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SE Nebraska | Does anybody own one of these? Opinions?
I've been thinking about getting one of these for a while. Not for business, but mainly just to make cool stuff with. They seem to work really well and appear easy to operate. Just wondering if they are worth the almost $10K price.
I watched one run at HHD last year, but didn't ask price. Do they ever have deals on these at the farm shows or elsewhere or is the price pretty firm? |
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West Cental Arkansas | There is a guy in our community who has one if I am thinking right. He programs his with a computer and then the plasma cutter does the work. I think his cost $15k. He has done a lot of things with his. I was talking to him the other day and he said he would be busy every afternoon when he gets off work until Christmas. The more creative you are the better. Good luck. |
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SE Nebraska | Thanks for the reply. Probably could be $15K by the time you buy the plasma cutter and PC to run it.
I'm thinking I could be really busy as well. As long as your guy doesn't live close to me. :) |
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Central Oklahoma | Dad just got a PlasmaRoute cnc table for the machine shop. They're built just north of Ada, OK. I run it for him and I'm happy with it so far. The computer, torch, and table was 13-14k. I could also put a router on it and do woodwork.
Dad looked at a PlasmaCAM first and thought it was built too light and the guy that had it has problems with it. For the same price we got a heavy table that's built 2 hours away. |
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SE Iowa | I have one, love it. Don't do a lot of custom work, mainly use it for projects in the shop just cut some brackets out of 3/4 inch steel a couple weeks ago did a real nice job. There are quite a few forums for cnc stuff. They make projects that you use to think were to complicated much easier, and professional looking. |
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WC Saskatchewan | Check out bulltear cnc, www.bulltear.com
I did a lot of research when I bought my 4x8 table, and I have no regrets going with bulltear.
I beleive you would get as good or better table for less money.
they use candcnc electronics, which is kinda the standard for hobby tables, and used quite a bit for commercial shops also.
the bulltear has a very good rail system for the gantry. And is very fast and has good acceleration. (Important)
Im not trying to talk you out of a plasmacam, Just do your research, and read up in some of the forums. I like plasmaspider.com pirate4x4.com cnczone.com candcnc.com etc.
I have about $12000 into mine, including the water table, machine torch, and hypertherm pm45.
Water table is important in a shop. They make ALOT of smoke without. A downdraft system works, but I wouldnt want it sucking all the heat out of my shop.
Only your imagination limits you once you have a table.
good luck!
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lizton IN | I have one. They work fine but the company sucks to work with DO NOT GET ONE. We needed to get some parts and on the phone they would only sell parts to the original owner. We had bought it off of a guy that was in poor health. We told them that we were partners and got the parts and filled out paper work to show we were partners.
Keith
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SE Nebraska | Very interesting. Looks like that one is built better with the cable tray on the side versus the arm that PlasmaCAM uses. Also looks like the table is built heavier, and the water table is something that PC doesn't offer.
How is the software for the bulltear machine to work with? The PC demo makes it look pretty easy to import and edit and make the cut lines. Is theirs comparable? I haven't gotten much into CAD/CAM but am great with computers otherwise.
From their site it looks like the water table is standard and all you need to supply is the PC and the plasma cutter. Do you need anything special for either of these? PC uses a parallel port for the connection to the table, what does the bulltear use?
Their site is kind of weird. If you click the big pic of the plasma it takes you to plasmaland, but if you go to the store at the top, you get a different table. The plasmaland one comes with the PC but doesn't have the water table, but the store one shows the water table and no PC. They both show the same price.
I thought the PlasmaCAM seemed a little expensive for the table size and how it is built, but I guess they must be the ones that spend more on advertising.
I'll check out the forums you mentioned before I purchase anything.
Thanks for the info. |
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WC Saskatchewan | The software comes with the table. He sends bobcad, for cad, which does not have the best of reviews, but I find it very simple to use. I had no prior cad knowledge, but I think that maybe helps, because from what I read bobcad does things a bit different than auto cad and some of the other commercial cad programs.
For cam you get sheetcam, it is very well done, very easy to use.
For machine control you get mach3. Very very widely used for all sorts of cnc applications.
Bulltears website is kinda awkward, but if you phone Matt he can explain things better.
I actually bought the gantry kit and built my table frame and water tray, he supplied the slat holders for the tray, and the plans on how to build the frame.
I supplied my own pc, it just needs a parallel port. They recommend a Dell gx540, which I just bought one off eBay.
Your control computer should only run mach 3, they say, but I have sheet cam installed on mine, just no internet or anything else, it's doing an important job and you don't want crap in the background messing things up.
Hope that helps
Edited by F_armer 10/26/2014 16:25
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WC Saskatchewan | There are demos of all three software programs. Might be worth downloading them just to see what you think.
