I Hacked My Plasma Table with a Skateboard
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- With a $20 skateboard, some sheet metal, and a handful of hardware, anyone can turn a CNC plasma table into a tube cutting machine! Here's how to do it!
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I need more please
I am 100% down for more of this! Your excitement on this was made it better.
Man, You just saved me 1000$, because I am about to buy 4th axis for my plasma, and this idea changed the game, Thanks❤
Thanks! This cost me $42 and 6 hours of work (plus paying the camera guy).
how about to use quick release bolts (like on bicycles) on gantries? Or mount it dire to moving part with torch?
Another thing is how to make it adjustable, if you want to cut bigger diameter whit just one pair of guides.
@@carel91 You'd just need to run it at a different height and scale the horizontal axis appropriately.
@@malharapte5989yes but center of tube is shifted due to angle from pivot. Maybe instead of pivoting wheels from that angle, just screw them down by Z, That could work
I wonder if you could mount the mig welder on there and weld round stuff thats challenging not pipe notch but like press fit shafts
Design engineer here . This is a really cool idea. I think the problem with your dxf profiles is that you created the cut line from the ID of the tube. I totally get why you'd want to do that. However, the tube circumference at the ID is smaller than at the OD, so when the tube rolls, it doesn't quite roll far enough. This is why you got the gape between the start and end of the initial cut (until you added the tangential overcut), and why the tube profile near the start and stop point looks distorted slightly (especially on the mitre joins). If you scale the dxf in whatever axis direction the tube rolls in, by tube OD / tube ID, it will stretch the shape you need at the ID to match the distance the OD rolls. The start and end of the cuts should then match up without having to rely on the tangential over cut, and elaving the exact shape you wanted at the ID. I hope that makes sense.
I like an engineer that speaks common sense. I was thinking about the ID vs OD just wasn’t smart enough to explain it. lol.
Seconded. Thats what I picked up on too. He mentioned when modeling that he was modeling off the tube ID. Nothing to add there... I will however add that generating your cut path off of either the ID or OD alone wont work so well (Its causing the problem mentioned in the video of the less than perfect joint fitment). I have a little experience designing tube joints for 2 axis laser cutting in a couple dIfferent CAD packages. Im not sure about Onshape, but when you are using the frame trim tool (I think thats what you called the tool) does it allow you to select the option to cut normal to a selected surface? If so, draw your tubes with correct ID/OD and when the cut tool operates normal to the tube surfaces (just as the plasma cutter in reality will do) it will automatically follow the ideal profile where the tubes meet. For an angled joint part of that path would follow the ID and part the OD. If normal to surface cutting isnt an option( maybe in another toolset outside of the "frame" tools) its a good bit more work to get this result.
Oh, one other benefit to this process is that it eliminates the step of the fillet you had to add to get rid of the points. That result is automatic with the normal to surface cut.
My thoughts exactly.
Also a "design engineer." I work at a combination machine and fabrication shop, and the fab shop is routinely asking me for saddle patterns. Simply scaling up the ID pattern in the radial dimension will probably do the trick, but I like to make certain by using a 3d sketch to project the inside profile onto the OD. The other problem I see is that sheetmetal software typically uses a K factor when making the flat pattern; by making the sheetmetal wrap the actual tube thickness, the flat pattern width winds up being the mean radius circumference of the tube (not the ID nor the OD, but halfway between). This is where the model has gone wonky. Make the sheetmetal thickness a few ten-thousandths at the od, and you won't have to scale it at all.
@ryanschmidt1437 good point. I hadn't thought about the sheet metal bend allowance algorithm distorting the profile slightly too because nothing is actually being bent. If the software will allow it, what you suggest, saved as a custom bend allowance preset just for 'unrolling' tubes for this application sounds ideal.
I’ve liked the no BS videos before, but lately there seems to be a very positive vibe and friendship that’s working on camera, just even the genuine laughs is in my opinion brilliant, well done, keep it up
That's frickin genius dude. So simple.
I'm actually enjoying your banter with the camera person in these last few vids. Not sure if that was intended, but I think it adds to your vids.
Reminds me of the good ole days of UA-cam. Just guys building cool stuff in their garage.
This is awesome and exactly the kind of innovation the industry needs! As soon as the video started and I saw the wheels my brain instantly put 2 and 2 together and had that epiphany. We often spend so much time overcomplicating an idea when sometimes the best results really are that simple. I foresee roll cage and tube chassis projects shaving off at least 25% of actual labor time
That's cool! I'd love to hear more about it, and how you could refine the model to a weld-ready notch. Keep 'em coming!
I'm 68 years old. recently built my own CNC router and am building a plasma table This is freaking awesome !!! I have two C can shops, one for wood, one for metal.
Thank You Keep it up.
Heck yes!! I definitely want a follow up video!
