I am thinking about buying a plasma cam for my shop after the first of the year. Does any body here have or know any body that has any experiences with this machine or their software.
http://www.plasmacam.com/

from the looks of the design of the table it doesnt look industrial.. and not strong enuff to hold big plates..

From what I`ve heard it's a nice unit.

But not a 75k industrial plasma unit, for 4x4 shop it should be fine. I`ve been looking at this unit myself too.

Whats the price for one of these?

ill say about 10 grand

When I priced a unit about 3 years ago from them, it was around 10-11k by the time you get everything you need - PC, table, and torch. Price could go up if you go bigger on the torch.

I believe one of the yellow star vendors here has one, maybe he will chime in...

I've had one for almost 2 years. I like it a lot. I've been lucky and have had only one problem with it but it was covered under warrenty. I too was worried about it being 4x4 but I built a 4x6 roller table so I can hold 4x10 sheets and its not that hard to index parts to cut them as long as you want. It'll go 4x24 or something. 95% of the stuff I cut are much smaller than 4x4 and anything bigger than 4x10 is such a pain in the ass to move that its not worth it anyway. The table is very well built and I've had a peice of 4x5-5/8 plate on it with no problems. Its very sturdy. People say you can build your own but most never finish and they waste a ton of time and money on components that will never work right. There are some other complete tables around that are 4x8 or 5x10 but the price goes up as well. Search around, they have all had their problems so pick the one you like best. Cost for me was a big issue but to be honest mine paid for itself in a little over a year. And thats just doing stuff on the side in a few hours a week. Now I have about 8 regular accounts and a few inventors that I cut prototype stuff out while they develop their products. Along with a some sign companys and off road buddies/word of mouth. Plus I have some of my own products I cut out. I stay as busy as I want to with it thats for sure. By far the best tool I own.

Bruce, what thicknesses do you work with? I was told by one PCAM owner that up to 1/4" it was fine but that he really wasn't pleased with the results over that. Just looking for some opinions.

That all depends on the cutter itself, not the plasmacam. I use a hypertherm 1000 (awesome machine) and it will cut 5/8 pretty good. It will do 1/2 and down REAL nice. In aluminum I usually wont go over 3/8. Aluminum is tough to get a nice edge without too much cleanup. Stainless is about the same as carbon. 95% of the cut is the setup and fine tuning of the machine, things like speed, amps, air pressure, air cleanliness/dryness, ect. My machine by itself (not hooked to plasmacam) will severe 1 1/8 carbon but its very ugly. The reason people say machine reduce the cutters capacity is because you cannot "rock" the torch into the cut. On a machine its pointed straight into it and the molten metal can and will splash back up into the electrodes and ruin them. On thinner material its not a problem. I will probably be getting a hypertherm 1250 to use on my plasmacam and use the 1000 in the shop. That will let me cut 3/4 carbon easily and 1/2 alum nicely. Most of the sign stuff I do is 1/4 inch alum and 1/4 steel so its not really a problem. Same with my regular accounts that I cut out products for, usually 3/8 and below. Its the weird calls I get a few time a week that some guy will want me to cut something that is WAY to thick or just wants me to cut it out halfway down the thickness or something. The biggest problem I have is explaining how a cnc plasma cutter works and its capacities. They always get it confused with a cnc mill or something. Oh and they want to come over a pick it up in 20 minutes and for 2 bucks. :rolleyes:

if you want to cut aluminum, use a different plasma gas, like co2 or helium.

i visited the website, and have the sales info on the way. this thing looks awesome!
bruce, what is the table-to-torch clearance? can i cut into one side of 2x box stock, in other words?
btw, how much did the table cost? i've already got a thermal dynamics stak pak with 2 power units and a dual gas system...

I dont think 2x will fit. Its about 1.375 or so, but thats placing the torch high in the cradle. When I bought mine (almost 2 years ago) it was like $9700 or so. Be sure to check that your thermal dynamics cutter can interface with computers. They make a great cutter but I think they use a different type of arc start that will short out electronics. Be careful.

