CNC Plasma - Build your own $6 Torch Height Controller (Mechanical THC) - 100% success rate
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- Опубліковано 15 лип 2020
- #CNCPlasma
#THC
#TorchHeightController
#DIYCNCMill
#3018CNC
#Fusion360
#Mach3
#Tutorials
Here the link to my design of the mechanical torch height controller (THC):
grabcad.com/library/mechanica...
I installed a THC system on my CNC plasma cutter. I tried many time without success to configure it to cut metal art on thin sheet metals (0.8mm and 0.5mm thick). The THC system only work for some thick sheet metals (1.5mm or above). For the thin sheets that I was using, The Z axis kept crushing into the sheet then lifted too high and ran away from the sheet metal.
I decided to give up on the THC and made my own mechanical THC. The setup that I designed can be adapted to any torch, CNC plasma system (Mach3, GRBL, etc...) and 100% success rate. You won't need to do any wiring to your CNC controller or changes to your plasma cutter. You will only need to make your Z axis free floating by removing the limit switch (if you had one). The tip of the torch will be maintained at constant height while gliding and cutting on the surface of the sheet metal. The free floating Z axis will allow the torch to follow any type of changes on the surface of the sheets. The mechanical shield will constantly press on the cutting surface by weight.
The whole mechanical THC setup was easy to make using my CNC milling machine. You can adapt the setup to your own CNC plasma cutter by changing the inner diameter of the fixture ring to the diameter of your torch.
In the end, the system showed a great success with a really thin sheet metal (0.5mm). Despise all the warping, the metal art was cut beautifully and clean. - Наука та технологія
Dude, you make the coolest projects!
superb - back to basics approach. no electronics to go wrong.
Absolutely great work and then sharing it. I was also thinking along these lines, but i already have the THC system installed and it is kinda working correctly. If i am in the near future not satisfied with the way it works, i am going to go down this path as well...
Very cool solution, thanks for sharing! I’m planning on building my first ever cnc plasma table soon, and have been looking into the THC information. I’m going to go with your solution, and found these cool SS half ball end caps that I’m going to adapt to implement your solution. Cheers!
Great vid minh. Keep up the great work mate.
Thank you my friend, will try!
Nice! The best solution is the simplest solution that solves your problem 😊
Dude, you totally rock. Thanks 👍👍👍
This is very clever
Awesome. Thank you
Genius Minh!!
Thank you for the compliments, nothing really genius here, I just used already existing idea in a different way.
You should be proud!!
Sometimes, I'm 😁
Đọc được email của anh là e vào ngay, xem. Các làm THC "cơ" của anh rất hay mà rẻ. Thank anh nhé. Hóng tiếp phần video chống nhiễu của anh Minh ở các phần sau, sao để đỡ lỗi khi bật mỏ cắt.
Great solution, thanks for sharing. I watched one of ur videos where u suggest a THC but i didnt know THC are not effective when cutting thin sheet metal. Good points to be noted
Yes, THC works based on the arc voltage between the electrode and the sheet metal. With the thin sheet metal, the arc cut through it so fast that the THC thinks that it's cutting air and move into wrong direction.
I make industrial CNC plasmas, he's got his amperage too high, his THC should work and would if he turned the power source amperage down.
thanks .... from south borneo...
Foe bending aluminum, if you have a cutting torch,turn off the oxygen and get a good layer of soot on the piece , turn the oxygen on and heat it till the soot burn away and let ot air cool and it will be much easier to shape
Hi friend. I try this on my Cnc but when my torch touch the sheet my Z axis go up but not down when the sheep of metal change the curve. how your Z axis go down when you are cutting ?? thanks for the help.
Hallo, can you share how you made that beautiful trochoidal path for cnc milling? Nice work all around!
Hi i extra like your solution. Just only question i have. How you made one time the torch free flothing with the mechanic controller and other time when finish the cut the Z motor move the torch ? Thank you if possible explain me.
Hello friend, how can I make the z axis not rise?
could I ask what your feeds and speeds are for milling aluminum.
It works in this small demo but after many years of experience plasma cutting, I can tell you that this is not a fool proof solution. I can see that shroud easily Getting hung up on the material and especially on a small piece of material like that it will skew the sheet. Low cost thc controllers are available under $200 there is even a free arduino thc project that all works well. I've used several different low cost brands and they work as advertised. If you can't get it working you're simply doing something wrong.
I'm new to this and surely not as experienced as you. I can tell you that my solution is not elegant and doesn't work in all scenarios such as cutting sheet metal that is bent at steep angles. But for what I'm using it for, it's still 100% success rate till now.
Hi, could you help me with the installation of mpg?
Great work and awesome intuition. Hats off Minh!
