How to Build a CNC Plasma Cutter
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2024
- 🔑🔥 Unlock the power of plasma cutting with this affordable CNC table. A great DIY project for expanding the capabilities of your garage workshop.
CNC Table and Plasma Cutters:
OpenBuilds Plasma Table: drdflo.com/OpenBuildsPlasma.html
Affordable Plasma Cutters for DIY Tables: drdflo.com/Plasma.html
Need help running your table?
Check out Dr. D-Flo mega guide on plasma cutting: • Mastering CNC Plasma C...
Social:
D-Flo's Instagram: / dr.dflo
D-Flo's Website: www.drdflo.com/
Video Description:
Building a CNC plasma cutter at home is as awesome as it sounds, albeit a little dangerous. Plasma can reach temperatures greater than 25,000C, and no metal in the path of this inferno stands a chance. In this build, Dr. D-Flo will show you how to control the motion of the plasma torch through linear actuators to achieve automated and precise cuts. This video will cover topics such as the operating principle of plasma cutters (high frequency versus low frequency plasma cutters), specialized components required for CNC plasma cutting like the floating head and water table, how to generate tool paths for plasma cutting, and many other topics.
This DIY plasma cutter (known as the LEAD plasma) is based off the OpenBuild’s LEAD Machine 1010 (Paid Link: geni.us/Lead-CNC). Dr. D-Flo received a BETA version of the lead plasma kit for review. Due to receiving the kit for free, this video is contains paid promotion, but Dr. D-Flo has used parts from OpenBuilds for several years now.
Extra Resources:
- Project page for this build: www.drdflo.com/pages/Projects...
Related Videos for Lead Machine Assembly:
Mechanical Assembly: • OpenBuilds LEAD CNC 10...
Electrical Assembly: • OpenBuilds LEAD Machin...
Table of Contents:
00:00 - Intro
02:21 - Parts and Overview
03:57 - Mechanical Assembly
09:12 - Floating Head
11:12 - Stand Assembly
12:15 - Electrical Wiring
13:55 - Blackbox Motion Controller
15:31 - Firmware and Control Software
17:54 - Water Table
22:05 - High Frequency Noise
29:20 - Cutmaster 40
33:25 - OpenBuilds CAM
37:17 - Cutting Speeds
40:13 - Power and Air Requirements
44:19 - Fusion 360 CAM
49:39 - Heat Resistant Holder
51:03 - Cutting Fusion 360 Parts
53:00 - Projects
#diy #plasmacutting #garageworkshop - Наука та технологія
Great video, though you said mm/s and not mm/m
Oh shoot... You are right. Should be mm/min. for the speed. I have pinned this comment. With videos this long I usually miss something obviously like that.
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This is the absolute gold standard on how tutorials should be made. Informative, thorough, well researched, clear, easy to follow. It shows what went wrong and how it was fixed. It shows different alternatives and the factors to consider when evaluating alternatives. I don't think I have ever seen a better designed and presented tutorial. Well done.
Thanks for your kind words!
The organization of this video is unreal, keep er goin
Wow, I don't usually comment on videos but this build was amazingly informative and made me want to hop over to my CNC and start tinkering. Keep up the great work, you've got me sold on modding my workbee!
Thanks for taking the time to make and edit this video. It's giving me pause to the build vs buy debate in my head.
Amazing video! Thanks for putting in all the work and making it doable for the rest of us! I've been cutting several parts by hand on my plasma cutter and this seems loads easier.
I hope you guys enjoy my CNC plasma cutter build. It’s a long video, but there is a montage of some of my completed projects at the very end that you won’t want to miss!
Great vid! But i nearly swallowed my tongue when you said they wanted 1000 dollar for a custom tray. I work in a metallshop in Sweden, we do steel, iron, stainless and alu parts in plate, small series or oneoff´s. A pan that size in stainless would cost us at the tops 200 dollar to manufacture. Add for profit and such, but at the end it would not be more than 300-350 USD for the customer. Thank you for a fun video, and enjoy your new toy!