Oh, and I know a guy who modified his table to cut 4or6x stock. He cut the gantry off and moved it up and rewelded it with new material in between. I would certainly NOT do it but he did. My machine is much more accurate than his but he has an older model and doesnt take much time or care when cutting so who knows if his gantry is no longer square or whatever.

Thanks for the input. I have a Hypertherm 1100, the old version of the 1250. I understand what you're saying about "rocking" the cut. Makes sense.

Hay Bruce I really appreciate all your input. I have already checked out the DVD and info that plasma cam sent me. The bank has already told me the money is there if I want it. I just wanted here from some one that owned one. So thanks again. I will probably order mine right after the first of the year.

I also have a Plasma Cam and have had it for several years, great machine for the money. The software that comes with the table is bullet proof and easy to use. I have a Miller 2050 torch and a 4hp. air compressor for all of my cutting. I have cut 3/4" hot rolled and cold rolled no problem. I made several thumbs for some backhoes. I also make signs, all kinds of brackets. I have a scanner on my system and can scan in a design or picture and move it to the CAD system and then cut it out. I have helped set up 2 of these systems for high schools in my area, the kids love them. One school is using it to make custom parts for a street rod in their shop class. What has helped me is to add adjustable feet to the legs of the machine and bolt it to the shop floor, it stays in alignment better. Most of my stuff is 3/8" or smaller. I had a problem with the machine when I first got it and Plasma Cam took care of me. The only table part I've had to buy are some of the cogged timing drive belts. I'm always using up torch tips, but not the tables problem. It takes some time to learn what speed and amps to use for each thickness of metal. Get one and have fun creating new stuff, learn a new skill.

I also have a Plasma Cam and have had it for several years, great machine for the money. The software that comes with the table is bullet proof and easy to use. I have a Miller 2050 torch and a 4hp. air compressor for all of my cutting. I have cut 3/4" hot rolled and cold rolled no problem. I made several thumbs for some backhoes. I also make signs, all kinds of brackets. I have a scanner on my system and can scan in a design or picture and move it to the CAD system and then cut it out. I have helped set up 2 of these systems for high schools in my area, the kids love them. One school is using it to make custom parts for a street rod in their shop class. What has helped me is to add adjustable feet to the legs of the machine and bolt it to the shop floor, it stays in alignment better. Most of my stuff is 3/8" or smaller. I had a problem with the machine when I first got it and Plasma Cam took care of me. The only table part I've had to buy are some of the cogged timing drive belts. I'm always using up torch tips, but not the tables problem. It takes some time to learn what speed and amps to use for each thickness of metal. Get one and have fun creating new stuff, learn a new skill.


What compressor are you using ?
And what dryer?

One other question. How exactly does the software work as far as entering information. They say you can start with a dxf or even a bmp file and that the software can go from there. A dxf file I can sort of understand, but can you really start with a bmp or jpg file and it can figure out what you want? How does that work?

One other question. How exactly does the software work as far as entering information. They say you can start with a dxf or even a bmp file and that the software can go from there. A dxf file I can sort of understand, but can you really start with a bmp or jpg file and it can figure out what you want? How does that work?

I just happened to talk to a customer who has one of these machines this morning and asked him the very same question (I didn't know this thread was here). He said that you "Trace" the bitmap to come up with the cutting. I didn't go into any more detail then that as far as if the software will help with some automation of the trace.

He just got my tube bending software and was asking if there was any software out their that would help him design shapes like making curved letters around an arc. I pointed him to Adobe and Corel Draw. It did sound like getting a quality dxf file was the way to go. Some of your high end graphics packages will product a dxf, however, they tend to be a bunch of little chopped lines.

He said that you "Trace" the bitmap to come up with the cutting. I didn't go into any more detail then that as far as if the software will help with some automation of the trace.

That was sort of the answer that I was expecting. Some of the stuff on their website makes it sound like you just scan a drawing in, ship the bitmap over to their software, and everything is handled. Somehow I didn't think that they had something that would do raster to vector conversion, but I could see that possibly it could outline areas in a simple black or white drawing.

Guess that is why they sell the "art discs" they offer - if it was so easy to input from a scanned image there would be no need for all that stuff.

Most of what I'd do would come from a dxf source, though.

