4x8 Gantry Build...

[Apocalypse Fabrication]

Thanks Matt...

Did you get a chance to send those limit switches out?

[jeepsr4ever]

Yes

[Apocalypse Fabrication]

Yes

Thank you very much, sir.

[jeepsr4ever]

Not a problem I will have to go through checklists to see how it was missed. Also the Z axis limit and Mag-lok switches are optional so you do not have to have them on to allow cutting.

[Apocalypse Fabrication]

Ok, sorry for the lack of progress and updates. Life has been happening and we just havent had a chance to work on this.

Anyways, I got a chance to put a couple more hours into it yesterday.

I made some extensions for the forks on my forklift. They are light duty, but I didnt want to lug around massive extensions when the capacity of the forklift is only 2500# and I doubt that I will be working with any full sheets of material over 1/4". I built them using 1.75" 1/8" wall HREW tubing and 2x5x.25 rectangular tubing pieces. Pretty simple. I bent them with my tubing bender so they wouldnt have any sharp edges to hit the sheets. I hope the round tubing profile will also help to minimize scratching when loading sheets.


I removed the water pan from the table, flipped it, cut holes for the pipe flanges with the circle attachment on my hypertherm, and welded them in with the tig.


I filled the pan with water and reinstalled the slats. It's been 16 hours now and no drips, so I must have done something right!

[Apocalypse Fabrication]

Not a problem I will have to go through checklists to see how it was missed. Also the Z axis limit and Mag-lok switches are optional so you do not have to have them on to allow cutting.

So... did you send those limit switches by mule train? I haven't received anything, still.

[jeepsr4ever]

Yes weeks ago

[Apocalypse Fabrication]

Do you have a tracking# and address where you sent it? I'd like to track the package down down.

[Apocalypse Fabrication]

Well, we got some vacation at the end of the year, so I wanted to work on getting the cnc table cutting. Good news, we got it cutting. Bad news, there are a few issues... as always.

1. The THC Light is blinking green when activated from the Mach3 screen (does this mean it is working or should it be solid green?)

2. Our "stored settings" button on the Mach3 screen does not bring any menu up for saved settings or even the current thc settings.

3. We changed our preset voltage from 140 to 137, as per the hypertherm manual, on the second cut. However, as soon as it started cutting it reverted right back to 140 volts, ignoring our change.

4. A general question... what amperage should I set the hypertherm unit to when cutting? I was using 45 amps, since I was using 45 amp consumables, but I have no idea if that was right.

5. When will we receive those limit swiches?

6. We are getting about 1/16" of taper on the edges of the cuts on .25 mild steel. That seems excessive to me...

These pics are of the cuts... all cut to hypertherm's book specs for 45 amp shielded consumables on a hypertherm 65 with machine torch:



more pictures at the links...

[Apocalypse Fabrication]

After some further work with the table today:

1. Still blinking
2. We got the stored settings button to work when Katie installed the Smart Kut file from the disk. I downloaded a txt file from CandCNC.com that had a bunch of settings files for hyperterm machines.
3. The preset voltage just needed the "enter" button hit to make it stay at 137.
4 & 5.... same
6. I rethought this last night and remembered the arc being VERY visible while cutting, which seemed wrong... so this morning I decided to try cutting with the THC off. The result was a very nicely cut shape, with hardly any dross or taper at all. SO... I stopped the programs mid cut with the thc on (blinking) and off. With the THC on... I measured the torch height at .430" (almost 7/16"!!!!!!) and without the thc it was .065" (a lil more than 1/16"). That difference is where the taper and dross came from. I think Ive come to the conclusion that our THC is not working. Katie and I sent an email to the CandCNC email group to see if we can get some help. I may call Tom tomorrow if I dont hear from the list.

.430 cut height:
Taper of no THC Cut: No THC Cut Height:
Condition of piece with no THC immediately after cutting (ignore the chinga in the inside, that was from repositioning the piece after stopping the cut)