Klas,
Yah I live in a bit city that is rapidly expanding. Half of the fabrication places I contacted wouldn't even consider doing a one-off part... I wish I lived near your company
@@DrDFlo Even here there are not many oneoff workshops left, but we have a steady customerflow of regulars and newbies wanting everything from decorative metallcoverings to staircases and machineparts... Hope you find a metallshop in your area that likes to do a bit of trade with others than big firms, and doing it for a reasonable amount of money and not that 1000$ bullshit!
That´s just greed!
Is it possible to add a straight torch? It would probably be more suitable for improving the position and curvature of the cord. Awesome build.
while school systems are different, consider speaking with your local tech school welding instructor. that is an easy welding project, and if you supply the materials, most schools will do the work at a very reasonable rate. (last time I had some welding done (sealing the leak in the fuel tank of my motorcycle) about 6 years back, it cost something like $10 per semester to have "access" to the programs, and $5 per project to get the welding done. (I am planning to put them to work again in the not too distant future building several parts for my truck such as a custom cargo rack (mostly because I do not have a tubing bender, or a place to set up a welder)) the students generally enjoy getting to work on real world projects instead of just welding scrap metal. Keep in mind some projects might involve more than one "work order" meaning they can tack on additional fees for services... this can add up fast when you need something like the machine shop making 5-10 parts for your single project.
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it is true that most fabrication shops do not want to mess with one off parts...it is a lower profit margin. after all... that might take someone on a metal brake all of 10 minutes to make the 4 bends in a cut piece of material. someone is going to spend maybe 5 minutes per corner setting up and cutting the corner notches, then someone is going to spend another 5-10 minutes with a tig welder sealing up the corners. on the other hand if they are doing batch work, they might be producing 10 parts an hour for someone
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on the other hand, the you's and me's, we would just cut 4 strips and weld them to the base, maybe even weld in a train bung if we make the pan out of mild steel, we maybe have $80 US invested in the materials, and we spend an hour or two laying out the pieces cutting them, welding them, testing for leaks, fixing the pinholes we missed :)
The quality in this build is unheard of
This is probably the best tutorial I have ever seen! Love the in depth long format!!
I was shocked when I visited your excellent website. KILLER descriptions and material. Thanks for the time you spend documenting everything so well.
Well done! Thank you for providing so much information in an interesting way, I am an occasional welder and want to improve, these vids are so perfect for that!
I had the same problem with the noise resetting my controller. I tried everything you mentioned, at the end i made a box for all the electronics separate from the machine on the left side, and the plasma cutter on the right side. No such problems since. I use a cheap plasma cutter.
I Hope this helps someone to not go through a month of troubleshooting and fried electronics :)
Great Video, I myself know having a cnc plasma is the best fun machine to have in a work shed. Thanks for sharing!
Great video. We built a 4'x9' CNC Plasma cutter about 4 years ago. We thought about building our own controller or going with one of the cheap ones. We went with a commercial quality controller and did not have any problems with EMI. The torch cable is in the cable tray/chain. We milled the torch holder out of aluminum and use a couple of magnets to hold the torch holder to the z-axis. The HyperTherm 45 will cut up to 5/8" decent but when we cut thicker stuff, we can mount an oxy-acetylene torch on it. The HyperTherm has voltage sensing so the torch height is adjusted automatically while cutting after the initial pierce. After the initial build, we made the gantry higher and mounted a chuck on the table so we can cut up to 6" diameter pipe. I guess we are going to build a CNC router now.
you could have a ground loop issue. Make sure each piece only has a single path to ground. Unplug all the power cords and make sure there is no continuity between grounds on different plugs. Otherwise, current can run through one cord, through the wall, and back up another cord. An often forgotten path is through the USB cable and through the computer, so buy a USB isolator. Another possible unwanted ground path is on that torch trigger, so check that circuit. Elsewhere, use plastic or ceramic mounting hardware, or relays and optocouplers
Hi David, I just wanted to say thank you for sharing this video. I appreciate your honesty in sharing your mistakes and subsequent learnings. You have saved me from making many of the same mistakes in my own build. Well done and keep them coming!
