Plasma tracing tool

[Rodsmachineshop]

Well got it up and working works good just need to wait fro my foot pedal switch to turn torch on and off , Also going to change the long box arm to aluminum so lighter the the feed rail is fine since is stationary . need to make tracing pen part aluminum since sticks to my work i am tracing since held in place by magnets and the metal pen sticks to the magnetized work.

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Well got it up and working works good just need to wait fro my foot pedal switch to turn torch on and off , Also going to change the long box arm to aluminum so lighter the the feed rail is fine since is stationary . need to make tracing pen part aluminum since sticks to my work i am tracing since held in place by magnets and the metal pen sticks to the magnetized work.

Looks like you are making good use of those bearings you bought! So it looks like it will trace 1:1 with no scaling, right? Looks like your test circle cutouts came out OK if that's what they are.

[Rodsmachineshop]

yes 1 to 1 . yes circles came out good .

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yes 1 to 1 . yes circles came out good .

Good implementation. Pantagraphs will multiply any play in the pivots or sway in the arms and affect the quality of the output. There are some implementations of pantagraphs that don't mirror the output - need to change the number of pivots or something like that.

[Rodsmachineshop]

Pantograph i copied worked sorta ok but everything is reversed when cutting and wasn't 1 to 1 . going to order some aluminum box to replace the long steel one so lighter and better balance when all the way to the right and left when traveling . be nice for making my brackets for the cnc table i want to build

[NRM]

Rod do you know why your pantograph didn't cut 1:1? Is it something you can fix relatively easy?

[Rodsmachineshop]

I didn't like it wasn't smooth when cutting and this works so much better with the roller bearing fixtures

[Winky]

I would like to see this in person ... seems like your on to something really sweet ... if you get it worked out you should patent it and market them ... not everyone can afford cnc ... if you can put out something for the average hobbyist I think they would sell well.

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Rod do you know why your pantograph didn't cut 1:1? Is it something you can fix relatively easy?

It has to do with the lengths of the straight edges (and as a side-effect the angles) that make up the pantograph. If you change the lengths, you can make it enlarge, reduce or make it 1:1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantograph

Please be aware that pantographs have at least four joints that can make moving heavier objects a little more problematic and prone to errors if there is any slack in the pivots or if the straight edges aren't rigid.

[undercut]

Pantograph i copied worked sorta ok but everything is reversed when cutting and wasn't 1 to 1 . going to order some aluminum box to replace the long steel one so lighter and better balance when all the way to the right and left when traveling . be nice for making my brackets for the cnc table i want to build

Yeah, you've got a good system there. I can see why you wanted the bearings (LOL) ... AND, you have more bearings to make other things. Ever make that horizontal sliding TIG arm brace? Remember, if you start marketing the sliding TIG arm rest, I get a cut!

[Winky]

Thanks for posting this link ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantograph ... it explains some things I was wondering about ... maybe I'll try to build one myself.

[Rodsmachineshop]

well played with the tracer last night and found going to use 1 inch round instead of box since slides with no bearing fixture drag a all for the shorter cross section and for the box that the torch is attached to going to use aluminum since lighter . called my steel supplier and order a 20 foot piece of 1 inch .125 wall aluminum box . not bad priced was only 35 bucks for a aluminum 20' x 1x1 box .125 wall .

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Thanks for posting this link ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantograph ... it explains some things I was wondering about ... maybe I'll try to build one myself.

You are very welcome, Winky. Just watch for any play in the pivots as that will kill any chance of the duplicate looking like the original!

Also, you might want to experiment and figure out whether you want one of the arms extendable to allow you to reduce, enlarge or make 1:1 your copy.

well played with the tracer last night and found going to use 1 inch round instead of box since slides with no bearing fixture drag a all for the shorter cross section and for the box that the torch is attached to going to use aluminum since lighter . called my steel supplier and order a 20 foot piece of 1 inch .125 wall aluminum box . not bad priced was only 35 bucks for a aluminum 20' x 1x1 box .125 wall .

Remove any drag and you'll be king!

[NRM]

I don't have a need for a pantograph, but now I want one. Keep posting pics and your progress.

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I don't have a need for a pantograph, but now I want one. Keep posting pics and your progress.

I'm with you there. I was thinking about all of the things I could do just driving in to work this morning! Mind you, I would need to buy a plasma cutter so that might be a ways away. After the pantograph, a CNC!

It's lunch time for me now. Also thinking about some crispy skinned pork .....

[Rodsmachineshop]

replaced cross bar to round 1 inch 120 wall big difference can blow on it and it moves , did a micrometer check on the box and on the round tubing . the box has a a lot of difference in thickness, round is true all the way from end to end . when building mt cnc table will use round tubing also noticed round is better on not flexing like box tubing. so 2 inch 120 wall would be great for rails for a cnc table for gantry to run on .

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replaced cross bar to round 1 inch 120 wall big difference can blow on it and it moves , did a micrometer check on the box and on the round tubing . the box has a a lot of difference in thickness, round is true all the way from end to end . when building mt cnc table will use round tubing also noticed round is better on not flexing like box tubing. so 2 inch 120 wall would be great for rails for a cnc table for gantry to run on .

Good observation. I never would have initially thought to check the thickness of it. Weird how we take some things for granted. Good that you caught this here before you got too far on your CNC.

[Rodsmachineshop]

what good 120 wall tubing is very cheap

[NRM]

How the cutting ration now? did you design the rollers yourself?

[hokiefd]

I don't have a need for a pantograph, but now I want one. Keep posting pics and your progress.

Same here, lol. I never even thought about it until finding this forum.

There are some neat rigs for routers too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lKNG...D63FF280901729