CNC Plasma Table Build

[unixadm]

I have not posted here for a while, but I had a new sizable project I've been working on and I figured I'd post it up here since it was welded exclusively with my Miller 350P and Passport welders. My welding these days is terrible, not enough projects to keep my skills up. However that's not the point, you always work towards improving.

I've built a table that has a work envelope of roughly 48x50". I figured some may be interested in seeing another build in progress. I'm documenting the process on cnczone.com (HERE) but I'll post a few pics here. I'll also be building a plate marker for engraving as an offset tool and I think I'll add a add a few slide rails under the table to hold some sheet material. This table is way over built, but my thoughts are if I upgrade to a larger table in the future I can easily convert this to a welding table with a 5/8" top with a bit of cutting and rewelding of the support tubes. I think the most difficult part will be building the 14ga water tray which is removable. That's going to be a lot of stitching.

PICS - CLICK HERE

• Precision Plasma 4x4 Gantry Kit with 2:1 Belt Drives
• CandCNC BladeRunner AIO Dragon-Cut Controller with 620oz.in steppers and DHTC
• Hypertherm Powermax 45 with Machine Torch
• 2x2 and 2x3 .120 wall square tubing
• 14GA Water Tray
• 2x1/8" Slats, 2" Spacing
• Prototype Platemarker
• Planning 5th Axis Rotary
• Cable Track Wire Management

I'm working on the operator interface now, and still have some wire management and brackets to build that will support the PC and Plasma Cutter. The lower shelf is used for storage of sheet goods and scrap - you still have to dig through it, but it's close by. I'll summarize with some pics, but if you follow the gallery link above you can see six pages of build pictures that will continue to grow. Now that the table is up and running (still tuning), I can cut parts for additional things I'm working on. I made a VESA monitor mount today and it came out perfect.

[unixadm]

[unixadm]

[W Welding]

That looks great, Thanks for posting
I'd like to build one, one of these days

[c wagner]

Looks good!
Laser cutting is starting to become pretty reasonable in my area otherwise I might think about building one myself... oh yeah I can't afford it and don't have the space.

[unixadm]

Thanks guys. Here's an update for today.

I drew up an adjustment keyboard mount with a single hand knob to adjust the angle from fully vertical to roughly a 45 degree angle. It's going to work out well since you only need a few mouse clicks to load up a file and click RUN. I tested tolerances of the table today for the first time by creating some slip fit holes in the parts to slide in .750" square tubing. I looked around for the smallest piece of square I had and that was it. The width of the keyboard tray will be roughly 22.5" inches. I'll most likely be integrating a keyboard/touchpad combo onto this, instead of using a mouse. I have a Logitech Edge bluetooth keyboard I can test with, but I'm not putting a $140 keyboard on this table.

I did some further adjustments to the torch height and also adjusted my DHTC cut profiles. I need to spend an hour or so creating all of the necessary profiles for different materials.

I have not tacked together the keyboard tray yet, so in the pictures it's just slid together sitting upside down. Once welded, I'll cut a top for it on the plasma table and then round the leading edge on my 48" National box/pan brake. I think that will give it a nicely finished look I have a piece of stainless but I'm not sure if it's large enough. If not, I'll have to pick up a larger remnant either from Ebay or a local supplier. I'm also going to cut some cup holder mounts out of stainless and bend them up to accept a stainless drop in cup holders. No garage tool is finished until it has a beverage holder! Ever experienced a California summer in the valley? You need a beverage holder!

[unixadm]

Latest YouTube Video: http://www.youtube.com/user/unixadm#p/a/u/0/9Lgf77cb3-w

[unixadm]

Not sure how many people have made their version of "Plasma Quench", but I went ahead and mixed some up for my table which holds roughly 70 gallons of water. I have seen zero corrosion in nearly a week, and I can say from having straight water in the table for one night, it was rusted badly the next day.

I finally found some dye which would work to finish it off. At $70 a pint, it's not cheap, but it treats 12,500 gallons of water and will last a very long time. I put just a little bit in the table and then drained 4-5 gallons of water into a bucket, which I then poured back into the table to mix up the dye. It worked out well, and looks just like the real thing.