Stellar work David!
Excellent video, thanks a lot sharing it with all of us ! I am thinking building a Plasma CNC cutter since one year and watched tens of youtube videos on that topic. I discover openbuilds with your video and actually, it makes me changing all my initial plans... You brings each key principle of such a project with a very nice structure and simple words. I will watch it one, two or maybe more times ;-)
THIS...is the pinnacle of instructional video. Thank you Dr. D-Flo for the impeccable presentation! You have my thumbs and sub!
Put your ground rod outside wherever possible & run the lead to the machine.
You are the first person to discuss the need for a large air compressor & the duty cycle of the plasma cutter, WELL DONE!
Solid Video. THE plasma CNC cutter looks great.
You should still construct a water tub as a spark arrester below the bed. It should be slightly slanted so that the metal residue collects in a corner and can be easily cleaned.
Absolutely great and clean tutorial! Thanks 👍
Excellent video, just stumbled upon this now. Also bookmarked your website 👍
Very good tutorial, it covers a lot of important points and is very informative. The only thing I'd say is that although the leadscrews are protected by the C-beams, metal dust and debris will still come in contact with those screws. I know this because I operate a plasma CNC for work every day. So I suggest that accordian style dust covers be installed to protect the leadscrews. But otherwise excellent tutorial.
PS: Rack and pinion is also typically used because it offers a much higher rate of speed, which is ideal for plasma CNC machines that have a more powerful power supply.
Very helpful video, really well presented too.Thanks for sharing and look forward to the next video.
im sitting 2 hours watching your videos and its 5 AM now, i only can say wow, you are a smart guy and i woul love to try some of the project you do anytime soon! thanks for the projects :)
Cheers! Glad you are enjoying the content
Wow, thanks for a great vid Dr. D-Flo 👍
your my new fav bro, love the long builds and attempt at budgeting! ;]
I had the exact same issue with a Mach3 home made cnc and a cheap ebay 50A plasma cutter, I had no previous experience with plasma cutting and spent about 6 months trying to isolate the circuit from the EMP noise, never could, ended up selling the CNC machine with a spindle cutter, now thinking on getting back on the plasma cutter thing with a more robust and expesive plasma cutter, Thank you!
Try eliminate the noise using heat proof rubber this will stop the positive feedback throughout the table and solve your noise problem
@@ger808 Different type of noise.
Totally awesome video. I want to build one of these. I can hardly wait.
56:01 - I remember the jiffy-pop. :)
And: cool build, excellent walk-through. Thank you!
Just watched the movie Hancock earlier, speaking of Jiffy-pop.
Amazing video, specially the intro!
You deserve so many more subs for these videos mate!
Good work! That cnc will receive some upgrades!
FANTASTIC! Thx for putting in all the obvious effort/hard work (on machine, and vid). Have been wanting to get into plasma cutting for a while. This vid is packed w/ valuable practical, and theoretical info. Great stuff. Thx, again. And, keep up the great work! P.S. I'm a regular F360 user (even teach it), so I really appreciate the F360 section at the end of the vid.
An excellent video. Information density is high, i like it, great signal to noise ratio. I started watching for your mill conversion with servos (doing the same) and stayed for the plasma, subscribed. And a butter licking dog! Lol
High signal to noise videos. I like that! I’m glad you are enjoying the content
omg i might have to build a cnc machine just for those awesome plant label stakes!!! plus i just want one...
Awesome video. You might want to try placing the controller in a metal box that's grounded. It depends on weather the noise is radiated or conducted. I would try that first and move on from there. Keep up the great work!
