CNC Plasma Idea

[BRONWIN]

I hooked up a plasma cutter to my Bridgeport cnc milling machine so I could cut accurate shapes but it is with a hand torch, has anyone tried this before ?

thanks

 

[Pete.]

Using a plasma on your CNC mill? Is that not likely to cause damage to the milling machine? I should think the detritus from the plasma would be quite abrasive.

 

[gridley51]

Hello Bronwin/Brian.Welcome to the forum,I`m reasonably new also but us tight Scotsmen have to stick together.:-)
I used to think about doing as you have done by fitting a long arm to the table so that the torch is a long way from the machine.You should really insulate the arm from the machine because if you get a short it`s theoretically possible for a massive shot of dc to go to ground through your Heidenhain control.Other problem is the amounts of high frequency noise the plasma source puts out.I know a guy who destroyed a Fanuc control by placing a plasma close to it.
Mark.

 

[BRONWIN]

Hi Mark, how you doing ? I have already produced 200 comps on the bridgeport and the Beaver mills with the torch attached to the quill but I have the use of a large cnc router with 4 heads that I may be able to convert but need to attach a machine torch and control off and on when cutting.
any ideas on the picture ? the tig control is explained on the VBC web site. I think its for welding Inconel and aircraft turbine blades etc. still needing drive boards from Matchmaker fixed one guy wanted me to send the whole rack down to England

 

[BRONWIN]

Sorry Pete ment to reply, I use a fixture sub-table and spacers so the cutting is well clear of the machine table