Budget CNC Plasma Cutter Z Axis Add-on
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- Опубліковано 24 вер 2024
- The Z-axis is here and and our throughput goes way up because of it.
Plans - jdsgarage.bigc...
Recommended Plasma Cutters - jdsgarage.bigc...
For all inquires email us jsaction4[at]gmail.com
#CNC #Plasmacutter #DIY
For more Information you can check out our website here. jdsgarage.bigcartel.com/
This is awesome, I have been thinking about adding this to the JD Plasma table since I built it. You guys are amazing. And if anyone is still thinking about trying this I can say that I have and love it. The team has been real quick to offer advice when ever I have been stuck on any section of the build. They have even been helpful when I had questions about what I could do to improve my cutting.
I use this table mostly to make metal signs all 1/8 inch thick or thinner. I have cut up to a 1/4 but just a few small items and I am running the Lotus same as JD Garage.
Currently I only have 120v house outlet and 125 psi compressor and it has been sufficient. I hope to add a 240v, so I can cut thicker metal if needed.
Your CNC worked just as good as the 30,000-dollar machine. Very nice cuts. There is one thing people don't realize is that once have built this machine you now have the technology. You have the capability to make the best CNC machine, your CNC will be that machine. Better than before, better, stronger faster!!!! I could not resist. Nice video!!!
Happy to see you are still making upgrades to the plasma cutter. I finally got around to printing out some of the parts without any issues.
Looks great! I'm 3D printing all the parts right now. Can't wait to start building!
Finally a use for those weights I bought ten years ago and used for 3 weeks
This is great news. I have my Jd's cnc table about 80% done.All my electronics are in.have a brand new prime weld plasma cutter for it.This is the perfect time to add this on. Keep up the good work.
I'm really glad to see this come out now and for free too! Thanks for a great machine and some great upgrades too. Thanks for the video!
I made the edits to the PP and ran the DXF for the mount and when I looked at the code I couldn't find any z moves at all? Did I screw up somewhere, probably, but I'm can't see where it is. 😁 Could you make any recommendations? Thanks!
You have to enable probing when you are creating the gcode in fusion. Z moves will only show up at the start and end of cuts.
I didn't see that feature. Thanks for the reply!
Just ordered the plans beyond excited. CNC plasma is one of those game changer tools
Mint my friend. I'm enjoying mine immensely!
I Just ordered my parts and paid for the plans. I’m excited. Thank you guys
I had to laugh when you said it was slow. I've been watching laser etching/cutting vids for the last few days. That thing is super fast.
And then do something on a FDM or Resin 3D printer ;)
@@nathanking2484 You can literally sleep on it. The worst you will wake up to is a mess, not a fire. 😁
just ordered my plans. I can't wait to get into the build
Guys you are f@#ing amazing. Best DIY plasma cutting machine I've see, and free. Thank you
Haha, well, actually is not free, but to support this kind of content, I am more than happy to pay $25 for plans.
Let's see when I will have time to build it...but looking forward to it.
Thanks again
Love it great work! 👏
Looks awesome guys 👍🏻
This machine is the best diy on youtube. Any plans to make the tube notcher accept different size bars and shapes?
Currently it will accept multiple sizes of round tube. We haven't yet thought about square tube or something like that.
it seems this is a reasonable alternative to closed loop THC to some degree I"m still trying to weigh up if THC is worth the trouble on a table this size packing one corner sort of proved it works ok doesn't seem to be much trouble touch off and sett the height for every part
What plasma cutter are you using and what air compressor?
Also, do you guys ever plan to make a 2’x4’ CNC table or a 4’x8’ design?
It seems like it shouldn’t be too hard to alter your design to make a these larger tables and offer those plans for an additional cost or something. You guys really did an awesome job of making a budget friendly design, which I appreciate!
Last question do you think you guys might make some instruction on how to change out the current design with a router, laser, or drawknife? That way people could use the same design for something other than plasma cutting?
The cutter is a lotos Lt5500d. We have and multiple people change the size of the table. There are instructions on how to do this in the plans. We have not done anything with changing tools as we have been occupied woth other project currently.
@@jdsgarage701 okay thank you for that. I will checkout that plasma cutter and I will look at the plans on how to make a bigger tables. but how many gallons is your air compressor?
While this is a great low cost CNC plasma (I'm intending to build one myself), it would not at all be suitable as a router sadly.
A router needs to be stiff, there quite a lot of cutting forces, even with a small spindle. A plasma on the other hand has almost no cutting forces, same as a laser or waterjet. Also, a plasma isn't anywhere near as sensitive to vibrations and deviations in Z height as router or a mill is.
A hobby level plasma cutter simply don't need to be even close to as stiff and strong as a router :)
I'd recommend that you look at the PrintNC project, very similar to this project in many ways, and to my eye, probably the best DIY CNC router design out there. Certainly better than the one I designed and built a few years ago from aluminium extrusions.
I have a question on another project you did, the mini trike. Is there any way you can print out or email me the cut lines for where the neck tube meets the bottom 2 tubes.
The mount for the torch shows a bit of burning. Nothing to worry about but made me wonder what kind of plastic you use? I was thinking PETG but curious what you were using.
Awesome!!!...I built a CNC plasma cutter from eagle years ago, sold it before it was finished, then I worked for a guy and ran his CNC machine he had a torchmate table and sold it. I have always wanted to get back into it....and now I can and will thanks to yawl. I currently have a 4x8 router CNC table but the plasma tables are what gets me jumping...I just ordered my plans and parts....thanks. one question ❓....is the frame in the video tube aluminum? You guys are genius 👍
We made the frame from steel, some people have made it from aluminum and to our knowledge it works great.
