DIY CNC Plasma - Does It Need a Torch Height Controller
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- Опубліковано 8 лип 2024
- Fine tuning the CNC Plasma cutter. Does it need a THC (Torch Height Controller) to fix all the problems?
Links to all CNC parts and BOM is available on the Making Stuff web page at www.makingstuff.info/Projects/...
3D drawings are available on the Making Stuff Patreon page / makingstuff
Playlist for this project - • DIY CNC Plasma Build -...
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#cncplasma
#cncplasmatable
#cncplasmacutting - Навчання та стиль
Man, this series is nuts, i've learned ALOT! I think i will make mine using your videos as reference. Thank you for sharing! Of course i've thumbed up all videos ahah
Thank you!
Great examples and explanations.
Excellent video!!
Thanks for posting!
Thank you.
Simple and nice explanation. I wonder why other people don't show this issue? They are just in the money making business rather than fix issues.
Good stuff.
I used the Price CNC thc on my 8 x 4 and it works really well. I just had to add an extra plasma earth so both sides of the metal were earthed as it works on arc voltage and I was getting a variance as I moved up the sheet. So far my results have been fantastic
Yeah a THC seems the way to go.
I just bought a Price cnc thc for my homebuilt table. I have a masso control and just setting it up. I have a longevity 62i plasma.
you are failing to understand what earth is.
You could attach some plexi to angle iron and place them around the table with magnets so you can move them around to keep the water from spraying all over.
Why not tack weld the plate before cutting the sign?
and how about to cut under water?? I saw some videos from the torch entirely under water like 1" and the cut came out marvellous...
Im having some issues when the torch moves from one letter to another, it moves so fast that some times it dosnt stops at the correct position and over laps with other letrers. How can i lower the speed between each cuts? Hope you can help me. Thanks. Great videos btw.
Thanks for the run from here command,Ive been using my plasma for year and a half and have been editing the g code to make corrections.I have the same problems on thin material qand do the samething you do,hope to see your install of the thc. Thanks good video
Thanks for watching!
I have a water pan under my homemade table and it not only keeps the plate from warping it also kills the smoke.
We used the Proma THC it was simple to install and really werent any extras needed besides wiring. It seems to do a good job so far, tho we havent used it very much at all yet
Did you use the 150 or the 150 SD ?
@@SegoMan I wanna say the sd version withouth relays but not certain
+Dustan Webb Thx that's the version I'm looking at to go with the Masso and Clearpath servos
Would water cooling the material help? A nozzle at the cutting head?
I keep a small (2 quart) pump sprayer by my cnc plasma table. I keep it set for a stream spray, not mist, and spray the metal around the torch where it's cutting. I don't know if that actually keeps the metal from wrapping or not, I never looked to see if it did wrap or not without the spray. I keep water in the bed too. Anyway, maybe try the sprayer.
cool !!!
Nice sign designs. I am anxious to get back to mine this fall.
You showed how changes to your feed rate was improving your cut (lack of dross). What did you settle on for that material, and how thick was it? ~P
I'm running 40 amps on 16ga at 125ipm and 14ga at 105ipm. That is with the cheap HF plasma cutter.
I agree THCs do work. What a view you have there, beautiful!!
Thank you.
Well, that got may attention. :)
I run my water right up under the sheet, generally within 1/8". You get less splashing, and better warp control/less dross
Yeah I learn the hard way, LOL! Thanks for watching.
So, if I fill up water all the way up to where you did, can I get away without using a THC for cutting 3 & 5mm thick steel sheets?
@@TechBuildand? yes or not?
dig your harbor freight container shelf...ihave like 20 of those container...they are actually made pretty welll...great video....im hopefully starting my plasma build soon...i may go masso controller...they seem to have great support...or i may go chinesium....i do like mach3
Be sure to watch the video where I built the storage bin. Thanks for watching.