Importing pictures is not easy. There is a lot of tracing and cleaning up WAY before it could be used. I don't really do artwork so I've never done it anyway. What I use is one of the following. First if the customer can send it to me in a dxf format it is simply imported into the pcam software (less that 10 seconds to do). Second, if its easy enough of a bracket I just draw it up in the pcam software and be done with it (anywhere from 30 seconds to 15 minutes depending on complexity and detail and your speed) The last way is to use any other (jpeg, ai, eps, bitmap, ect) and open it with paint or illistrator or whatever you have that can open it. Then I do any modifications that may need to be done and export it to my autocad. Then open in autocad and export to pcam with that. It may be able to be done other ways (I know there is actually) but that will yield you the easiest image to work with without getting a screwed up image when pcam opens it. Also you can scan in images of whatever you want but the software is so accurate that it will look exactly like it does on paper zoomed in 100x. If something is traced with a pen for example then when it comes up in pcam it will have double lines because it takes the ouside and inside edge of the line. Resulting in even more cleanup time. Does that make sense? Overall its real easy as I'm not that smart and can get pretty much anything cuttable.

Does anyone have any comments about the torchmate cnc plasma machine?

http://www.torchmate.com/overview/index2.htm

dunno on the torchmate. I have a 4x8 tracker system I picked up used with a Hypertherm 1000.

I looked long and hard at the different offerings. I was going to get a plasmacam, but then my research started to show a problem with customer support from them. So then started looking into the Tracker systems. The gantry and mechanicals are simpler and more rugged than what I have seen of the Plasmacam. The software is not as fancy as plasmacam, but it works. I haven't actually used a plasmacam, but got the video and did a bunch of reading on it. One thing that bothers me on the Tracker system is the software does not account for kerf width, it has to be incorporated in the drawing.

I will say that Tracker support is A+ 100%. They have spent whatever time on the phone I needed, even though I bought it used from used from someone else.

a shop i deal with has a torchmate and he sent me a sample part and it is VERY nice he said he looked at them all and it was the best deal and strongest parts but im not sure im looking into one end of dec or so

You must build your own system with the torchmate. Qaulity will depend greatly on your ability to build a 4x10 base table square. You dont really save any money if anything it'll cost more by time you get the digital hieght control and software and any other add on you will need. By that time you could just buy a complete system (plasmacam or other) and know that it will work instead of a box of wire and some motors. The better systems seem to all use servo motors as opposed to steppers too.

A buddy of mine is in the process of purchasing a CNC machine. He visited Torchmate's factory and wasn't very impressed. He's going with a setup from practical cnc.

http://www.practicalcnc.com

He purchased a hypotherm 1000 for use with this machine. FWIW he's also into woodworking and the practical cnc machine can be equipped with a router, and I believe a rotary saw or drill as well. Table sizes start at 4x4 and go up to 6 x 12

torch mate comes with a table they offer as a kit or prebuilt

A buddy of mine is in the process of purchasing a CNC machine. He visited Torchmate's factory and wasn't very impressed. He's going with a setup from practical cnc.

http://www.practicalcnc.com

He purchased a hypotherm 1000 for use with this machine. FWIW he's also into woodworking and the practical cnc machine can be equipped with a router, and I believe a rotary saw or drill as well. Table sizes start at 4x4 and go up to 6 x 12


This looks like a really nice machine too. I am curious if the software is as easy to use as everybody claims the Plasma Cam’s to be. Because I have no experience with CNC software at all so I need easy.

This is why I started this thread I want to get as much unbiased information about what’s available and to find out the good and bad before I spend my hard earned money. I would like to thank everybody for all of their input and questions it has been very helpful

Well we just bought the plasmacam for work to mess around with so i can let ya know how well it does In a month or so I just ordered it yesterday( kinda funny this thread came up) I don't think the req. has left the plant yet.

This looks like a really nice machine too. I am curious if the software is as easy to use as everybody claims the Plasma Cam’s to be. Because I have no experience with CNC software at all so I need easy.

