quality small CNC plasma table purchase

We are in the market for a small CNC plasma table. prefer something that will cut 4'x4' and then be able to index in the rest of a 4x8 sheet.

My son has been looking around and a lot of offers just do not look like professional quality. We're looking for servo motors and rack and pinion drive, ball screw on Z. High end hyper therm plasma cutter. really want something with a decent part nesting software included, if possible. Also, lot of offers look to have low end cheesy computer controls, (Mach 3, or linux CNC), looking for something better.

beginning budget is $30K, may need to go up from that.

plan on going to Fab teck in September to make the purchase.
FABTECH 2021 - Chicago

We'd like to hear from users, both good and bad reviews.

For what it's worth. Indexing is a pain in the rear. if your generally cutting 8 foot sheets then buy a table that can handle 8 foot sheets. If your work requires any real precision cut lines then indexing is always a challenge. in regards to drive motors, Servos are better then stepper motors, all major CNC machines use servos. Purchase a unit with torch height control and some sort of torch break away protection in the event of a crash. Every body and there brother is building CNC cutting tables these days.
30 grand should get you into a nice CNC table.

I just went through this process and got a 5x10 because I work with 10' sheets for some things I build. Regardless, I would never consider getting one smaller than a 4x8 unless you absolutely don't have the room. The price difference isn't that much between a 4x4 and 4x8 considering the convenience of not having to break down sheets, efficiency of cutting more parts from a larger sheet and removing the hassle of indexing.

The bigger question I have is what will you be producing with it?

Don't have a category for you. Just all sorts of small parts made of several thickness of steel, AL, and stainless. All small runs, almost never use even half sheet before a change over. Plus we already got too many machines in the shop. space is a premium.

Guess i should add, we had midnight access to a laser for 15 years. That has dried up, hence the need.

SOOO many vendors here, most look to be almost homemade. Makes us afriad to buy something with no support down the line. Wishing for a clear winner here, maybe not to be.

Considering I just got my table, I'm not qualified to wax poetic about the intricacies of each feature or which software is going to get you out of the cheesy factor considering my machine has stepper motors and the Linux software. My use is geared towards fabrication and cutting parts that will get welded so I don't need laser level accuracy and from my understanding, if the stepper motors are sized correctly to the gantry the machine should cut well. I also cut a variety of metals so I opted for the water table with a bladder so I could easily play with the water feature to lower it for better cut quality or raise it to help reduce warpage on thinner stainless sheet. However the trade off using water to control warpage is the cut quality can suffer with more dross. Not a big deal for my usage, but that may add additional ops to the parts you cut.

You've got a solid budget to work with, have you looked into high def plasma machines? The cut quality is better than the standard plasma tables and I doubt any of the manufacturers producing those machines stateside are in the homemade league. Considering you were using a laser before just be aware the cut quality simply doesn't compare if that's a potential concern.

You might also post an inquiry on the plasmaspider forum. Plasma tables is all they discuss there.

Since you're in Minnesota you might reach out to Shop Sabre. They're in your backyard and generally regarded as a good company to deal with although I have no direct experience with them. I think they have their own software package. Most of the tables I looked at had the option to upgrade to servo motors.

THANKS for the lead to shop sabre. 50 miles from us and looks to be a top quality machine.

You will find lots of tables at Fabtech, each one of them the best.

You are having problems with hobby quality machines because you are looking for a hobby size machine. Good controls, motors, plasma machine all cost the same for a 4 x 4 as a 5 x 10 machine. I know it sucks for you if all you really have room for is a 4 x 4, but that size doesn't have a very large industrial market.

As soon as you wrote about "indexing the sheet" all
the Hi-Definition stuff went right out the winder.

Another thing, you can't index with a water table.

Good points about trying to buy a small industrial machine.

Are we the only shop with 2 lbs. of machines in a 1 lb. space?

Was going to sell a hydraulic surface grinder to make room. Looks like a nice older matsuura has to go too.

I've had good luck with my Bulltear table...now they are called Starlab and are up your way.

They offer servos on their tables.

I bought mine in 2012 and it's still going strong, so at least they've been around a long while.

Ultimate CNC plasma systems - Star Lab CNC Made in the USA

Karl_T said:

Good points about trying to buy a small industrial machine.

Are we the only shop with 2 lbs. of machines in a 1 lb. space?

Was going to sell a hydraulic surface grinder to make room. Looks like a nice older matsuura has to go too.

Click to expand...

"Mezzanine".....

if you are still looking for one, go check out Mini Hornet Plasma Cutter - Professional Plasma Cutting. Entry-Level Price.
I think this machine would be a great match for you. Message me with any questions you may have.

If you have a flexible budget please consider a Fablight Pulsed Laser. It plugs into a 115VAC outlet @15amps and the 4.5KW machine will cut 1/4" stainless albeit slowly. I cut 3/16" ss on my machine all day. It is accurate within .005" and the kerf is the same dimension. Because it is pulsed fiber, it never needs anything replaced except for a small lens about every 200 hours. The software is now near perfect and was not two years ago when I got my machine. I have about six hundred hours on it now and still cuts like the day I bought it. Paid for itself seven times over at least. I weld up long 12' pieces by indexing them and you cannot tell where the weld was. It also will cut tubes and squares. Nitrogen is a good thing to use for stainless.

I should also mention it has a footprint of 72" x about 40" deep, 5 feet high-ish.
Below is an image of about two days of cutting both 12g 304 and .036" 304. About a thousand parts. I surface the parts when they are still on the sheet and remove all dross and then break them off. Aside from it being a;most impossible on a plasma machine the dross clean up on a thousand parts might take a week of extreme drudgery. Been there, done that, never again....



Good luck!
P.S. I have a 5 x 10 Dynatorch table with a 100AMP High Def Hypertherm plasma and I will jump through many a hoop on the laser before considering taking it to the plasma. The prices on fiber laser machines are going to get lower in the near future because the laser itself is now being made in more places than just Massachusetts.