One week update with new BullTear table
I've had my 4 x 8 table and Hypertherm PM 45 for one week now. Other than a couple bumps in the road which were pretty much my fault I finally got it cutting real nice tonight. Nothing terrible fancy but a few pieces with a dozen inside cuts and lots of curves. The Powermax 45 cut through some 1/4 inch plate really cleanly at 40ipm, probably could have gone a litter faster, but 90% of the stuff I plan on cutting will be thinner material.
The biggest issue I had was I broke the Z axis limit switch when I ran the torch off the plate and manually picked it up past the switch and dropped the arm back on top of it. Then I reloaded Mach 3 thinking I had a software problem and I forgot all the settings (which I should have written down in my haste to try some cuts).
MC to the rescue both times, even taking his time out on Sunday to call me and get me going. I'm confident we got it right this time and I'm off to get some steel tomorrow and try some more stuff. Also hope to find a local supplier for consumables for my Hypertherm.
I have zero experience in machining and CNC etc so it's a little daunting but Matt talked me through it. After the last phone call I cut two 10 inch spiders out of 1/8 steel and they came out nearly ready for paint or powdercoat.
Maybe you can teach an old dog a few new tricks. :)