This is my first experience with cnc and the first day I could draw up anything I wanted(well simple stuff anyway) and have the machine cut it out. With no problems. |
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WC Saskatchewan | I had another thought....no matter which table you get, factor in a good air dryer( if you dont already have one)
Dry air is very important or you'll get crappy cuts and go through loads of consumables $$.
I never had one just for hand cutting and never had problems, but with a cnc your cutting distance will go waaay up, and any moisture at all will be wrecking nozzles. |
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SE Nebraska | Found your post on the Bulltear forum. Sounds like you had some issues getting your table to work. But it is nice to see they were right there with you the whole way.
Looks like you bought the gantry and built your own table and water pan. What all did you get from them and what was the approx cost? I'm guessing a guy could build the table cheaper than purchasing it.
Looks like a guy needs to get some of the slat holders for the table. Anything else, or is the rest mostly stock steel material.
Is that your air dryer mounted on the plasma cart or is that just a water trap? |
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WC Saskatchewan | I did have issues with my torch height controller, it cut just fine without thc turned on, but it drove me nuts for awhile why it wouldnt work right. It ended up being a faulty pwm controller. Very simple fix, bulltear did their best to help, he kind of blamed the computer I was using, and or settings, but it was one of those things that was very hard to trouble shoot.
the nice thing was during the trouble shooting process I could still cut fine, torch height control is not really needed as long as the metal is laying flat.
I built my frame, and water tray, and supplied my own computer, everything else was included, including the slats holders for the tray, if I remember right the gantry kit was around $7500
The frame is all 3x3 square tube, I welded feet on the bottom and drilled and tapped for levelling bolts
I bought a 5x10 sheet 10 ga, and had it cut and bent into a tray.
Nothing else really, all fairly simple.
I have a dessicant style air dryer mounted on the plasma cart, seems to work alright. Supposed to change the pellets in it once a year or so. |
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SE Nebraska | I'm guessing this is the one.
http://www.plasmaland.com/product_info.php?products_id=35&osCsid=46...
Looks like at the bottom the 4x8 adds $1300. The $7800 must be for a 4x4 table.
Can you give me some more info on the air dryer? Is there some sort of drain on it? I can't imagine a dessicant lasting a year with our humidity in the summer. Maybe the air is dryer up there. Do you do a lot of cutting? Sounds like a cheaper way to go than a refrigerated one.
What do you use the extra water tank for under your table? Is that for when you have to clean the water pan out, so you can reuse the water?
What plasma do you have and how thick of material can you cut? |
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WC Saskatchewan | He has a different gantry now prices might have gone up a bit, bought mine in dec of last year.
his new system is supposed to be better yet, more rigid gantry or something.
the dryer has a ball valve drain on the bottom, the moisture collects on the pellets, then must drain down over time. I always drain it before I cut anything, and there is quite a bit of moisture blows out at first.
the pellets are large, kinda like water softner salt pellets. I had very short lifespan on my nozzles at the start, and I felt I didnt have too bad of moisture problem, but after adding the dryer, my consumable life increased probably 10 fold.
I got the dryer at princessauto.com its kind of a canadian harbor freight. It was $100 and the dessicant was around $60
I see harbor freight has a refrigerated dryer for $400. That would be the best I think.
My tank is for draining to clean the table (I havent cleaned it yet) but I also drain the water if im not using it for a long period of time. It cuts down on evaporation, and having to top it up.
I have a hypertherm powermax 45. If you check around almost everyone recommends a hypertherm. It will only pierce up to 1/2" I think, or maybe its 3/8"? But will edge start up to 1", ive never tried cutting that thick yet.
I also bought a machine torch, so I have both, if I want to hand cut I can just unplug from the table and go. It is around $700 for the machine torch, but kinda worth it. For the versatility.
if your thinking of cutting heavy stuff a powermax 65, or 85 would be better, but alot more $$. So far I have never needed the extra amps.
You can email me, it is in my profile
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SE Nebraska | Again, thanks for all of the info. Maybe you can post some pics of some of the things you have made. Do you use it mostly for machine parts, or have you made some art projects?
I'll have to give them a call and check on the details and see how long it takes them to get one out. With harvest going on my friend won't have the time to help me with the table right now, so it might be a couple of months until I get one ordered.
I'll keep your e-mail handy if I have more questions. |
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SE Nebraska | I was researching your air dryer, and it looks like it is possible to bake the beads to dry them out and reuse them. I didn't know if you knew that, but it would be worth a try since they are kind of expensive.
Here is a place where a guy talks about building a dryer like you have.
http://forum.caswellplating.com/powder-coating-questions/6995-diy-d... |
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PlasmaCAM
