New member from South Florida

New to PlasmaSpider? Introduce yourself to the community and tell us a little about you.
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Clayton Futo
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New member from South Florida

Post by Clayton Futo »

Hello everyone, I am a teachers assistant to the welding program here in Vero Beach FL. We have a Lincoln 4400 plasma table in our shop. I have been doing smaller projects on our table but i'd like to get to know more about the machine and what it takes to make it run more efficient and cleaner.
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acourtjester
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Re: New member from South Florida

Post by acourtjester »

Welcome Clayton, Large number of members here to help, may not be the exact table but much is fairly common for Plasma setups. You can also use the search function in the upper right for a quick look around, or projects files you may like to do.
DIY 4X4 Plasma/Router Table
Hypertherm PM65 Machine Torch
Drag Knife and Scribe
Miller Mig welder
13" metal lathe
Small Mill
Everlast PowerTig 255 EXT
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Re: New member from South Florida

Post by adbuch »

Welcome aboard Clayton! I hear that Torchmate is a pretty nice machine. Although I use a Plasmacam, I do have and use the TMCad software and I like it very much. What sorts of projects are you making, and what sorts of questions do you have about using your table?
David
Clayton Futo
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Re: New member from South Florida

Post by Clayton Futo »

Thank you all for the welcome, mostly cutting out shapes to be welded together by the students in class. different sized boxes and pyramids, we also had a student make a soccer ball. id like to start designing some more custom art work as well as fabricating some practical usable parts. I have a pretty good understanding of the machine and CAD software from videos and the instructors hand book, there are just some things here and there that can stump me while trying to design and cut. i will be sure to look in the search bars before creating a post.
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acourtjester
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Re: New member from South Florida

Post by acourtjester »

Many here to help, maybe posting a design you like for a member to do a tutorial. This has been done with Inkscape and other software here for others. What CAM software are you using can it import DXF or SVG files to create a G-code? Once you get the basics or big picture things start to make sense and become easier.
DIY 4X4 Plasma/Router Table
Hypertherm PM65 Machine Torch
Drag Knife and Scribe
Miller Mig welder
13" metal lathe
Small Mill
Everlast PowerTig 255 EXT
adbuch
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Re: New member from South Florida

Post by adbuch »

That's a great idea Tom! A sample project posted here would be a great way to start.

David
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SegoMan DeSigns
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Re: New member from South Florida

Post by SegoMan DeSigns »

Welcome to the site Clayton.

Several past students of the T M training system has made requests on this site on how to upgrade the Native TM files to a DXF. Perhaps that would be a good finale task for your students, have them use the software they currently have access to to upgrade all of their work to a DXF for future use.

Steve
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tinspark
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Re: New member from South Florida

Post by tinspark »

adbuch wrote: Tue Apr 04, 2023 10:04 am Welcome aboard Clayton! I hear that Torchmate is a pretty nice machine. Although I use a Plasmacam, I do have and use the TMCad software and I like it very much. What sorts of projects are you making, and what sorts of questions do you have about using your table?
David
Hy David,
Just curious about the Torchmate software.
Do they have a trial package to try out before a purchase.
I ask, because I would like to convert some files to TM file system now and then.
One of my kids is currently taking a welding class in high school and I sent them a DXF file of Thor's hammer a while back that I found here,
and no one there knew what to do with a DXF file.
It would be cool to have a converter like convertio.com or something to convert a DXF through or a free or low cost sample pack from Torchmate.
Designedge Advanced at least lets us convert a PCM to a DXF file
In fact this file would be a great file for the OP,
Not a lot of material and a really easy and cheap project
Thats why I chose it for her class.
I have not burnt one yet.

And as a side note:
the random disc in the file goes on one of the "pounding ends" of the hammer, or so I was schooled by my teenager. lol!!

Thanks!
Attachments
Thors Hammer- Bree Mason.dxf
(116.38 KiB) Downloaded 57 times
ThorHammer- Bree Masons.jpg
ThorHammer- Bree Masons.jpg (91.82 KiB) Viewed 3056 times
Last edited by tinspark on Fri Apr 28, 2023 1:28 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Doug,
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Re: New member from South Florida

Post by SegoMan DeSigns »

Doug,

You can import a DXF into the T M software, I draw with CD 16 / export as a DXF / import that into T M

Here's the link to the TM software :

https://www.torchmatestore.com/Torchmat ... _2956.html

https://torchmate.com/torchmate-cad

CAD Support:

This link is to replace the existing dongle if it ever goes bad..