It is welcoming to see another THINKING OUT OF THE BOX. I do this same thing daily, welder, grinder, mill, CNC lathe. Every single work day. When I am not at work, ideas spontaneously concoct solutions for the next work day, as my mind runs this type of thing in the background of life.
Sincerely glad you're so excited. Good for you.
Thanks for the project Tony! One vote Yes for the follow-up cleverness.
Wow out of the box thinking, just imagine how many titanium bikes you could roll cut, absolutly awsome, great video, yes i defintely want to see more like this.
Excellent result from such a simply alteration. Well done.
I can use that technique on my CNC mimi-mill
Super exciting. So many way of little tweaks to the set-up to make it more awesome. What a game changer for anyone with a plasma table. Now I need a plasma table.
This is really cool. Excited to see how far you take this
Awesome! Love the simplicity.
10/10. Love it. Love all of it. Came for the idea, got the CAD lesson and the enthusiasm. Love how you show how things really work in the real world.
I've needed something like this forever.
Please make another video with the Disney version and show us everything you do to get "there".
This is so impressive. Love your work, and I want to see more. I can't even imagine how much this can improve tube fabrication! Go for it.
That's awesome! Show me someone who doesn't appreciate your excitement, and I'll show you someone who hasn't notched with other methods.
This is soooo cool! Brilliant design, simple yet effective solution to an otherwise complicated problem.
The enthusiasm seen and Fireball tool squares make me think a collab with Fireball Tools in the future is something I would love to see. Keep up the great work!
Of course we what improvements you come up with to take this concept up a notch. You have a way of doing this the simplest way possible!!
Hey man. Met you at the shop trying to buy gloves. You gave me a glove heat shield and we spoke about video production (I’m a current film maker, guy with the production van) just wanted to say, love your channels and your content! No bs. Love the ideas classes and production!
This is pretty sweet! Please do another one. I’m working ideas in my head for how I can build one for my shop Sabre
Awesome video. Love the problem solving and the excitement when you got it to work!
Nice work! That’s really going to be a time saver for sure 👍 thanks for sharing this info!
Loved seeing your ideas and progress, some real world application to follow would be fantastic!
That is extremely smart, I would have never thought of it rolling with friction to get that axis. Now you need to refine it so it has clearance from your other axis. Blows my mind!
dude this is awesome. Very cool to see you getting excited about figuring this out, and a great idea. i need to brush up on my cad skills and ill try to build this out.
Dropping a vote for the follow up! 👌🏼
@TheFabricationSeries Definitely great content as always! I thought that was a really smart way to think out side the box and find a cheap solution to help innovate your creativity. I thought it was cool to see how excited you got when it started cutting the way you wanted it to.
This is awesome! I think the reason you’re not getting perfect fit is because you are cutting the OD profile of your tube. Try cutting the ID profile and you may get a better fit. That being said, some angles may cause larger gaps.
i work with the 18 year old that is part of the facebook group you talked about, he made the origional design with his 3d printer and dads plasma table and brought it to work where we gave tips on possible ways he could improve it... and now a couple weeks later here we are lmao pretty neat
Thanks Justin, Look forward to seeing where you can take this.
Justin.Very cool setup.I been enjoying your latest videos.Keep the great content coming.
Loved this video Justin! You look back to your old self in this one back to the days of the 20 dollar weld made me xxx money. Love it! You could do a series just on that cad software, you make it look sooo easy!
I played around in FreeCAD a bit, and I think the best workflow is to extrude a cylinder the OD of the pipe that you don't want to notch, extrude a cylindrical surface the ID of the pipe you do want to notch, cut the second one using the first, 3d offset that surface by the wall thickness, cut it again if it's anything but 90 degrees, and then flatten the face using the curves workbench. This will account for your motion system mapping to the OD of the part, and the ID and OD driving the fit on opposite sides of the joint.
Dunno how often it will be relevant, but the rolling inverts one axis, so some things may need to be mirrored in CAD.
Good looking out for the mirrored cut pattern. About the only place it will get you in trouble is when you have a non-perpendicular lateral that doesn't intersect through the centerline of the main tube, usually with a smaller diameter tube on the branch.
30:20 seeing someone this giddy in the shop reminds me of my first day in a fabrication shop. All the toys and possibilities.
great video. I have a cnc plasma table i have built. Its amazing how it inspires you to work in different ways, and think of fabricating in so many diff ways. Great vid. Great way of showing the thought process also.
Super clever, I'll have to make this a priority when our table is up and running. Thank you for sharing!
As someone about to start building a JD's Garage plasma table I'd love to see this idea refined. Always cool to see out of the box thinking that saves money.
I think JD had/has something for this also??
