My new 5x10 turnkey table from Bulltear

[Rockstar Metalworks]

This will be my log as I learn and grow with my new CNC plasma table from Bulltear. Being as I dont have much spare time I decided to let Matt and his crew build me a turnkey table rather than building my own table and ordering a gantry kit. Hopefully that will help with the learning curve some as it should already be set up and ready to go. Matt has been great to deal with and very helpful with all my questions while choosing which table.(he is probably tired of hearing from me by now, lol.) I decided to get the biggest table I could afford since that seemed to be the only consistent advice I could find while researching plasma tables. I also chose a Hypertherm powermax 85 and had it shipped to Bulltear for installation on my new table. The table arrived Monday and we got it unloaded, put into place, and leveled. I ran an air drop into the area as well and am in the process of hooking up the electrical. Tomorrow night I will hopefully have the power ran and get the pc hooked up and functional. The goal is to make the first test cuts this weekend, meanwhile I will be reading and watching every tutorial I can find on bobcad, sheetcam, and mach3 so I wont be too lost when I start programming. Here are a couple of pics from Monday. Thanks again to Matt for all his help.

[jeepsr4ever]

It looks good in there! I really like the looks of a CNC plasma table when you have tons of material sheets next to it cut out like skeletons and something cutting on the table. :)

[Rockstar Metalworks]

It wont be long before I can post some pictures just like that!

Got the computer desk in place and all the wires run, now I just need to tidy things up a bit and quit playing with my new toy and actually get to work. Haha. I have already cut out several parts and am working on getting the machine fine tuned. So far so good!

[Rockstar Metalworks]

Quick question, one problem I am running into is that I get a bit of a "wiggle" (excessive IMO) in my cut right after the machine makes a corner. I only have a problem when cutting at speeds above 100ipm. I know I can use the loop feature in the corners to help, but I hate using up extra material to make corners. Anyway, I can feel a shake in the torch mount that seems to be radiating across the entire gantry when it changes directions. Heres a couple of pics that should show you what I mean, the first is a rough drawing of what the material looks like with the cut, and the second shows where most of the shake is coming from. I can post pics of the actual metal if it would help. It was at a cut speed of 250 and 10ga metal. Any ideas? Thanks for all your help.

[ralphxj]

The entire gantry is shacking? Check to make sure the set screws in the drive motors are all tight!! I had the set screw on the A-axis drive gear come loose, so the gantry was only being run by one side and it was causing a shacking when it was changing directions. Although it would only cause the problem in the front to back motion, and not side-to-side.

[jeepsr4ever]

It may also be coming from the sharp tip setscrews that keep the Z axis Mag-Lok plate in place. They may have wiggled out allowing the outerplate to shake when a change in direction is made. If you can feel any shake in the torch mount check to see if it is the torch mount on those screws. Your crate looked like hell so its hard to say if it was bumped in shipping.

[Rockstar Metalworks]

It may also be coming from the sharp tip setscrews that keep the Z axis Mag-Lok plate in place. They may have wiggled out allowing the outerplate to shake when a change in direction is made. If you can feel any shake in the torch mount check to see if it is the torch mount on those screws. Your crate looked like hell so its hard to say if it was bumped in shipping.

Come to think of it, I did notice when I was first inspecting the machine that there was a slight bit of play between the mag lock plate and the set screws. It wasnt a lot, but there was some play. I will check that tomorrow and report back. I will also cut a square and see if it does it on all corners or if it is only on the x or y axis.

Is there a max cut speed that you recommend for the gantry? I know it depends on material as far as what speeds to use, but is there a speed that I should try to keep it under? Also, is there a way to slow down the machine just in the corners so its not quite such a hard abrupt turn?

Thanks again!

[Rockstar Metalworks]

The entire gantry is shacking? Check to make sure the set screws in the drive motors are all tight!! I had the set screw on the A-axis drive gear come loose, so the gantry was only being run by one side and it was causing a shacking when it was changing directions. Although it would only cause the problem in the front to back motion, and not side-to-side.

Thanks for the tips, I'll check that as well tomorrow. Not sure if you remember, but I hit you up on pirate about your bulltear table when I was trying to decide what to get. Thanks for all your help and input, your advice helped me choose the 5x10 bulltear table. Loving it so far! Im sure Ill like it even better once I get a good grasp on all the software and programming. Did you ever get your scribe all ironed out and working? I would love to hear how thats going.

[jeepsr4ever]

There is no upper limit to these machines as far as travel they can cut as fast as they can rapid travel however you will lower your sharp corners moving faster. There is a CV setting (constant velocity) however before you make any changes drop your amperage and cut slower. Check to see what is causing your vibration.

[ralphxj]

Thanks for the tips, I'll check that as well tomorrow. Not sure if you remember, but I hit you up on pirate about your bulltear table when I was trying to decide what to get. Thanks for all your help and input, your advice helped me choose the 5x10 bulltear table. Loving it so far! Im sure Ill like it even better once I get a good grasp on all the software and programming. Did you ever get your scribe all ironed out and working? I would love to hear how thats going.

Yep, glad you went with BT!! I love mine, I'm finally really getting the hang of the table and getting it to do what I want.

The scribe setup is done and tested, but I haven't actually used it for anything except drawing test circles: http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1057132

Other then a better plasma at some point, I'm very happy with the setup, and don't think I'll need to upgrade any time soon.