(FR) Salut Minh! Je savais que le sabot en bois ne tiendrait pas longtemps mais il est heureux que ta très belle machine CNC se charge du boulot pour le transformer en alu. On comprend mieux l'utilité d'une bonne machine CNC qui est parfaite. Tu commences à faire du suspense ;) Je me suis demandé au départ à quoi pourraient servir les deux pièces en bois qui finalement servent de gabarit très commode pour incurver l'aluminium. Une création d'outils en sorte. Fascinante intuition. Merci pour le show. Comme je ne connais pas la précision d'une torche plasma, j'ai été un peu surpris quand tu as dit qu'on ne pouvait pas l'améliorer plus que ça. Je te crois. Le résultat est très convaincant. Question: Pourquoi avoir enlevé le ressort qui garantissait que la torche "colle" à la surface incurvée de la feuille métallique? une histoire de course verticale? Je n'ai pas bien compris.
Allez, porte-toi bien l'ami et prends soin de ta famille, plus que jamais. Pas d'imprudence.
J'ai 2 raisons pour enlever le ressort:
- augmenter la course verticale
- quand on coupe, si la tête se lève ou se descend, avec le ressort, la pression ne serait pas la même. En utilisant seulement le pois du système, la pression de la tête sur le la pièce métallique sera constante.
Je ne sais pas si la deuxième raison est vraiment importante. De toute façons, je pense que ce système mécanique est bcp plus consistant comparé aux systèmes THC électroniques et aussi bcp moins cher
Where did you get the torch head from ?
Do you have more info on the spring mounting to get the torch head pushed down onto the sheet metal?
Almost at the end of this video: ua-cam.com/video/N1YhFppuEjs/v-deo.html
I noticed that your torch does not lift much during the cut, what are you running program wise to cut?, Great video by the way👍
If you watch through the video, you should know that the torch shouldn't lift because of the way my shield works. It's glide on the stock. I use SheetCam
Very good idea, a question, how does the tip feel now if it no longer has a sensor or switch. You will have some connection diagram that you can provide please. Greetings from Mexico
It's not a touch and lift off anymore, it's dragging on the surface. The tip of the torch is kept at a constant distance to the sheet metal by the shield. No wiring needed, just put the shield on the torch.
@@minhsmancave9448 Yes, I have been watching your video more than 3 times and it seems that I understood my operating logic, I congratulate you. I also see that you are familiar with the RNR motion board, I am about to build a router with a Huanyang vdf of 1.5kw and a usb mach 3 rnr motion board, you will have some instructions or video to do the VDF parameterization, wiring and configuration of mach 3 to work properly with rpm variation?
Yes, already made a video about that. Check out my video about 2.2kw vs. Router. I connected this rnr motion board to a vfd
Nice work man! Mullet torch height control! Definitely gonna make one for mine! Haha thanks! I’d rather the cut finish with scratches then bigger up the piece of metal! Maybe a leather layer stretched over the shield might help with scratches?
@@PON-CNC hasta acá te encontre tallercito, has probado está opcion, pensé solo hacias routers
How does this THC behave with respect to your electronic THC?
I have a question about the THC (non electrical) How long before the bottom plate wears away, I guess it would be easy to make a few bottom plates so that spares are available when needed.
Simple idea and seems to work well, I will make one for my machine and try it out.
I have the same plasma cutter and from the same seller. Actually I have two of them, both are broken after very little use. Both machines wont fire, seems like there is a fault in the circuitry. Seller wont reply to questions even though there is suppose to be a 24 month warranty.
The second machine was spluttering and then stopped altogether. The first machine wouldn't work from the day I bought it.
I have been using a different machine that is a bit under powered, but it works well using 3mm mild steel.
Man, you must be the unluckiest to have 2 plasma cutters that don't work. I haven't seen any problem with the conic shield yet, it gonna last very long time from what I saw. Try it for your-self. If you check my later video about this plasma cutter, you might find a solution there:
ua-cam.com/video/ZB3RWjC2E0c/v-deo.html
Check the spark gap and I think you will be able to fix the sputtering. I'm not sure about the one that doesn't fire, but check the spark gap too, that is one of the essential parameter to start the arc.
@@minhsmancave9448 Thanks for your reply, I am making a couple of the THC (non electrical) now.
I found that the circuit board has some issues on both machines, both have the same problem.
I also found that if I short two connections on the circuit board I can get the machines to fire (by passing the circuitry that is damaged) Not sure how long it can last like that, but as I am not getting any help from the seller or manufacturer, I have nothing to loose by trying.
Your videos are really profesionally made and explained, very interesting stuff and with you showing what works and what doesn't work, you save us all a lot of time and experiments, well done.
