Greetings from snowy PA

[Parajim22]

Hello all, thanks for letting me join and I am looking forward to learning here - I know zero about plasma, but I am very interested and looking to get into it as well as waterjet cutting.

[adbuch]

Welcome aboard Jim! Are you planning to scratch build a table or go the turn-key route? Have you been considering what design software you might use? What sorts of things are you planning to cut with your cnc plasma table? Give us some ideas of your specific interests and we can help guide you and answer question you may have.

David

[Parajim22]

Hi David,

Many thanks for the speedy reply!

I am looking at a Langmuir CNC table, specific model TBD; and after reading through some of the posts here I know I need to replace my existing plasma with a better unit. I have an Amico machine and it works for what I uses it for, but I'm thinking either a Thermal Dynamics or Hypertherm.

As for material, mostly thinner SS is my plan (nothing thicker than 10 ga) for what is essentially going to be 3D gifts for retiring service members. That market is fairly saturated, its just a retirement thing for me to do though.

I have some AutoCAD experience, I've been an engineer for the last 30 years. I'll either stick with that or get one of the newer more user friendly programs - any recommendations would be most welcome!

Thanks,
James

[acourtjester]

HI James
Welcome aboard, Good idea planning ahead for retirement. The Hypertherm 45XP would be a great choice to get for what you want to cut. Another software package to look at is Inkscape, many here use it for drawing projects. And SheetCam for creating G-codes from either DXF or SVG files. Langmuir is also used by many members here. You can have a good look around using the search function in the upper right. Many very nice projects posted along with the files for them.
have fun
Tom

[adbuch]

Hi James - you can't go wrong with the Langmuir cutting tables, and I have heard nothing but positive reviews from the Langmuir owners. I agree with Tom that the Hypertherm 45xp would be an excellent choice for a cutter. I have been using one for over 5 years now and it works great with no problems. I particularly like the Hypertherm FineCut consumables for cutting thinner materials - 10 ga. and thinner. The benefits are narrower kerf width, less heat into the part for reduced warping of thin materials, and better cuts for detailed parts.

I started out with AutoCad many years ago and used it when I worked as a mechanical engineer at the University of Arizona Space Sciences Lunar & Planetary Lab. It is still a great program, and I currently use AutoCAD rel. 14.01 on my old Windows 2000 computer - not for cnc plasma cutting but for other tasks such as creating 2D drawings for import to MasterCam for creating 3D models for cnc machining. It is also great for basic mechanical drawings and architectural plans. I do also use a newer program called Bricscad for occasional mechanical drawings. DXF files can certainly be exported from either of these for import to Sheetcam or equivalent in preparation for creating g-code for cut paths.

As far as a newer more user friendly program - my choices would be to use something like CorelDraw for the drawing portion (cad) and Sheetcam for creating the g-code (cam). For more artistic work Inkscape is a good choice for drawings, then export to Sheetcam for the g-code creation. I also like LightBurn for creating drawings.

Many of the Langmuir owners are using Fusion 360 for cad/cam/post processing. Also if you think you might get into 3D printing at some point, Fusion 360 is great for creating solid models for printing as well. Langmuir has some excellent Fusion 360 tutorials geared towards cnc plasma cutting.

https://www.langmuirsystems.com/software/fusion

Inkscape is free, with many great tutorials available as well. CorelDraw can be purchased from Amazon (perpetual license) for around $100.

https://www.amazon.com/CorelDRAW-Graphi ... LBZNK&th=1

LightBurn offers a free 30 day trial, and the cost to purchase is around $65 for a perpetual license.

https://lightburnsoftware.com/pages/tri ... re-you-buy

I personally use all of the above mentioned programs plus several others. If you have any questions about any of these, let us know and we will try to help.

David