Thanks for the video, i didnt know that it bends so extremely
hi swarfman , could you please help me to add , thc on my , cnc plasma, it works with dsp numerical control
brand and where to buy it , thanks to share your experience ,i'm just begineer ,and would like to upgrade my quality
job
thanks
This is probably in here but how about a drag tip and have it be able to float?
favor me podrías compartir el circuito electrico que utilizaste para la torcha de plasma manual para que te funcione automáticamente por favor gracias
I have the same plasma cutter and proma thc but when I click on the thc button/icon on mach3 the torch stops moving and torch stays in place arcing why is that anybody know how to fix the problem or what the problem is???
Wonder if there is a way to pre-heat the sheet before cutting? Should help allot with warping.
How would that help?
Like your video, what size air compressor you using and what psi it is?
80 gallon upright. It is located in the room next to the shop to eliminate a lot of the noise. The plasma cutter has a built in regulator and it is suppose to run at 80psi.
Two options, inductive sensor to measure distance frequently to sheet, other option is to add some omnidirectional rollers in few corners of the head, so it presses on the metal to make it flat. But that can put a lot of stress on the gantry, and is problematic due to the holes in the part. SO it will only work with thiner sheets.
Would waiting between some cuts help, by allowing for metal to cool?
I don't think waiting will help. Once the metal bends it doesn't go back 100% straight.
@@MakingStuff I see. Thanks for answer.
Hope you are well, at what height is your pierce and cut? And what AMPrege doe you use
The plasma cutter has a max setting of 40A. Not sure on the pierce height, I'm not near the machine right now.
For the "squeaking " ball screw Can you turn it around? You know end for end it Upside down so to speak. Then the squeak will "move " to the top. I hope this makes sense.
Good idea. I'll try it the next time I have the z-axis taken apart.
friend thanks for vidieo , please to advise and help for buying good cutter plasma and complete cnc software and cnc controller , thanks need to cut as you , mostly , thin plates of ss and galvanized , some time alu
up to thikness , 5mm thanks
how do you combat problems with misfires and also what plasma cutter are you using
The machine has arc detect and will abort and retry if it loses an arc in the middle of a cut. Hypertherm Powermax 45
Like to see a video of the wiring for the THC to the board and, Relay switch for plasma trigger and, Limit switch for the floating head, just saying. There's none out there. Im not a cnc savvy person and would love to see it being wired up or at least showing it done.
P.S. there is 1 that shows how to hook the THC to the plasma side but thats it.
Me too
just finished a auto height ajustment on my 3d printer uses a Proximity Sensor Switch (NPN) and a little bit of programming to make the machie believe its the z axis max travel switch , seems to me the same sensor can be used to keep the torchheight the same across an uneven surface (works even better on steel surface )
Do you mind doing a video about this?
Or giving a little more information about how made it the programming and so on?
Hello, Can you do a video where you show how connect the plasma equipment to the electronic? Thanks you. Very nice job.
Check out Stephan Cymbaulic's channel. He has a video shwoing how to do it.
Friend a question as you activate or deactivate in plasm when you move from one piece to another I have a cnc and I want to connect a plasma
hola amigo, tengo la misma dudo como es la manera en que hacen para que se active y desactive el plasma al momento de traslado... si encuentras la manera me ayudarias mucho diciendo porfavor...
Hey Bob, why not fit a brush around the torch, as used in some router table set-ups. The bristles should catch the water splashes and drain them back onto the workpiece. Just a thought.
Thanks, that is a good idea.
why were you not using your floating z in this operation........... i think your torch (z axis) needs to probe before cutting. and what CAM software did you used in generating the G-Code?
Floating Z came later in the project. I use Sheetcam.
What model of plasma cutter you use. I have problems with my plasma cutter already working at high frequency, "HF", which you recommend for cuts up to 5/8 "
I have a Harbor Freight plasma cutter.
how about create an arm attatches to the torch stage. when the torch comes down it pushes the sheet metal flat while it cuts?
hmm i think good idea?