So is this z axis add on reading the cut voltage and following the contour of the metal or is it lifting the head between cuts and adjusting the height before each cut? BTW sweet design!!
Only the latter for now
Impressive
How was it implemented? Is it GRBL? Thanks!
Thank you for the video! What post processor do you use?
Do you have any documentation on how to setup this probe height? I have everything built but am struggling to get this set up.
How do the 3D printed parts hold up ? Especially one holding the torch ?
Have not had any issues yet, these are the original parts on the machine.
My torch holder printed in pla by JD's is cracked after minimal use. May want to look at a stronger printing material.
Very good, one question , is there any way to get voltage control setup on the z axis ?
If you don't mind me asking where did you get your software from and what kind of computer are you using to run it
Hi,
Just printing my parts, is there a link for parts to buy for z axis?
Regarding torch duty cycle and compressor recovery, would G4 "dwell" g-code help?
I have a small compressor currently, and once I finally do a few successful tests I will buy a much larger compressor. In the meantime, I was thinking of doing G4 for a minute or two (e.g. G4 P120. ) after each cut completes (M5 / torch off) in order for my compressor to recover for the next cut.
Edit: G4, not M4
We have tried this 3d printed floating head and they melted on our production cnc plasma machine . . .
Does the mounting plate (the one that everything mounted to included in the kit?
Hi jd! Just found your channel this week and have been really enjoying your Cnc plasma cutter build! Was wanting to know how the gantry has been holding up on the far end that isn’t supported. Have you noticed any accuracy issues?
The machine has been running almost every day for 6 months now and we haven't seen any issues with the accuracy.
Do you have pdf of the wire diagram of the complete setup of the stepper motors please??
What software do you use to operate the equipment?
How do you prep the dxf file to cut for the z axis plate?
Very nice add on. Do you have an up to date build price. Trying to figure out what this will cost. I know it can change depending on what you spend on a plasma cutter as low as 300 for 65 amp to 800 for 80 amp machines
The build in the videos will cost roughly $450 without the torch.
Hey man great work I just purchased your plans and three d printed parts. I decided while I wait to absorb as much information as I can from you. Maybe I'm dumb and I just can't find it. But do you have a video or instructions explaining How to get all of the electronic controls set up and working together with the computer?
Never mind it turns out I am dumb I found them in the plan package
Hey guys love the build and videos
Can the parts be used with metric plans or only imperial ? Also can you freight to Australia ? Thanks
It's the same parts for either. Yes we can ship to Australia.
how does the machine know where the top of the metal is? is it using electrical conductivity or just crash it and use feedback from the stalled motor? or optical?
There is a small contact switch in the new z-Axis unit...it shows it in the begining of the video as the parts are being assembled.
I haven't bought your plans yet but i will soon after some more research did you print with pla or something different that's all I've printed with so far. And i read your plans include other sizes how big do they go? I would like to build a 4x8 but i probably really don't need that big maybe 4x4
We peint with PLA the plans include a section on how to scale the machine to fit the cutting area that you prefer.
Great video guy's! Is there anyway you guy's would go through your process in fusion 360 for coping pipe and how you create the g code?
We will make a video regarding this topic.
Amen papa bear
Can this be modified to a 4' x 8' table? or 4' X 6' ? Also do you sell the CAD plans. I'd like to build the 3D parts with my mill from aluminum.
I will be buying this soon, when I move workshops and have the space and I will be use it to cut 2000mm x 1000mm sheets (UK sizes), but it does not need a bed to accommodate the full sheet sheet. Using what is called tiling or indexing, a sheet can be moved either shifting it along its length on the bed, or rotating the sheet 180 degrees so that the part that was outside the cutting area is now accessible for the torch. There are a number of good vids on youtube relating to indexing/tiling using a CNC router- but the principle is the same.
IA bed with a 600mm cutting width and 800mm cutting length could cut a sheet ( a single item that covered the whole sheet) with 3 repositions along the length and then rotating the sheet 180 degrees and making a further 3 cuts along the length. The Gcode will sort out the x/y relationships between what has been cut and the new position of the sheet each time it is moved relative to the indexing point.
The link is to a tiling project for a router (using fusion 360).
ua-cam.com/video/6c7iN2NlSHA/v-deo.html
Can the Z-Axis Mounting Plate be made out of 1/8 in Alum (for weight and ease of manufacture on a 'regular' cnc)? Thanks
I used 1/8" AL and it worked just fine. Didn't see a reason to use MS.
@@glenrock672 Same here no problem with 1/8 aluminum so far
Cann't wait to get this thing built
What software do you use?
It is arduino shield, well I really don't know a lot, but they mentioned it in some video, even in comments. It obviously work, it can read G code from their program and it is nice.
is the code included in the plans?
Yes, everything needed to make the machine run is included in the plans.
What software are you using to nest the parts?
The parts are nested by hand.
That looks sped up and not real time.
Great work guys! Working on mine now!
cool design but so much flex in those plastic parts. accuracy is going to suffer
Since they aren’t producing space shuttle parts for NASA, I would imagine any accuracy issues will be within acceptable limits.
@@tgreening forget aerospace- they're visibly flexing in the video. not to mention plastic parts are susceptible to heat. i don't think plastic parts on a plasma table are a great idea
@@5eZa Who said anything about cutting aerospace quality?
The tolerances are good. Great in fact for my type of work.