Okay so I just bought my first plasma cutter. Nice unit but it was broken when I bought it. The gentleman I bought it from could not figure it out. I took my time downloaded all the manuals and tracked all the systems. It only took me two weeks to get this one working. Plasma cutters are usually pretty simple if you happen to buy a used one that's not working. Make sure it at least turned on and air flows before you buy it though. If it does not turn on most likely the main board is bad and it's not worth the used price. I picked up mine for $200 and it's a PCM 750i so this is the one I will be incorporating into my table! I'm glad to see a lot of people building these things. I have access to one all times it's such a massive machine though that I'm not cutting any steel that size I've seen him cut upto 4 inch thick Steel whereas my machine will only do about an inch-and-a-half maxed out! Another word of advice is run about 40% of the duty cycle to keep the longevity of your unit
HI all, Really nice build. I had problems with the noise also. When I went and used a laptop instead of a desktop, no noise problems and I have been up and running for about 6 months now. Hope this helps anyone that is stuck. Stay safe out there.
I think this may be related to the fact that the desktop is sharing the same electric network as the plasma cutter and the noise is coming from there, maybe adding a UPS to the desktop might help filter the noise
Great tutorial! I can understand what you're saying. And your mics are good quality, too.
This is massive. In a positive way, naturally.
A great project! Well presented.
A small tip: Use ferrite rings on electronics :)
def makes me wanna build something like this !! awesome video
This is the best tutorial i have seen ever.
Awesome work. This has been very informative
great job man, thanks for teach me
Sorry I know older video but man, I wanted to say this is the most indepth build I have ever seen. Holy cow fantastic and informative. I will be referencing this video a lot on my build. I have the same california air compressor, LOVE that thing, my favorite ever. But I just use that inside the clean side of my shop. I have a 5hp 60gal for the rest. What scares me most about this cnc build is learning CAD Plus the cnc software too. No experience with that at all.
nice project friend, i have to make my plasma cnc too in future, thanks.
Long video with much useful information
Thanks 🙏🏼
Salutare din Romania! Esti tare man!
Wow you should be an instructor. Clear, concise, thorough with the right amount of hands on and theory. It would be exactly what I need if it had a rotary axis for notching pipes. As it is I have been looking at JD's Garage DIY build. Your build is much nicer but lacks this 1 critical feature that is a must have me and lots of other people.
F****** awesome tutorial, very informative and well structured....Prob one of the best tut i have watched on youtube. Wel done, always excited when i get to watch your stuff. Keep it up
Excellent work, thanks
Nice video. And by the way nice workshop place. Liked it.
This dude looks like a mixture of styropyro and Carl Sagan. Very cool projects
Great video, amazing project. Love the asador ( bbq in spanish )
The best tutorial I have ever seen! wow
You bad bad person! How could you enable us with such information and instruction. You saint.
great video, I’ll probably start to use a CNC very soon
Brilliant !
Very useful your creation, it has inspired me to get one by my self
Thanks a lot. Now I want a plasma cutter and a cnc router.
Magistral exposición para el mundo.
Felicitaciones.
Gracias por compartir.
Bendiciones de salud.
Thanks for your work
great presentation thanks
Thanks for the very informative and helpful video. Good luck.
EMI kept me awake for weeks. finally. fully screened mesh cabling to the steppers only grounded at the controller. Ferrites on all cables . the stepper driver has opto isolated inputs but its then important not to use the same supply AND ground for the grbl controller . all grounds to a star point, all electronics in metal boxes. plasma cable supply and ground routed on opposite side to control. GRBL DIY plasma cutter, plywood and recycled steppers, super cheap and it made a windvane. love the channel.
Optoisolators are a great idea, provided that blackbox and steppers are electrically isolated via separate floating power supplies as you mention.
DId you try a UPS power supply for computer and other Electronics?? If its conducted EMI the UPS supply ( should have) EMI filters. ALso try to plug it in to same circuit as Plasma Cutter...try and run it on a diff breaker.