Maybe some thicker metal or cold rolled metal will help. Gonna happen with the thin stuff
Raise the water level till it just barely touches for thin stuff and when you get to 3/16" thickness and over touch the plate with the level. This will prevent alot of dross from sticking and cut diwn alot more on warping.
Also I noticed the program seems to cut in a progressive order from one side to the other. More expensive programs will randomize cuts so as not to build up so much heat. See if you can change that cut order.
A way to cut down on splashing is put some strips of metal in the gaps around the edge of the table to effectively you dont see the water at all . This will cut down on it.
Are you running any sort of air dryer from your compressor? Im not talking about a desiccant one either. They only filter out moisture thats preexisting. I run a refrigerated dryer and i get 5 times the cut life out of my consumables now and alot better cut.
If you can't afford a used refrigerated air dryer then take an old mini fridge and the precoiled copper half inch tube roll( like 20 ft long) at home depot and space it out abit till it fits in the mini fridge. Drill a hole in the sides( not the back.Thats were the freon is ) and sweat some NPT ends onto the copper pipe and crank down the temp so it freezes or close to it. The outlet on the bottom then put a moisture trap so the water runs down to that on the outside of the fridge.
Running a small air conditioner near the compressor helps to remove the moisture from the air even before its compressed.
Thanks for all the info. I am using Sheetcam to create the g-code. Not sure if it will randomize the cuts because I'm not that familiar with it. I do have a desiccant dryer on the compressor but that is it. I thought about adding some strips of metal to the water pan to make the edges higher so the water doesn't splash over the side, just haven't got to it yet. I wish I had an air conditioner, but sadly I don't. The air does get hot and humid in the shop this time of year.
@@MakingStuff The goal with compressing air is to drop the temperature of it below the ambient temperatures dew point. Im sure you've heard that phrase on the weather stations before. My refrigerated air dryer cools it to 34 degs. It has zero moisture in it at that point. There by eliminating water droplets in between the tip and electrode. You could even run a copper pipe in the base of the water table before it enters the plasma cutter. That would make a huge difference.
You can probably go in and change the start points as to their order. Look in the instructions. This will go a long way as to keeping it from warping.
Two more things is run the lowest amperage tip you can ( if your plasma cutter can) when making thin sheet metal paterns.
To keep the water from growing stagnant and bacteria in it add
Physan 20 to it. Very little goes a long way. Get it on Amazon. Its a disinfectant, sanitizer, deodorizer, fungicide, algaecide and virucide all in one. Not very expensive.
Obviously in a small shop there are less problems with dense dust generated using plasma. I have 37yrs in big production shape cutting oxy/fuel gas as well as plasma. We ran Aluminum daily (1/2" and one inch). Although even the huge12ft. diameter overhead fans didn't help, all they did was suck dense Aluminum dust straight into the operators lungs. I left the shop(other reasons) then heard George was put into an induced coma for 30 days, and was lucky he lived. Now he runs the heavy Steel plate cutting machine(burns up to 12" thick every few weeks. No one runs Aluminum anymore there.
Don't want to use water. What about using a switchable magnet like on a magnetic drill using microwave parts?
Can never go wrong by spending the extra for a height controller lol
Yes, it's worth every penny.
Have you considered putting a small manual "telescope push arm" with a ball wheel on the fixed part of the Z-axis? So whenever you load a piece of metal that is thin and will warp, you'll be able to pull down the push arm to gently push on the plate with the ballwheel preventing it from warping... this will not work in all cases, but it might help?
terrible idea.
Isn't the warping caused by the heat from the plasma jet expanding the work ?
Yes
Why not add a clamp at each slat and then in the middle of the cut/project - do a center cut first and the clamp it down to a slat in the middle. Cool Video
Since you have a Z height, would seem like you could have added a stud to the cutting head that the machine could zero from before starting to cut. Then every time it goes to cut and lowers the head, the stud would be pressing the sheet metal down x amount flat to the table, pushing any bow out. Might need to be manually changed when switching between gauges unless you could fab up some spring loaded one? Really seems like some sort of spring loaded ball bearing headed leg would be simplest.