This is why I started this thread I want to get as much unbiased information about what’s available and to find out the good and bad before I spend my hard earned money. I would like to thank everybody for all of their input and questions it has been very helpful


If you'd like, shoot me a PM in about a month or so (if you haven't purchased your machine by then). This is when my buddy should have his set up. I also have no experience with CNC software so I can give you my "cnc newbie" impression at that time. FYI, we plan on importing files from Autocad, Solidworks, and Cadra if you are a user of any of those programs.

just catchin up on this thread, actually just joined the group yesterday. hopefully i can povide some insight. i started running my plasmacam in june of this year. i think it is a great machine and was cutting within 5 hours of opening the crate. i run a hypertherm 1250, craftsman 5hp, 150 psi compressor (same devilbiss compressor as porter cable), refrigerated air dryer, and a down draft with a skirted base and large furnace squirrel cage blower. blower could be more powerful but what can one expect from a free blower. collects probably 90% of the smoke if the entire table is covered. i drilled a hole through my concrete and drove a ground rod near one of the legs to ground the table. i have had no communications problems with the controller. my set up including compressor, computer (i do all my programming on a laptop and transfer files via floppy to a dedicated curbside found computer to run the table), air dryer, plasma cutter and other misc. came to just over $14,000.

i have cut up to 5/8 steel w/ good results (as far as a plasma cut goes). without using different gasses, stainless and aluminum leave a little to be desired on edge finishes.

as for the software, the actual pcam software is great. realize importing color pictures obviously, is not going to happen. i open up my pictures in paint shop pro and basically outline my shape then import it sometimes i'd import it 5-6 times trying different settings to get the drawing to look smooth. i've now recently stumbled upon raster to vector conversion software that pretty much cut my drawing time down by 75%. basically, now i just outline what i want to cut in the picture then save it, open it up in a r2v conversion software, clean it up and import it directly to pcam as a dxf file. sounds like a bit of a hassle, but i've been getting great results in relatively little time. the r2v conversion software also works great for converting scanned drawings to smooth cut paths.

i'm not sure if this is a shameless plug, but i have fairly decent photos of some pieces i cut on my web page (under construction). if you go to www.monkey-parts.com and go to the custom parts page you can see a few of the things i cut.

hope this was useful to someone, i've been there


e

i was talking to a local shop and he said he know's a guy with the plasmacam and he said that they have bad customer service. i know when i called asking if anyone in the DFW area had one they told me they would send me a video and did not want to tell you who has one. i understand you dont want to bother some people but i want a real person telling me what they think and see one no there video. pratical CNC and torchmate had no problem telling me who in TX had one

i was talking to a local shop and he said he know's a guy with the plasmacam and he said that they have bad customer service. i know when i called asking if anyone in the DFW area had one they told me they would send me a video and did not want to tell you who has one. i understand you dont want to bother some people but i want a real person telling me what they think and see one no there video. pratical CNC and torchmate had no problem telling me who in TX had one


Too funny.

A friend, in Oregon, has has a Plasma Cam for about 5 years now.
He commented they finally went from Win95 to WinXP. To him the
software sucks, but since he can import from Autocad that resolved
most of the problems with the software.

Accuracy of a cut is nothing like what their video shows (they used
different units for cutting, each with new consumables and best possible
conditions). His comment was about a 1/10th of an inch is realistic
with the bigger torch (he also has a Hypertherm 900).

He commented for making a bunch of the same parts it really can not be beat. For making just a few parts, he recommended using a commercial water jet place (Aircraft parts, so I can not use plasma or laser unless I prep the edges to prevent propgation of cracks. Not an issue when the edges are welded or sanded down).

Lots of "artist" bought the Plasmacam, but were clueless about computer stuff. He is a tech guy, no problem resolving computer issues (which is
why Plasma cam has almost zero support after the sale).