If its radiated EMI shield boxes should help on radiation EMI...steel box is better if its magnetic EMI as ALUM lets magnetic emi pass
Absolutely love it! To help you lead screw last longer you can add a dry lubricant as it does not bind with dust and other particles in the warehouse environment and lubes. I have seen these screw painted with a dry lubricant as well, however, I do not know what the process is. Nevertheless fricken awesome dude, you damn well read my mind. Just got to figure out where I can put it lol.
Appreciate the lubrication advice!
Nice job , weld done , Im building CNC plasma 2.4mx1.5m , i cant wait to get done
No other words...ur F%^^%$ awesome....best plasma diy video i have seen, and i have alot
I have had success converting a super cheap (Amazon open box) cnc laser into a cnc plasma. Had to relocate the control board shy of 3 feet from unit and replaced cabling with shielded wire and has worked flawlessly.
Fantastic contribution to the world
Hey, it would be really great to get a follow up video of the cnc mill, maybe show us some cutting footage and talk about how it’s working out?
Really nice work on the plasma table too!
Stay tuned. Definitely more CNC mill content coming soon (not the next video but the video after).
A couple of quick updates, I’m using the ER tormach tool holding system for the R8 spindle, which has been great.
I also switched to the Hallmark ITTP probe which has been way more reliable than my previous probe.
I have mostly been buying tools and sharpening my skills over the past 6 months. Let me tell you buying and converting the mill is not the most expensive part... the amount of money that I have invested in tool holders and end mills is way higher than I thought. Definitely an expensive hobby.
Still very happy with my purchase. It’s crazy the different parts I can churn out of my garage between the plasma cutter and the mill.
That's wicked awesome 😎👍🤜🤛💥
love you, great job
Love how at around 17:05 the way the camera is positioned, it looks like the cutter/z axis is just getting bigger as it otherwise stays in the same place onscreen
Excelente trabajo , me gustó todos los tips ,parte técnica y explicaciones muy claras ... felicitaciones
Regarding a 3D printed torch holder:
Consider printing a mold for the part, or casting a urethane mold from the original PLA part (well, an unmelted version of the part). Cast a new part in hard silicon. The silicon part (being a thermal set rather than thermal plastic) will be much more robust mechanically and thermally.
Very good CNC plasma machine
Absolutely wonderful 👌
Excellent video.
I have been thinking of buying a cnc plamsa cutter to use with my hypertherm 45XP. I dont have many options to choose from living in New Zealand.
I could buy a really to go unit called the SWIFTY 600 (made in UK) 600mm by 600mm cutting area but costs NZ$13000 and it comes with a HyperTherm
and they didn't want to sell the unit with out the cutter. then saw another UK unit called XtremePlasma and thats around NZ$9000.
Came across the crossfire cnc plasma cutters and i was ok with the pricing but they wouldn't send to NZ.
So after watching your video a couple of times over the last week and I asked OpenBuilds a couple of questions I am going to get the Lead 1010 router
and make it into the cutter. Or if they release the plasma cutter model soon i may wait for that.
Thanks to your video its made the decision easier. Now i will watch your Mill CNC video as that maybe my next project with my Taiwanese Bridgeport copied mill.
Nashville connection? I'm in Lewisburg, just down the road... Loved your epic 3D video, I'll be playing this one when I get to my friend's shop to work on his lathe.
I live in Nashville! That's my old drinking table that the computer is resting on... still working on my garage/shop
@@DrDFlo You got your own table?!? Heck, I've spent enough at bars that I could buy the place. And all I got was kicked out at 2 am. :)
Thanks learned alot from this video
Build a water pan out of cement board then seal it with a coat of fiberglass. It works and you can still use a lattice of steel slats in it for support. Nice and cheap but don't forget to ad a drain fitting.
I'm going to build plasma cutter pretty much like this and make it so it sets on my welding table with the shallow water pan on the table top. That way I can hang it on the wall when I'm not using it. Great video super detailed just the way I like it.
Awesome video !!!
