CandCnC Table Build Starting. Help!

[BTA Plasma]

Check your bearings carefully. If you have any slop in the bearing it shows up in the cut. Your on the right path though.

[Oldsarge]

Almost ready to start building... I ordered my steel today, $775.00 for everything I need for the whole table minus the water table, and about a 2'x4' piece of 3/16 plate for the motor frames. Now I'm just waiting for the linear rail from PBC linear for the gantry, and the V rails. Also, the Dragon Cut from CandCNC should be ready in another week or so... The bearings from VXB bearing are really nice & should work perfectly. I still have to find some 3/8" concentric mounting studs for the bearings on the Z axis mounting plate, then it's just a matter of springs, cable ties and other misc. odds & ends. Picked up a refurbished computer with a fresh copy of XP with all service packs installed & a 60 day warranty for $140 so I'll have to put together a nice rolling stand/desk for it soon.

Thanks for all the help so far, and I'm sure I'll have a ton more questions as I go along.... Let the fun begin!

Oldsarge

[I Lean]

I think I had to buy the concentric and eccentric bushings from Grainger.

[Oldsarge]

I think I had to buy the concentric and eccentric bushings from Grainger.

Cool! I'll have to stop in there today when I go to pick up the steel, they have a big store right down the street from the steel suppliers. I think I'm going to have the steel place pre bend some parts of the water table when I get to that point to help save time on cutting & welding... hopefully I can get away with one seam across the width of the table, and the end caps.

Pics coming soon!

Oldsarge

[Oldsarge]

More parts in today, and picked up the steel for the table... Also got the hydraulic hoses for the tube bender made up while I was there... Total price: $1040.00



Plasma table frame, some assembly required!


All the gantry materials, the computer & misc. hardware.


The tube bender should be operational by the end of Saturday....

Will probably be another weekend or 2 before I can get started in earnest... Grownup stuff to do, but then it's on!!

Oldsarge

[Oldsarge]

Was wondering how deep is the average water table? My table is going to be 5x10 and I got a quote today for a piece of 6x10 12 gauge with the 10' sides bent up 4" on both sides, leaving me a 5' 4" width. I would only have to weld on end caps, and drill & install a drain. Price out the door is $315.00 So was wondering if that is too deep or should I have them shear a little off the 10' dimension for an extra $5.00 to make it a little shallower (more shallow )

Also, I assume for slats everybody is just using off the shelf flat bar that's about 1/8" or so? What width do you use?

Thanks for any guidance... much appreciated.... I guess I really need to get some computer time and ferret out a lot of this on my own... Don't mean to be so lazy, just busy as heck, and really do appreciate any help that can save me some time... Hope I can flatten out the learning curve & contribute something back to the forum in short order!

Oldsarge

[muzza]

My water table is 4 inches deep and has 3 inch slats spaced up from the bottom 5/8" by stitch welding 5/8" square bar to the tray bottom, each spacer piece is just over half the width with an offset overlap to allow the water to flow through the middle and at each end when emptying and doubles as a stiffener for the bottom of the tray. Slats are spaced at 3" and are curved by cutting them 1/2" longer than the gap. To hold the ends I welded a piece of 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" angle to a strip of 2 " flat bar to form a long triangle, I then used a friction saw to cut the angle stopping at the flat at 3" intervals to give me slots for the slats, these strips I then welded inside each end of the water tray.
The slats I made by cutting 1/8" sheet into 3" strips as I couldn't get 3" x 1/8" flat bar locally.
I have my water level set about 3/4" to 1" below the bottom of the material being cut which works fine for removing most of the smoke and as I cut mainly lighter stuff it also works excellent at minimizing warpage without causing a lot of splashing. (I also have a perimeter downdraft ventilation system which removes all of the remaining smoke and also allows me to dump the water and still get rid of the smoke when cutting aluminium).
Another thing I did was to run the slats length ways to where I load my sheet to make loading easier.

Will I change it on my next build? Yes I'll probably go to 5 inches deep to have a bit more clearance under the slats for parts retrieval. I'd also have my grate setup independent of the water tray and have it hinged to make cleaning out easier.

Don't know what slat spacing you are working on but I also find the 3'' slat spacing works good for minimizing tip ups which were always a pain on a table I used to use which had 6" gridded slats, that one was a lot better once we changed it to 4" spacing using flat bar so I figured 3" would be better still and I'm happy with it.

On another note, I think you have made the right decision in using CandCNC electronics, that's what I have and although I found the manual a little hard to follow at times Tom was only an email or phone call away to help. I inherited a couple of problems with mine and although I purchased the components second hand Tom has still swapped any faulty bits as he said it was still in the 2 year warranty period and we're pretty sure the faulty bits were not faulty by his doing if you know what I mean. I downloaded his new Bladerunner manual yesterday and had a quick look through it, a lot more descriptive and easy to follow now.

[Oldsarge]

Thanks for the great feedback, I think I'm headed in the right direction with the water table then.... I agree on the Cand CNC hardware..... If I had the cash to drop, I may have gone in another direction, but for the budget I had to work with, I think I am going to end up with a good quality machine for way less than a commercial solution, and I'll know it inside & out.


Thanks!

Oldsarge