endX
   currentY = endY
   OnPenDown()
   endZ = drillZ
   OnMove()
   OnPenUp()
   endZ = safeZ
   OnRapid()
end
function OnComment()
  post.Text(" (",commentText,")\n")
end

 

Hello
To create my gcode file ( cam software ) i use Sheetcam ( not free but very usefull) , and as CAD software , it depend , i can use sketchup , autocad or solidworks .

 

Hello , Yes is it possible .
I will contact you on PM