Tom

Their customer service is great during the free 3 months after the sale. Then they want you to pay a fee. I thought it was rude at first but if you think about it it makes sense. 99% of the fixes are in the manual that nobody takes the time to read, and after 3 months you should have it down anyway. I have had them take the z motor and controller to check/replace (it was the controller) and they did replace it with no problems and did it quickly. I've recieved 2 software upgrades and a hardware (controler) upgrade for free also, well after my warrenty was up. The not mentioning where they have sold too is logical. If you own a business you dont want people NOT to buy your equipment because there may already be one near you. Also now that I have one the last thing I want is 237 people a week bugging me and wanting to stop by my shop (home garage) to window shop and ask stupid questions. I have NO problem giving my opinions on the machine (obvously) but it should be up to the machine owner to do so and not be forced upon by Pcam. Besides, if your going to drop this much money on something I would hope you've done your homework as far searching the web for sites of usergroups to gather opinions also. I did. The accruacy is MUCH better than 1/10. If its not then you need to fine tune it and get it right if you need better than that. I know if I'm doing an expensive job with expesive materials that require accruacy then I ALWAYS use new consumables anyway. Like I want to screw up a $1000 sheet of stainless to save on a $5 tip. That just makes sense.

I built my own and used the Supertech software/driver package. I run the Hypertherm 1000 also and love it. Bruce is right on the consumables, I put a new tip on for just about every job and pass the cost onto the customer. It saves a lot of ruined sheets. I decided to just build mine after buying the plasma cam video. The accuracy is never going to be cnc-mill accurate any way, so building it seemed the way to go. Almost everything came from Mcmaster-Carr catalog. No way I could afford $10G's. It cuts just as well as the Plasmacam IMHO.

http://www.cnczone.com/forums/index.php

This site has lots of good info.

a Shop I used to work at had one and it was kind of a piece of shit. The digital height control never worked, and it always had some little problems going on. Although I think they were mostly with the software. It is a very convienient machine though, and can make some trick parts. When we cut holes they never came out right though, they either were to small to get a bolt through or mis-shaped. All in all a good machine I think we just got a bit of a lemon It makes some gnarly metal dust though so get a good ventilation system

How long ago did PlasmaCAM switch to the digital height control? I see some people mentioning that before that switch there were a lot more problems with it. (EDIT: Found out the upgrade from the 98-Z to the DHC model was about 2003). Also, does PlasmaCAM offer upgrades for older machines (hardware/software)? (EDIT: Found out that they send out upgrades to current owners, not sure if that is transferable, though).

I built my own and used the Supertech software/driver package.

Details? Cost? Time? Parts?

Details? Cost? Time? Parts?

http://www.super-tech.com/root/robotorch/pdf/rt_manual_020402.PDF

Jsut about everything you need to figure it out on that page. Go to super-tech.com to see everything else. The set up I used goes for $1395 now- includes drivers, motors, software and book. The table itself should be less than $500 to build if you have the skills. I did buy the endplates that super-tech sells to line everything up. Works great. I could build another table in 6-7 hours. I went too big. I would build a 50"x 50" if I do it again. The supercam software is scalable to any size table and is easy to use. The version I bought runs on DOS based computer, so I just bought an old laptop for little $$$ to run it. I do my designs on my office computer and then transfer them to the laptop.

I am still researching to try and find a good quality CNC table with easy to use software at a reasonable price. I have come across another company Dyna CNC. This seems like a really nice machine it looks just like the practical CNC machine and uses the same software but it looks like this machine may have better designed carriage using higher quality bearings, shafts and auto torch height control. http://www.dynacnc.com/dynacnc.htm

Ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/CNC-PLASMA-ROUTER-Table-4x4-Metal-Wood-Art-Signmaking_W0QQitemZ7567344518QQcategoryZ12584QQss PageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
The one on Ebay doesn't include auto height control

Their machine is built out of aluminum extrusions and uses high quality bearings and shaft material on all moving parts. You can run a plasma cutter or a router with it. They use BobCad/cam and Sheet/cam software. I spoke with them and the quoted a price for one set up for both the plasma cutter and a router with automatic torch height control for $8900. Does any one have any experience with this machine or the software they are using?

Some of your high end graphics packages will product a dxf, however, they tend to be a bunch of little chopped lines.
Adobe Illustrator (Mac or PC) makes excellent DXF files with accuracy to .001. No chopped lines either. In fact, I use it to stich bad DXF files back together. Also can read the vectors in Corel Draw or PDF files.

Bit maps are work, even when tracing. You essentially need to redraw if you re concerned about accuracy. Illustrator is good for this.

Be warned however: Adobe Illustrator ain't an easy program to learn. Easier (and more fun) than Autocad, but it ain't McDraw.