New to Everlast

[cobretti]

Hi all,

Picked up my new Powerplasma 60 unit this week so joining the Everlast family and hope it will be a successful relationship

I bought this unit to go with the CNC plasma table I am building so looking forward to great results. Installed a 240V circuit in garage today and did a quick startup test of the unit - no cutting yet. This one has the new Trafimet A81 torch and though I would have liked the P81 machine torch it just pushes the cost up way too much.

Attached is a pic of the plasma table I am building and to which I will be connecting the PP60.

Ed

[performance]

p81? Its either going to be a p80 or an A 81. A 81 is trafimet, p 80 is not. The units WITH the A81 machine torch ARE different. They have a start style compatible with CNC. The unit it appears you are getting is not CNC friendly. The PowerPlasma 60 C is MORE than a simple machine torch upgrade.

[cobretti]

Mark sorry I was doing so much searching got my numbers reversed - Trafimet P81 is the machine torch I was trying to source and A81 is the one I have with the new PP60 and a CNC port on the back.

* updated my first post

[everlastsupport]

Ed,

The P81 is a straight handle torch for CNC mounting, the A81 is a hand held torch.

Some people do make their own adapters for the A81, but the P81 is the way to go, rather trying to defeat the safety switch and dealing with the curve in the handle.

[performance]

Duncan is offering a P80 machine torch. This is the one Ed is getting I am pretty sure. The 60C is not just a regular unit with a machine torch. It offers better starts without the use of HF. And I think it does have less to go wrong. As far as I know we are not selling the p 81 separately from the unit..

[SeanMurphy265]

I hope you keep posting some pics of your plasma table. I am interested in one myself. What brand name plasma table do you have?

[DavidShearer]

A fascinating project! Are you building it from the ground up? If so, is this your own design or are you following plans from someone. Tell us about the program, controller, and servo drives, etc..

I ask because I have an old Linde 5' X 12' Shape Cutting machine (It has a camera that follows a pattern drawn full size on paper that then guides the torch. Still working too!) gathering dust in the back of the shop that I would like to convert it to a CNC plasma cutting table some day.

[cobretti]

Mark the 60C was a bit too steep in price for me. Duncan showed me a machine torch which I think was the P80 but when I go to the Trafimet site I see a P81 torch on the same spec sheet as the A81. I got a quote for the P81 (not from everlast) for $355 which was a big let down Why is a machine torch so much more when it looks exactly the same except for the curve?

Anyhow I will stick with the A81 for now.

@Sean and David - it is not any brand name. I followed a build on cnczone.com and bought a gantry type kit from one of the members. Basically with his kit you can opt to buy the very bare minimum (which I did) and he gives you a list of suggested parts to buy to complete it. I managed to get most of the parts even cheaper so it has worked out great. My test runs on scrap plastic board has the table working as it should. I tested the cutter manually yesterday and it really works great so can't wait to get it mounted. I just need to get a mount made up for my torch and connect it to the CNC port on the PP60. I will be setting up a touch and go Z axis but still waiting for some parts to arrive.

I am using a G540 controller and Keling 425oz motors. The linear rails are from PBC and the bearings are from VXB. I use Mach 3 and still demoing sheetcam.

irony in the video link, it is the torch mount I hope to cut

http://s1090.photobucket.com/albums/...ent=plasma.mp4

[performance]

Well, the torch price isn't from us, but that sounds about right. If you were to buy the A81 outright from us the price wouldn't be too much less. When we source torches, they are sourced internally in Chinese economics direct from the Trafimet factory and our factory gets the volumes necessary for a mild upgrade charge to add the torch to the unit. It gets complicated. There is significant additional cost of the torch to us, we absorb a little and pass on a little...so it appears the torch isn't that much more, but go and buy it outright, and it'll be around that 300.00 mark. We aren't making money on the torches, I assure you.

[cobretti]

thanks Mark just frustrated that a torch should cost almost half as much as a cutter - I know this is not in Everlast hands

Since this is the introduction thread I will start a new post in the plasma section regarding another question I have.

[SeanMurphy265]

If you do not mind me asking, how much do you have in the table?

[cobretti]

Minus the cutter about $1800 and that includes a few mistakes

[SeanMurphy265]

That's not bad at all.

[everlastsupport]

Cobretti,

Table looks nice, what was the size?

Any new updates on the CNC table? Looks like a lot of people here are interested in details and plans. Keep us posted on you progress.

[cobretti]

hi Mike

It is a 4ftx4ft table - I am waiting on the gas company to ok my location for the ground rods I need to install.

Telco and city already ok'd me last week and these guys have still not come out

I was able to fire the torch through the CNC port but the HF hit everything I have shielded wiring but will definitely need the grounding rods.

[everlastsupport]

hi Mike

It is a 4ftx4ft table - I am waiting on the gas company to ok my location for the ground rods I need to install.

Telco and city already ok'd me last week and these guys have still not come out

I was able to fire the torch through the CNC port but the HF hit everything I have shielded wiring but will definitely need the grounding rods.

4x4 is a good size.

Power (of any kind) company, Telco, City, State.. Government. All a pain and move at one speed. Hope they get your stuff in soon.

Many here are looking forward to you progress, including me. A 4x4 for a starting table is great.

On the ground, I would ground it for sure. You can PM or call me if you still have issues with noise and your controller, I will do want I can to help.

[cobretti]

Thanks Mike! Appreciate that - I hope I can get it going by the weekend.

[cobretti]

So this morning at 8am unexpectedly the gas man showed up to check the line but he was there for all of 1 minute. Since I am in semi-detached home and ground rod is going in my garage he did not need to check it.

I installed the ground rod tonight but ran into a few issues. Everything is grounded (cutter,pc,table,gantry,controller housing) and using shielded cables throughout. The HF however still gets in at times and causes havoc as seen in the video link below. It will freeeze up the USB mouse and Mach3 goes to E-Stop requested although I did not hit the e-stop.


http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/j...ncplasma-1.mp4

Now the metal I used was not the best - a old computer case side which was very thin and dirty (painted on one side) but this should not cause the problems above.

I think I should have gone with a PP50(blowback) just because of the HF. The PP60 is great otherwise but CNC and HF needs more work to be done to get it going smoothly.

In the pics below I was able to cut these small shapes because the torch only needed to fire once. When cutting a more complex piece with multiple torch starts the HF eventually causes issues.

oh yeah I also found that moving the ground clamp from this piece to the temporary metal slats it was resting on gave me better torch starts? is it because the sheet was not clean enough for proper ground?

Attachment 2003Attachment 2004Attachment 2005

[performance]

The torch cables aren't shielded?

[cobretti]

Hi Mark

Are you saying I should ground the torch as well or apply some form of shielding to the torch cables?

thanks