adding a plasma cutter to my CNC mill

prefetch · Oct 28, 2016

i've got a miller plasma cutter w/ a machine torch and i'm planning on making a customer torch holder and putting in a cat40 holder for my haas TM3 mill.

from what i've read, one of the big problems is smoke/grit from the plasma cutting getting everywhere and making a mess of the inside of the cabinet.

i'm thinking about either making some kind of water table to put on top of the TM3 table and maybe having a vacuum system running in the cabinet.

note that this is a hobby machine - it runs maybe a few hours per week.

has anyone else here done something like this? any advice?

hanermo · Oct 28, 2016

If you make an enclosed box inside the machine, to hold the mess, why not ?

Make the top slider from thin steel, with some form of seal, I would use a sliding plastic like iglidur from igus on the edges.
Only hard part to it, I would think.
Or some form of concertina.

If you leave the top part open, I think the grit would condense everywhere and ruin the linear and screws in short order.

Kudos if You show picks !

jamscal · Oct 28, 2016

Don't do it. You can't contain the smoke and grit (and water) effectively enough and you'll kill the resale value if a potential buyer suspects you've done this.

Water table on a real plasma table is stationary. It will be sloshing on the mill table and will spill out on the first rapid.

Milland · Oct 28, 2016

What you could try is a extending arm that mounts to the table, then sticks out the front door or side window. Place a small plasma table under the cutter and now you have a stationary table away from the interior of the mill, yet the two-axis controlled motions that you need for cutting patterns (within the travel limits of the arm and open area for the door).

Have an adjustable height bracket to hold the cutter to account for material thickness or fixturing issues, and you can place a treated canvass (or similar curtain) over the top of the arm and opening of the mill to minimize grit bouncing back into the enclosure. Set up up a hood and venting system for even better smoke/swarf control.

This idea worth what you paid for it, don't sue me if you burn down the joint or run the arm into the enclosure sides. Keep your hand on the red buttons...

Heavey Metal · Oct 28, 2016

^^^^^^^ some of the stupidest shit I have seen suggested.

If you are to broke to get your parts cut by someone that has a proper plasma ,......

JP Machining · Oct 28, 2016

Not to mention the noise interference that is generated by the plasma WILL cause the machine a pile of headaches. Oh and the feed rates that the little mill can actually feed at, not just rapid, are way to slow for anything on the thinner side of 1/8"

nofxz · Oct 28, 2016

You don't weld on milling machine because of micro pitting on the various ball bearings between the part and the ground.

prefetch · Oct 28, 2016

so it sounds like most people are saying it's a bad idea because of the mess.

the reason i'm thinking about it is that i just don't have the floor space for another unit (like a real plasma cnc table.)

so maybe if i do it, then i'd have to make some kind of box to contain all the mess. maybe i'll try it out and quickly learn that it's a super bad idea and abandon it.

jpmachining - you said something that i don't understand. you said the TM3 mill can't do a fast enough feed rate to cut thick metal. don't you want to go slow with thick metal? my mill can feed at any rate i tell it to - certainly faster or slow than i can do by hand, and my plasma will do what it's supposed to do by hand, so i don't really get your comment.

adama · Oct 28, 2016

Yeah, everyones right its a stupid idea doing it in the machine, what you do is add a pole to the table, hang it on out the machine and do it on a pair of saw horses in front, due to liability theres no way in hell im sharing the pics of that, but it works just fine, micro pitting of the ball ways is not a issue, because the torch current never flows near em! Speeds your biggest issue, most cnc mills are just too frigging slow especially acceleration wise and that kills your corners - fine details.

But its a real easy way to go and do a few bits - convince your self if cnc in house plasma is for you or its worth just looking further a feild for a laser cutter that does realise in the 21'st century turn around in one + months too fucking slow!

JP Machining · Oct 28, 2016

I meant for under 1/8 thick you need like 200 ipm and fast acceleration deceleration or the corners get burned and details get lost. My plasma table I built can probably feed about 300 ipm with good acceleration deceleration and not too much wobble. It rapids at 1k ipm but you can't cut that fast with any detail.

The noise will be the biggest problem and if it's not grounded right will no doubt fry control boards in the mill and possibly pit ball screws and linear rails.

adama · Oct 29, 2016

Don't know about the miller but not all plasmas use HF and are there fore not all that noisy electrically, its one of the key reasons hyper-therm use blow back start, were the electrode is touching the nozzle and the air pressure opens it up to start the arc for that very reason

tnmgcarbide · Oct 30, 2016

miller spectrums use the same blowback torch design as hypertherm . no HF noise interference.

my spectrum's torch was actually made for miller by hypertherm.

JP Machining · Oct 31, 2016

I wasn't referring to hf noise. The plasma makes alot of ground noise if the ground is not handled right, which causes alot of problems with electronics.

david n · Nov 2, 2016

Dumb idea

..................don't do it. You don't have the floor space for a little 4'x4' plasma table? They are so light and small you could almost hang them up on the wall when not in use.

C&B MACHINE SHOP · Jan 15, 2018

Adapting a plasma.

prefetch said:
i've got a miller plasma cutter w/ a machine torch and i'm planning on making a customer torch holder and putting in a cat40 holder for my haas TM3 mill.

from what i've read, one of the big problems is smoke/grit from the plasma cutting getting everywhere and making a mess of the inside of the cabinet.

i'm thinking about either making some kind of water table to put on top of the TM3 table and maybe having a vacuum system running in the cabinet.

note that this is a hobby machine - it runs maybe a few hours per week.

has anyone else here done something like this? any advice?

Well I just did. Worked absolutely perfect. Made an arm attached to the table and long enough to reach my portable plasma table. Used insulators in case of electrical interference. 1/8"mild steel 25 amps, 45ipm

DDoug · Jan 15, 2018

C&B MACHINE SHOP said:
Well I just did. Worked absolutely perfect. Made an arm attached to the table and long enough to reach my portable plasma table. Used insulators in case of electrical interference. 1/8"mild steel 25 amps, 45ipm

Pictures please, and what machine did you put this on ?

Search

Largest Manufacturing Technology Community on the Web

Search

adding a plasma cutter to my CNC mill

prefetch

Plastic

hanermo

Titanium

jamscal

Stainless

Milland

Diamond

Heavey Metal

Banned

JP Machining

Stainless

nofxz

Aluminum

prefetch

Plastic

adama

Diamond

JP Machining

Stainless

adama

Diamond

tnmgcarbide

Diamond

JP Machining

Stainless

david n

Diamond

C&B MACHINE SHOP

Plastic

DDoug

Diamond

Similar threads