Check out the update videos. The machine touches off before each cut now. Similar to what you describe.
Water table FTW!
then i dont need thc?
@@pupupupu448 now sure what you mean?
What kind of plasma machine are you using
Harbor Freight
👍🏻
Hi
please what is the software you used for the drawings
Inkscape
I seen people use proximity sensors and I'm going to fit on mine.
I do not want THC because I struggled with it for some time. I'd rather use balls of I have to.
Amigo, eu liguei minha corte plasma na minha cnc com arduino e a plasma gerou uma interferencia nos motores. Voce sabe me dizer o que pode ser?
¿Sus cables están blindados?
@@MakingStuff não são blindados. Eu uso cabos de rede de internet nos motores. A interferência fez parar de funcionar o arduino.
Tente fazer seus cabos o mais curtos possível. Usando cabos blindados ajuda também.
@@MakingStuff o aterramento influencia em alguma coisa?
Sim. O fio blindado precisa estar aterrado.
Also you should know that plasma cutters clamp it's not a ground clamp it's positive and negative is your cutting head it's kind of important that you know that so you're not holding on to that clamp or something that it's touching for safety reasons
What type of THC do you use?
Have not added the THC yet. Will probably be a Proma because they have a config for LinuxCNC.
Looks to me that you don’t have enough water in the table to midi gate the warping. Should be right up almost touching the metal
Your warping is caused by the dross on the underside shrinking as it cools. Eliminate the dross and the warping will be solved.
Everyone needs THC in their lives!
Woah buddy wrong video 😉
@@tollav my bad I must've been tripping balls at the time 🤣
@@iamthetinkerman Meh at least your torch height is correct lol.
How much can one sell CNC plasma work for in the USA?
I don't know. If you figure it out please let me know :)
We want to explain how to make and move the controller to a portable plasma
maybe preheat plate wild guess.
Are you sure the squeak isn't in the rail and rollers of the Z
Not sure but I'll check, thanks for the suggestion.
And also, you should use "micro tabs", so that pieces dont flip and stick up
Yes I need to figure out how to do that. Thanks for you input.
What's with all the thumping❓
Not sure I understand the question.
Throughout most of the video. Replaying the vid starting @3:16: There a big thump then, another @3:17, a small one @3:25, more @ 3:27 & 3:28. This is just a sampling.
@@doubledarefan it's puffs from talking near the mic without a puff-filter
THC is a must! you wont look back
no, THC is NOT a must.
then check my videos. thin sheets don't continue to grow. they heat up, they expand and thats that. as long as the torch is touching off before each pierce, then you are good to go. i know group think is strong online, but believe it or not. the internet way isn't the only way, much less the right way.
A better cut is made because the height is set to optimum cut voltage for a given thickness. I did without it for 5 years, scrapped many parts and wasted hours / dollars cleaning up dross, now I wouldn’t cut without one. I cut from 1mm to 40 mm every day. Sorry, that’s my educated opinion
@@Swarfman64 lol yeah cutting 1.5" thick plate. every day. you are so full of shit dude.
@@Swarfman64 funny how you have not one single video of your machine
Suggest me please ,Controller ERROR when plasma Arc
Try using shielded wires.
@@MakingStuff what is it,
Your have picture?
@@MakingStuff ok,I understand,thank you very much
I realize this comment is too late because you already added THC to your system. But, a pair of roller wheels an inch or two from the torch that roll along with the torch holder would keep the metal flat under the torch. It would also provide consistent height of the torch regardless of the material thickness. Use metal wheels of course, similar to the torch dollies sold with circle cutting kits.
It wouldn’t work. Wheels only roll in a straight line if your torch had to do a corner or even cut a circle it would be dragging the wheel sideways and where you pierced it would be dragging the wheel sideways through the dross. You’ve obviously never seen or used a CNC plasma
@@davidcat1455 You obviously never rolled small metal wheels on a piece of steel; they slide sideways with no effort at all.The dross is close to the cut line and if the wheel were an inch apart, they would miss the dross. So apparently you are the one with no metal working experience. There are manual plasma guide kits that incorporate metal wheels and a carriage to support the torch a fixed distance abpve the material. It would be an easy modification for someone who actually has used a plasma table.
