Homemade CNC plasma cutter.

[Sean S.]

I’m needing to make several items for the car, a CNC plasma cutter will definitely make life easier. The first items I plan to make will be the structure to hold the rear clamshell hood pins. I want to make it using dimple dies, so being able to cut circles will come in very handy. I found this DYI CNC and decided to make it. It works very well and was cheap to make. I only have $360 in it. I already had a plasma cutter, you can get a cheap one for about $200 if you don’t.

 

[Brian]

Nicely done. I designed and built a plasma table about 10 years ago and have put many miles on it.

Here it's cutting 3/8" for a wheel bearing mount for some old scissor lifts. I can also strap a router to the mount on the right and cut wood.

A hood and exhaust fan are a must. The vaporized metal will make a huge mess in no time. The water tray will mitigate it, but not eliminate it.

 

[Charlie M]

That's amazing Sean. What is the CNC kit you used?

Thanks,
Charlie

 

[Randy V]

Doggoned nice jobs guys!

 

[Sean S.]

That's amazing Sean. What is the CNC kit you used?

Thanks,
Charlie

Charlie,

Below is what I used.

Plans from @jdsgarage701 Plans: https://jdsgarage.bigcartel.com

Electronic kit I used: 3 Axis USB CNC Controller Kit,Nema23 Stepper Motor 425oz-in 3A 112mm,FMD2740C Driver 4A,USB Interface Card USBCNC Control Breakout Board,36V Power Supply CNC Router Machine Kit https://a.co/d/48DJZcS

 

[Sean S.]

Nicely done. I designed and built a plasma table about 10 years ago and have put many miles on it.

Here it's cutting 3/8" for a wheel bearing mount for some old scissor lifts. I can also strap a router to the mount on the right and cut wood.

A hood and exhaust fan are a must. The vaporized metal will make a huge mess in no time. The water tray will mitigate it, but not eliminate it.

Very nice. I wish I had room for a larger table like that!

I have the items needed to add a Z-Axis to mine. I was thinking it would be nice to mount my router to it and play. Might be a fun summer project.

Sean

 

[Brian]

I need to upgrade my motion controls. I'm still using Mach3, and it requires windows XP to bit bang the parallel printer port. That directly drives the stepper drivers.

What are you doing for CAM? Directly writing G code?

 

[Sean S.]

I need to upgrade my motion controls. I'm still using Mach3, and it requires windows XP to bit bang the parallel printer port. That directly drives the stepper drivers.

What are you doing for CAM? Directly writing G code?

I looked at the Arduino boards and using Mach3, but I didn't like the limitations on the windows software..... Windows8/ XP/ etc. The board I got uses CNC USB and is compatible with Windows 10. For the first cuts I made to ensure it all worked, I typed the G-code and M-code myself.

I downloaded the personal use Fusion 360 CAD/CAM software to test out. I also downloaded a free trial of GWizard which is also a CAD/CAM software. Both the F360 and GWizard are supposed to be able Draw, to convert everything to G code, and help with speed settings. I will be playing with both over the next few weeks to see if I can make something work for my needs. So far, F360 seems a bit intimidating due to all the functionality it has. But I am thinking the F360 will be the winner once I learn how to use it.


Sean

 

[Brian]

Back when I built it, XP wasn't THAT out of date. I had my computer die 2 years ago and it took some asking around to find a shop that would load XP onto a good used computer for me. Also, I'm afraid to let that computer to remain plugged into the router, so I have to do my file in the office on a thumb drive, then take it to the table.

Not sure what a liscense for it cost today, but sheetcam is really good and easy to use for plasma. I still use my Turbocad 18 for all of my 2D stuff. Alibre is great for 3D. My big beef was I wanted something I could buy once and have forever, and it worked on my machine, not a web server. That's where my biases are.

Anything that can get you a DXF file output works for Sheetcam. I set up a sample file with all of the variables for my plasma torch and the material, from then all I have to do is pick the right template, import the drawings, double check cut sequences and start/stop locations and export.