Dude you've done what some of us have all dreamed of simplicity
Notch to shabby 😂
We love it! If you used perforated sheet, instead of the solid sheet metal, under the tubing would the downdraft fan pull enough air to keep the smoke down and still provide a stable base for the tubing to roll on? Might be worth a try. Keep it up, we love this stuff and so do our viewers on the site.
what a great idea ,really enjoyed watching you figure it out and showing all the troubles before success
Can't wait to see the follow up , plans & Designs for the Skate Roller attachment 2.0 & more
I want to see ALL the refinement ideas & associated videos for this idea!!!
Great job and great video. Thanks man.
That is so cool, hope to see a follow up , THANKS
Dude what?!?! That's killer! Great video bud!
Let’s see more on this. What a great idea. Thanks bud!!
Awesome design and execution! Thank you for sharing your idea!
That's fecking amazing, definitely definitely definitely more videos like this
Stretching your frame and learning is so empowering! Great stuff.
Your cut profile is the inner diameter of the tube. That's why you originally had leftover tab on the first cuts.
Agreed. The original profile used with the frame function should have been the OD of the tube. Then the direction needs to be inverted when converted to sheet metal. I have not used the sheet metal function in onshape, but I know in other programs you can specify if your base profile is to be the ID, OD, or the centerline of the bend. If this is the case, you just need to change it to use the profile as the ID.
How is the zero set at the center of the pipe?
@@villageblacksmith9982 you should calculate the center v roll same as center to nozel
Pretty sweet! I might need to explore this for my crappy plasma!
Will be nice to see what you come up with next!!
Once i get my plasma set back up, I'm totally figuring this out! Would love to see more! I'm still learning 3d modeling on fusion.
Very cool! I work with Bend Tech sometimes, which will give you printable cutouts (2d wraps) for all your tube nodes. I imagine you could easily drop those flat files into your cutting sodtware to run. Saves all the initial design time, especially for already completed assemblies in Bend Tech. Your idea is brilliant, and kudos for being the first to make it reality. I think it would go hand in hand with the Bend Tech auto generated node wraps.
Yes yes yes we need more... and thank you for everything you do.
Love it Justin! Definitely need a follow up on this one!
This is Super-COOL 👏!!! Would love to see what your next plans are.
Hey you are onto something! Bravo and thanks for sharing!
Definitely looking forward to the refinement video.
That is the absolute best fab shop life hack I have ever seen.
I just found your channel... what a gold mine!!
I've had my torchmate over a decade. You will learn about the kerf and how to compansit your kerf. Awesome video! Just learn your table and how it cuts with new consumables/vs shitty ones.
Let the refinement begin! I want one.
Fantastic!!!
Consider overcentre springs or gas struts to easily pop the wheels up and down with your handle idea, and allow for different size tube.
Unbelievably cool, this is insanely simple and powerful
oh that's nice! Even with needing to do a bit of finishing work by hand, that's doing *so much* of the heavy lifting!
I have to show my boss this video! Very entertaining man thanks!
More of this please, was considering adding some steppers for my Crossfire but now I need a Skateboard👌🏻
Fantastic use of available equipment and clever thinking. My brain is working overtime trying to figure if my Arcdroid could be utilized to achieve the same results.
Oh hell yes, go for it. Just your enthusiasm is infective.
This is fantastic! Can't wait to see more!
That was a very clever way of turning your Plasma Cutter into a tube notcher, just with Skate board wheels and some brackets, I like it. As you said, if the machine does 95 % of the Job and you only have to clean the ends to fit a bit better, then it's all good.
Bad ass! Definitely could make and sell kits for these
Yeah, go for it, Justin!
Looks like all you need is a bit more for kerf of the cut and they'd be a perfect fit. This is pretty awesome.
I will be making one for my plasma table pronto! Huge thanks for the idea
Absolutely loved the video, definitely keen on a follow up ❤
Love this!
Suggestion; replace the springs with double acting pneumatic cylinders, tied together you could open and close from control station and control clamping forces.
Super cool proof of concept with tons of potential!! 👍👍
On your next iteration you could do something like Kip Handles or even Knobs to adjust the position of the wheel guides along the gantry. I'd be down to see what your next version be built.
Dude, that is freaking awesome! More please!
This is awesome. Please do a follow up with your improvements and refinements
Really want to see the refinement of this.
Currently building a CNC router and plasma cutter so would love to see what changes you make.
Man that idea is so cool... now i want a plasma table even more than before... First little improvement that came in to my mind: You could implement a vaccuum hose at the back roler to suck the fumes out of the back end of the tube, so that the extractor still works with tube cutting :)
I'd love to see a follow up implementing some of your other ideas!
Want to see more upgrades!!! I want to try this on my Langmuir table. I use sheetcam also.
Legend, another gift to the fabricator community
The world absolutely needs more of this!
O that just changed the game and always want to see the next evolution
Genius! I definitely want to see a followup.
Ghat os super cool. You should certainly follow up with another video on this subject.
I want to see more on this. I love it!
Love the idea, and the EXCITEMENT!
Great fun, very exciting. Would very much love a follow-up!