![]() The gantry should be parked off of the cutting surface, so that a forklift can come straight in when loading heavy plate. Yes, you can save seconds and minutes by tweaking your feed rate, but you can save hours in a week with good software and good material handling procedures.įor good material handling practices, the table should be easy to load and off-load. You might think that cutting speed is a major factor. Plasma cutting is all about time and accuracy, and the two most significant factors in saving time are material handling and software. Basically, you are looking for maintenance-free operation. Also, the drives shouldn't be vulnerable to getting hit by a falling piece of plate or an errant forklift. They should not be too exposed to the plasma dust and debris. The drives should be enclosed or protected in some way. Also, most controllers can be set to compensate for a little backlash. It may transmit less than 0.001 inch of play at the torch. A little play in the transmission is not a deal breaker. Sometimes a gear-reduction transmission can develop a bit of backlash. Because no force develops between the tool (torch) and the material, and the plasma cutting environment is so dirty, industrial geared-timing belts may be a good choice. Some designers in the industry are advocates of using geared-timing belt drives because they cost less than rack-and-pinion gear drives, have zero backlash, and have long life. High-quality machines have a spring-loaded pinion gear to keep it running tight against the rack gear, otherwise the drives will develop play and backlash through use. Both are subject to high wear from metallic plasma dust. The rack gear runs the full length of each axis and the spur gear travels along it. Rack-and-pinion gear drives are the most common. These components are not easily upgraded, so it is important to choose them wisely. The mechanical system on a plasma cutting machine includes the drive, the gantry with a torch height mechanism, and the cutting table. Even in these high-end machines, some of their technology is outdated.Įvery CNC plasma cutting machine is made up of three independent systems. While the biggest and best are in this group, there are some pitfalls as well. They also come with excellent customer support options. These units, which have plenty of features and are smooth, accurate, and easy to operate, are at home in high-production shops. The third category includes large, feature-rich, multihead systems with price tags of between $60,000 and $200,000 or higher. This category is a good place for the growing business to start. Machines in this group usually are backed by good customer support, including live, on-screen assistance. Small shops with up to about 20 employees are the largest consumers of the machines from this category, which can handle anything from HVAC-gauge material to thick plate. Some come with excellent industrial-grade software, hardware, and drives. They are capable of running one to two full shifts per day continuously with little maintenance. The best systems in this group are built to work hard even the small tables can weigh up to a ton. They are engineered to perform well in demanding applications, up to and including the midindustrial market. Like the machines in the first group, they can give a lot of bang for the buck. Some would argue that this group of machines includes the best of both worlds. The second category of plasma cutting machines includes units that are priced at $60,000 or less. When you get a system from this category, it is important to use it for its intended purpose, which generally is light-duty industrial and artisan applications. They are available as complete plug-and-play systems or as kits. The first group comprises CNC plasma cutting systems that cost $25,000 or less, which have contributed greatly to the profitability of the small shops. The price for each group is based on systems with a 5- by 10-foot or smaller cutting surface. These categories, which are organized by price, do not necessarily indicate the level of quality and performance each provides. One of these categories will have the right CNC plasma cutter for you. Knowing about the different CNC plasma cutters available to you and what they are suited for will help you make the best investment for your capabilities.įirst, you have to organize the market choices into three categories. By 2004 it was becoming a chore for the first-time buyer to sort out the increasingly wide range of prices and new models on the market. Hardware and software developers made huge contributions with new, affordable, easy-to-use products. By 2000 several progressive manufacturers had developed low-cost CNC plasma cutting systems that could run off of a PC. The process of choosing a CNC plasma cutting system is much more difficult today than it was 10 years ago, when systems were fewer but more expensive.
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