@@MrSlim1225 I plan on getting a THC and a new floating head made out of aluminum. I don't really trust the build quality of JD to pay them a few hundred for the THC.
@@ThyialIndustries I built a CNC plasma for work, with a DIY THC. You can build a working one for under 50 bucks pretty easily. I built one for a hypertherm powermax30 (it has no THC or CNC ports, so it's a "worst case scenario"). I used a little opto isolator (4N25) which is an LED on the input side and an optically controlled transistor on the output. Measure the operating voltage of the torch, and pick a suitable set of resistors to limit the current it would send to the opto isolator so it's within it's operating band. Add a zener diode across the input LED of the opto isolator to clip any voltage spikes from the torch firing etc. Feed 3/5V (depending on your micro controller) to the high side of the output of the opto isolator, and connect the low side to an input pin on your micro controller. Technically you "need" a resistor divider on the output rather than reading it directly, but I was lazy and it worked fine with the internal resistance of the micro controller. Read the pin on the micro controller and have it move the Z axis accordingly. Add a pull down resistor on the micro controller of whatever value required to drain ALL the noise on a dead/torch off signal. I used 10k ish. You can add some filter caps to the output if it's noisy, but don't go too big or the signal will lag behind changes to torch height which will make it impossible to chase a target position (It's better to leave a bit of noise in the signal, than to have any lag at all, speaking from experience). Note: the opto isolators have a logorithmic response to voltage, so make sure to pick a resistor that would have it operate at the lower, steeper end of it's operating curve. That way small changes in torch voltage with height result in a larger change to the signal your micro controller receives. If you pick a resistors which puts you in the upper (flatter) region of the opto couplers response curve the signal your micro controller controller receives varies much less with height, so the THC will be less sensitive and have worse resolution. A THC really makes a huge improvement to cut quality and reliability. I never bothered with a floating/dragging or static height torch because from what I heard/saw of people it just doesn't work well beyond small cuts. A couple of times my height controller stopped working (due to bugs in the code as I added new features) cut quality suffered a lot, and large cuts were awful/impossible due to warping while cutting or just the fact the material wasn't dead flat to begin with. I can share the arduino sketch for the height controller. It probably wont be a "plug and play" solution for your particular setup (I used a different controller, control board, etc.) but it may be helpful as a reference or starting point.
I did mine many months ago. I was a bit of a pain but finally git everything going smoothly. Great job on your build so far. I'll be posting my video soon on my welding page. Daywelding youtube page.
Hey just to tell you when it would not cut at first the new hypertherm detect news consumables so each time you will change them or dismout the torch it will do that I work with the powermax 105 that's why I know
Ill give you some critique, so you can learn and improve your build in the future. Rule number one, don't give people advice in wiring a cnc system if your doing it wrong. Although it might work, your system will never be reliable for production work or long cuts. The shielded cable your using is hard shielded security camera cable which is not developed to bend and move, it will eventually become weak and break, try getting double shielded soft silicone type cable. Use double shielded cable for everything, including the switches etc. USB controllers are very unstable for cnc plasma systems. Do better work to ground all your shielded cable, EMI will kill your system on long production runs, make use of ground bus bar in your electronic enclosure. Google Hypertherm : "Recommended Grounding and Shielding Practices," There is a lot of information how to ground your system and useful information. Again not to critique just to help you.
Another purchase you may want to consider, is a eye protection hanging wall, and a physical barrier, to keep humans, and animal from being able to be in line-of-sight of the torch
@@ThyialIndustries I did it for years on my crossfire pro, only thing that happens is you get some powder left over when parts dry but it wipes off. And if you put too much food coloring it makes it hard to fish parts out
There is such a misunderstanding of 3D printing strength and infill. Infill has very little to do with overall part strength. It does have an affect, but not like most people think. The main contributor to strength is wall thickness. The more wall layers you have the stronger the part will be. The material you use is also a major factor. PLA is for making cheap prototypes and benchy's to sit on a shelf. The parts need to be made of something better like ABS or PETG, etc. With that said, aluminum was definitely a good choice here though. I am going down the same road of making the plasma cutter exactly to their plans, then upgrade where I see downfalls
I think that's well said. I've been experimenting and researching more with my 3d prints and have five that to be true. But I still like the aluminum a lot more
@@user-cl9ew4ie4g really depends on the software you want to use. I have a custom build and use both solidworks and fusion 360. But I've also been using inkscape lately just to generate dxf's. And that's been my favorite so far
@@user-cl9ew4ie4g 🤣 idk man. I think anything the meets the recommendation of the software should be fine. At the end of the it's better to just get started then wait or spend money on equipment
ur a inspiration man, dont stop doing what you love, im in kinda the same position as you are right now and you really inspire me. keep going strong 💪💪
I have had a Lanmuir Systems Crossfire Pro for a few years now. Looks like your machine is "modeled" on that. Gotta say, forgetting the ground clamp is for real. Rather not say how many times I did that. I seem to get more predictable results when I put the ground clamp directly on a clean, rust and mill scale free spot on the work piece. I consider a powered Z axis and auto torch height control is a must. Looks like you ponied up and went that way. One thing I'd like to say to anyone learning CNC plasma cutting. → → The learning curve can be steep, but it gets easier. Walk away for a bit if you have to, think for a while, breathe, decompress, but stick with it. You can do it!