Boa noite, nos arquivos que está no link da descrição tem um sistema eletrônico ligado na controladora, para que serve aquele diagrama? e porque precisa ter os componentes em dobro?
I have the same cutter but I'm really struggling with hf interference. I have shielding on all my cables and have my box with my control board and power supply in a shielded box but the plasma makes one cut the splutters.
Do you have any advice?
Yes, I'm making another video about that. Give me one or two more days
@@minhsmancave9448 thanks 👍
Hope this will help you : ua-cam.com/video/Hb9KUkUAXg8/v-deo.html
@@minhsmancave9448 hello my friend I really like your videos, could you please restore the video? There are a lot of problems with interference, I would like to see the video.
Sorry my friend, that video is deleted for good. And the reason is all I did in video doesn't really solve the problem. It only reduced it to a low level that can work with low cutting current. When the cutting current increased, I still had interference. That's why I remove that video. You can check my later video for other solution such as combination of ethernet controller board and HF pilot arc plasma cutter or blow back pilot arc with USB controller board. Or you can also install a thc like the one I used sf-hc25g to isolate between the plasma cutter and the controller board.
I make car bodies and panels out of 1mm sheet metal for a living when im tig welding panels together the hotter and quicker I weld the less distortion there is so if you can manage to go abit hotter and abit faster travel speed you will get less distortion the longer the torch is on the more heat there will be
Thank you for the tips. The only issue with cutting fast on this type of machine is the precision decrease as the speed increase. With better build machine, I'm sure cutting at higher speed will help
Yes I thought that might be the case i think with the thin metal a laser would probably be better but the cost is outrageous i was thinking of using a 1000mm laser frame and putting a plasma torch on it but I think now I will go with abit more of a robust design as I didn't think of the more intricate designs that will vibrate and move the machine
I think to cut fast, you will need gear rack and pinion setup. The belt are not rigid enough for fast acceleration for high speed cutting. But the cost increase as you buy better components. In the end, it all comes down to how much can you pay.
Does a plasma torch have a focal point like laser beams?
No, but it has a sweet spot where the cut can be most straight through the sheet metal (the width of the cut is the same on top and bottom of the sheet). you can see the effect with thick sheet metal, with thin ones, it doesn't matter that much.
direction of travel is important for cut quality. The arc is 'swirled' as it exits the torch tip. you must determine which way your torch swirls the arc and then travel it in specific direction relative to that swirl. My apologies, I cannot recall if its climb or conventional that you much use. A phone call to the manufacturer of your particular torch will settle this question for you. Good Luck!!
What happens when the ring catches the work?
It doesn't
Would a water table mitigate heat distortion?
If you have one side of the stock dipped in the warer (top surface dry in air) or your plasma cuttrr can cut underwater, maybe. If the sheet metal is some distance away from the water, I don't think it help that much. The water bath purpose will be to catch the sparks and smoke.
@@minhsmancave9448 I believe the airflow would splash water around and cool down the part to a certain extend without the need to plasma cut underwater. However, I like your videos.
It might help a bit but not enough to keep the thin sheet metal from bending as many others showed in their videos on UA-cam. That's why they still want to have a THC even with a water bath.
I can't understand why UA-cam don't put a "translate" button at comment foot...
How is this holding up for you 6 months later?
Pretty good, still working, I had been using it until recently that I made a new version for my new torch. But I have to save that I don't like the fact that I have to clamp the sheet metal tightly to the slats and the shield scratches the surface.
привет не могли бы вы дать файлы для скачивания из другого источника? я не могу скачать
Hello, could you give files to download from a different source? I can not download
try this: drive.google.com/file/d/1G7QEpkvj4dbFodGnwqUuBH_nfxJg7anV/view?usp=sharing
only 1 minute in but the first thing I see is that you are cutting that thin material way too slow so you are getting a lot of heat input causing the distortion. It will still happen but not that bad should be moving over 250 inches a minute at 35 amps
Thank you for the input. I was and am still learning. But my machine is not really rigid, mostly because I'm using belts to drive the axis. The belts are too flexible for fast acceleration and create big imprecesions when cutting at the corners. I was trying to cut at low amperage and slow feed rate. But ideally, I will have replace the belts with gear racks and pinions.
@@minhsmancave9448 after watching the rest of the video I am impressed with what you have done on a budget and the ideas you have. Thumbs up.
Thank you for not giving up early. Ideas are really needed when money is not on your side, lol!
@@minhsmancave9448 if you can keep the assembly very light and very strong.... you should be able to get 'reasonable' accuracy with belt drive. inertia/momentum is not your friend here. Using wider belts and pulleys is good too. if possible. I have a rack and pinion system on my router. It has its own issues but my gantry is very heavy in both X & Y axis. great video btw. I enjoyed watching your build.Thanks for sharing!