https://www.torchmatestore.com/Torchmat ... _3272.html
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Re: New member from South Florida

Post by adbuch »

tinspark wrote: Mon Apr 10, 2023 6:00 pm
Hy David,
Just curious about the Torchmate software.
Do they have a trial package to try out before a purchase.
Doug - yes there is a trial package.

https://torchmate.com/training-header/t ... -downloads
tmcad trial version.jpg
This would be the educational version that is fully functional, but will only save files as .edu extension. These files can be opened by either the .edu version or the master educational version, but not the normal paid version. The educational version will import dxf files. So you could draw something up with Design Edge, export as dxf, and then your son (or daughter) can import it with their copy of TMcad Educational Version, which is the version the students normally use.

There are different levels of the paid version. I am using the one called Torchmate CAD-CAM V9 Lite, which cost around $300 and requires the supplied +-"dongle" to operate. I purchased this after using the trial EDU version because I liked some of the manual tracing capabilities. Additional upgrades include the Pro Text upgrade ($625) and the Auto trace wizard/Nesting/Shapes Library combo ($525). These are things I already have in other programs, so I really only wanted the tracing capability, although I will say that I am much more comfortable and achieve better results using Inkscape for manual tracing.

David
Last edited by adbuch on Tue Apr 11, 2023 1:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
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tinspark
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Re: New member from South Florida

Post by tinspark »

Thank you David
My son went through welding last year at the same polytechnical high school and now my older daughter is going through it also.
My younger daughter wants to do the MASH program- Nursing.
She no doubt takes after my wife... HAHA way more brains than me
:Like :Like :Like :Like
Last edited by tinspark on Tue Apr 11, 2023 1:59 am, edited 1 time in total.
Doug,
4x4 GoTorch- expanded
Height Control/Advanced DesignEdge
Hypertherm 45XP-
Logan Lathe + myriads of other shop toys
**CAUTION**- "Does Not Play Well With Others" :)
adbuch
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Re: New member from South Florida

Post by adbuch »

tmcad trial version 1.jpg
tmcad trial version 2.jpg
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Re: New member from South Florida

Post by SegoMan DeSigns »

David,

Thanks for the update on that as well..

I also use the CAD-CAM Lite V9 that came with my 2x2 growth series table.
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tinspark
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Re: New member from South Florida

Post by tinspark »

adbuch wrote: Tue Apr 11, 2023 1:35 am
This would be the educational version that is fully functional, but will only save files as .edu extension. These files can be opened by either the .edu version or the master educational version, but not the normal paid version. The educational version will import dxf files. So you could draw something up with Design Edge, export as dxf, and then your son (or daughter) can import it with their copy of TMcad Educational Version, which is the version the students normally use.

David
I downloaded the educational version and sent the file off this morning.
So, I will wait and see if they know what to do with it.

I also tried to upload the .edu file here on this site but the site here did not like the .edu type of file extension.
I thought maybe the OP might want to have a look at it and possibly use it too.
I think a lot of welding shop kids would like to build one of these.

On the other hand , as long as they didn't whack each other with them playing around and showing off.
I might have back in the day, but I wasn't living in this powder keg society that kid's today endure. :shock:
Doug,
4x4 GoTorch- expanded
Height Control/Advanced DesignEdge
Hypertherm 45XP-
Logan Lathe + myriads of other shop toys
**CAUTION**- "Does Not Play Well With Others" :)
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tinspark
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Re: New member from South Florida

Post by tinspark »

Clayton Futo wrote: Tue Apr 04, 2023 8:54 am Hello everyone, I am a teachers assistant to the welding program here in Vero Beach FL. We have a Lincoln 4400 plasma table in our shop. I have been doing smaller projects on our table but i'd like to get to know more about the machine and what it takes to make it run more efficient and cleaner.
Just a note about this file (not mine) the file that I attached above, The (8 pieces that taper to the hammer face were about 1/8" long ant the(2) hammer ends (square ends where a hammer would typically strike) needed to be trimmed back also 1/8". If you would want it fixed for future class projects I would be happy to modify it and repost it here if you want it for your class.
It was a file that I found here on this site. And there is no way of really knowing oftentimes til it is burned.


Here is her project from a few days ago: proud of her!! She is a better welder than I was at 17 years old, and I told her so!!
viewtopic.php?f=12&p=224725#p224725
Doug,
4x4 GoTorch- expanded
Height Control/Advanced DesignEdge
Hypertherm 45XP-
Logan Lathe + myriads of other shop toys
**CAUTION**- "Does Not Play Well With Others" :)
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