Just stumbled onto your channel and have watched all of the build videos. I commend you for doing this. I've looked at both of the CNC setups you mention and thought about purchasing. But I did not like the one arm setup. I really like your idea. I can build the table and metal components, but the electronic portion is where I am lost. Do you think you would ever come up with a kit that offers your upgrades? I like the aluminum block pieces you upgraded as well. Great job.
@@fireh8r thanks! I appreciate the support. I'd love to offer a full kit and plans. Unfortunately I work 50-60 hours /week. So I'm not quite sure when I'll be able to get to it. Hopefully one day.
@@ThyialIndustries ups 😊, In what part can I see how you wire the plasma with a CNC machine, do you modify the trigger on the plasma torch and then connect it to the relay ?
Most people probably don't need to give up on the 3D printed version. I printed mine in Inland PLA+. Scrapped one out because I forgot to put supports on for the slots, so I decided to test it. I was able to place it on a concrete floor like an upside down "v" and jump on it with one foot (I weight 215lbs). No damage, minor flexing.
@@ThyialIndustries I was really impressed at the time too. Gave me a lot of confidence to incorporate 3d prints in my projects. I actually dug up a video of it out of my text history-- sorry for the low quality. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9ed1r0vspRk.html
@@ThyialIndustries I was surprised too-- gave me a lot of confidence using 3d prints in my projects. Found and old video of it, sorry for the low quality-- ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9ed1r0vspRk.html
If you don't mind sharing, what are your table frame measurements? I thought you had posting these previously, but for the life of me I can't find them...Thank you
those wobbles are backlash from the drive belts stretching. there should be an acceleration setting for direction changes somewhere. Or tighten your belts. also id say always stick to your machines' cut charts. Your table is small enough to level perfectly, so active torch height control that adjusts during the cut isnt really a must have. But z travel could at least touch-off before each cut.
Don't worry, you will get it. We all get over-confident. Lesson #1 NO RUSHING. A DIY machine needs lots of dialing in and test cuts. Once everything is perfect and tested to the max, THEN you take orders. Customers need dependability and you don't want to be late on delivery or waste material. Ideally you want to do a test beforehand every time and even get a marker and have the machine draw out the pattern on the work piece before turning on the torch. Material is expensive, and a single mistake can eat all your profit and then some. Your bed level is CRUCIAL. If you have ANY warping, it needs to be taken out with Z height compensation, which you should have anyway because of the quality advantages you get from being able to use feedback compensation. A small stepper costs $5 tops and building a small inch pivot mechanism is pretty easy. When compensating, make small adjustments, and small test cuts. You don't want to ping pong between extremes. Don't forget, NO RUSHING.
Those wavy lines are 100% caused by too-high accelerations. Notice on the larger letters that the waviness starts after every corner, and then damps out as the torch travels along the straights. The torch needs to slow down before taking a sharp corner - there's too much mass there to change directions instantaneously at speed.
Couple things I learned with mine is hypertherm fine cut consumables make a huge difference on detail like that. Also your pierce delay time needs to be a little longer it’s moving before piercing. And yes Thc too! Hope that helps
@@ThyialIndustries also plasma green is well worth the money in my opinion. Kind of a big investment up front but it last me over 2 years for the 5 gallon jug. Never had any rust issues and leave water in it 24/7
Or build a head to fit what you have. I got a 40-watt blue laser array that has a perfect tiny square beam shape, it engraves. It cuts , It's great it will literally fit in your pocket. My co2 won't do that
Looks like a warranty claim. Time to reach out to the manufacturer - walks over to the mirror. Chalk it up to growing pains, all learning, you’ll get better. It’s only after you “know”, will you be able to improve on processes, etc. Eventually you’ll get where you wanna be. 👍🍺
it is natural when water and steel meet, they will produce rust, you have done making plasma cnc by your own like what I am still doing, I will learn from your video. greetings from Indonesia 😁👍
