The first mod will be to slice the rail where the cam followers currently roll along that flat SOFT METAL edge of the 11 gauge sheet metal. PlasmaCam owners know that this edge mushrooms down over time, because the hardened cam follower pounds the soft edge of the rail as it rolls over plasma dust, and eventually, the rails are worthless.
So I am going to cut off that edge and replace it with a length of cold roll steel round bar. With a 3D printer, I will create a set of clips that will be attached to the rail, and allow an owner to drop a 3/16" round bar onto the rail edge in place of that flat factory edge.
The really great thing about this is, when the round bar begins to flatten out, you can simply rotate it 22.5 degree and you will have a brand new, smooth round edge for the cam followers to roll along. Rinse and repeat eight times until it is finally time to replace the round bar, which will simply snap into place.
The second mod involves the gear racks. I will laser cut small oval slots in the top of the rails, and small round holes through the gear racks. The holes will be tapped to receive a small, shallow machine screw that will pull the gear rack up against the top of the rails, rather than relying on that incredibly poorly designed "pinch" system that PlasmaCam devised.
The rails will HANG from the machine screws and you will be able to easily shift them left or right just a smidge, to get them perfectly aligned for the crossover on 510 tables. Alignment of the gear racks will be done by tightening one gear rack and using the gantry drive shaft to engage the second gear rack. Once the crossover is smooth, you will simply tighten that gear rack into position from above.
Table owners will never need to buy new rails from PlasmaCam ever again. I think I will work out an exchange system. You buy my modified rails, and after installing them, you send me your old rails which will then be converted to the round bar surface and sold to the next customer. I MAY even powder coat them, but I have not decided if I will go THAT far.
The first set will be built soon. I am still preparing to cut the new grates for the laser table which will give me six inches of additional gantry to grate clearance so I can place larger items beneath the laser.
This is exciting! Imagine the cam followers, which are round, hardened cylinders, rolling along the top of hardened round bars at a perpendicular angle! They SHOULD be smooth as silk!
The third task for this laser, is to cut a set of grates for the PlasmaCam tables that sets up a 2" square drop area, rather than the 'YUGE 6" drop area that the tables have now. It will also have a 2x2 region built into the grates that creates a 1"x1" grate for small item cutting.
Equally amazing, will be a center section that can be removed to place a large square or rectangular tube into a trough, so you can cut much larger items when needed. I think I will allow it to hang below the table frame, so you can cut longer material without the rails getting in the way.
All of the grate points will be removable and replaceable at will, as they are damaged. I will probably sell them in 100 packs, all cut on my table.
So, Good things are coming! I have been gritting my teeth, waiting for this laser to arrive, so I can jump onto these projects.
Joe