Faraday Cage (Put the controller in a steal grounded box) and insulate the box from the frame. Then a LISN for your power.
I was going to sugest something similar, like maybe wraping the controller box in aluminium foil and see if it makes any difference
Interesting DIY project.
Excellent info
It always gets my goat when I see rubber/plastic/synthetic in a hot environment. I am referring to the wheels, primarily, as they are part of the tolerance of the cut. Good enough for woodworking, where the original CNC was used as a routing table. It just needs some attention for using in a hot dirty environment. Nice build though, keep up the good work.
Good work. !
great video, keep it simple s***** really applies here I appreciated seeing a minimalist build. The z axis can get complicated on plasmas.
Good job. If interested, I have two suggestions. Run a water line on your torch head for the thin gauge materials. Helps reduce warping and jumping in the workpiece. Secondly, from solid square stock, fab out short obelisks with a substantial slot cut at the base and center. The flat bar fits in the slot which the obelisk may slide to the desired position. The purpose is to use the obelisk as a consumable. They protect the flat bar keeping the structure more sound for a longer period of time. The point of the obelisk creates a minimal target for the arc. Worth looking into.
Peace out👍
If you ran a water line to the torch head, then what? Would it spray onto the material?
@@scottwillis5434 Yes. Practically drown the sheet with water. The air pressure will blow the water away so there isn't any interference. The water is held back just far enough. Near the edge of the heat affected zone. As the torch travels, the water trails behind to cool off the material, minimizing contortions.
So good quality 😉
Noise mitigation
Easy - have a separate cord that just connect outlet ground to the water box. Have your power supply plugged into a filtering power string and the box connected directly to the ground of your outlet (possibly a plug where only the ground is connected). Also separate power supply from frame with an insulator (e.g. mount to wood mounted to frame)
Medium - some power supplies have dc- connected to AC ground. This can be tested with a multimeter with everything unplugged measuring resistance between negative terminal and ground terminal of power supply. If there is a connection get a better power supply (I think meanwell have isolation, based on online diagram).
Hard - what you really need to do is isolate the ground of the processor from the ground of everything else, which is something that would have to be in your controller. A 5v dc-dc isolator (b0505S-1wr20) is a couple bucks used in CAN bus electronics. But you probably can't do that reasonably.
I'm impressed Doc! Looking forward to more videos. Love'n learning about the plasma. I have had this in my mind for quite some time, are there going to be slightly larger tables available as a one click purchase option coming up. Not taller, Lol
Glad you are enjoying the channel! Regarding your question about larger tables, it is unlikely that anything larger than 1000 mm x 1000 mm will be available anytime soon as a one-click purchase. I don't speak for OpenBuilds, but this system uses lead screws and a longer table would require either timing belt or rack and pinion (preferred) instead of lead screw.
Awesome work , great machine works pretty well :-) thumbs up ! :-)
My suggestion is going to be the grounding rod. I had a 6 foot grounding rod installed for my table and it was not only really easy to do but helped out immensely. I actually paid an electrician to do the grounding rod along with a dedicated high amp 240v circuit for the table. As it turned out, I could have done the grounding rod myself pretty easily. He did it in about 40 minutes and big chunk of the time was spent leaning on the hammer drill while it drilled its way through the concrete floor.
As far as work support goes, my advice would be to use your table to cut slots in aluminum angle iron pieces that go across the Y axis on either end of the water pan. The use of aluminum is because it will be sitting in the water for possibly the life of your table. Next, go to your local metal supply and have them cut slats an inch or so taller than the slots you cut into the angle irons and just short of the length of the pan's inner dimension. Now you just drop the slats into the slots. Over time, as they become too cut up, I flip them over to get another round out of them.
Oh, one last thing. Don't go overboard on the slat thickness. They can be very thin (many hands make light work) and they are destroyed over time no matter how thick they are so might as well save some money on them.
Quick question, does the Black Box do automatic height control based on torch current?