@@briangc1972
So you have one of those magical plasmas that when they first pierce a hole there is absolutely no dross on top of the metal?BS. I have been using oxyacetylene with guide rollers for 45 years and a plasma with them for 20 years. I suspect I was cutting steel while you were still an itch in your old man’s overalls. The difference is you fool, on a circle cutting guide the wheels are running parallel to the cut. If you are cutting a straight line using guide rollers and you get to a corner you don’t suddenly start dragging the cutting torch sideways do you? You turn the torch at 90° to follow the new direction you are cutting in. So the wheels are running parallel to the cut. So how are you going to get the CNC torch holder to magically turn at 90% or whatever is required so the wheels are running parallel with what you’re cutting? You didn’t think it through, you just blurted out what you thought was a good idea and you didn’t even take time to realise that there are no commercial tables made with guide roller wheels because they won’t work.
@@davidcat1455 Again you show your ignorance. I said an inch or two away in the first post. Again you are wrong, I am from the generation before you; dumb kid.
Yea..get a THC. There are some very inexpensive options these days. Back when I got mine a THC was at least $1000...and it was worth every penny. Now you can get them on Ebay for $250.
Yeah there are some good deals on ebay. I picked one up from there and it was $300. Now gotta wire it to the machine.
I wonder if dross could be eliminated or reduced using weld antisplatter...? 🤔
Don't know. I've never used antisplatter spray. Maybe I'll give it a try sometime.
Add a caster wheel to hold down the material.
Thumbnail made me think a while
dear friend can you help me to buy a plasma cutter and plasma THC
Thanks
How much price
For the Proma THC?
U make this
if it needs to get high, thc would definitely help. just my understanding. ;)
Especially around 420 volts.
Torche pt 60 où s45
THC do you need it? Yes it's really healthy.
The table ain't straight your Metals going to conform to that shape when it gets hot
What's up with the audio? I could barely hear you even with my volume all the way up.
I could hear him just fine?
This is the first Making Stuff video with a voice over. Maybe I screwed up the audio.
on my laptop I had a hard time hearing you as well. probably need to bump the voice over audio up a little in the future.
all you need is to touch off before each pierce. THC highly over rated. also your feeds are putting too much heat into the material.
I think I have to add touch off with the THC, not sure at this point but it does help. Thanks!
No, you do not need a THC. You need a floating head with a limit switch. When the torch Z's down it will collide with the plate breaking the contact of the limit switch in the floating head. this establishes the material true height. Then the controller will retract the torch a pre-determined amount. This is your pierce height for that spot in the material. You do realize plasma tables have existed for decades WITHOUT thc.......you need to quit drinking the internet koolaid. most these people don't know crap. they just copy others. ua-cam.com/video/dUgMORvGN5U/v-deo.html {Remember all you need is a floating head, and a limit switch. We use a proximity but micro switch works fine too}
Watch the first 6 seconds of this video until you understand whats going on. The torch is NOT rigidly attached to the Z axis. It can slide up and down. Gravity pulls the torch down, the Z plate can ONLY raise the torch! if you were to grab the torch and pull up, it slides right up on bearings, breaking the switch contact which will give the control a "Collision" signal.. ua-cam.com/video/eu_GXb8vmCQ/v-deo.html
if you need ill make a video of my machine for you tonight. the switch is break on contact not make on contact, so there is effectively no offset height. Even if you use a THC you still need a floating head or breakaway, to mitigate damage if the machine for whatever reasons Z's the torch down into the table. Diving can and will happen with a THC until u get it setup properly. Also THC doesn't work well on small radius circles and arcs. You've got a lot to learn.
touch off is handled in the control software not the thc. unless you are using inductive torch cap collision, which isn't 100% reliable and still needs a floating head to avoid disaster.