Front Mounted Plate Marker

[Dave Boyd]

When i researched the plate marker i knew it was designed to mount next to the plasma which in turn hindered my ability to cut a full width sheet (48"). that was not acceptable and torchmate did not have a solution so i purchased it anyways with the intention to design my own front mounting system. this is what i came up with and it works great.






Bill advised me from the beginning that there may be issues with the down force of the platemarker pushing the linear slide up. i found that not to be an issue, however the weight of the plate marker and this bracket did tip the slide over (forward). You must have Cam followers on the bottom of the X-Axis rails.

[Torchmate]

Thanks Dave! I really like this setup. Good spacesaver. I can see where using the lower bearing mounts helped stabilize the whole thing. Shows how much weight you can hang off that extruded aluminum. People don't realize how strong that stuff really is.

The credit is there when you need it. I know you refused it, but I did it anyway. I really appreciate your willingness to help out the other folks on this board. It is exactly what I hoped having a Torchmate specific section would do. Allow people to share their idea's and knowledge. Thanks again!!!

Bill

[MQYJ]

Nice setup Dave!! I like that a lot. I have a couple sketches of an adapter plate to put the plate marker right up close aside the torch and positioning them both pretty much in line with the center line of the yaxis drive motor. I don't remember the exact dimensions but I think I had it figured out to get both torch and plate marker within an inch of either side of a 4' sheet and not lose any x axis travel.

Doing what you did, do you lose any xaxis travel?

[SoundManCO]

I emailed my sales rep (Andy, got to give the guy props, he has been a big help) and asked how much tool-path I would lose with the plate marker and it is more than I am willing to loose on the 2x2. After seeing this I may get the marker anyway and make a mount for the hand held torch mount in front of the plate marker.

Are there any issues with the torch being very close to the plate marker? Dross blowing back up, heat or anything that I may not be considering?

[Dave Boyd]

Originally Posted by MQYJ

Nice setup Dave!! I like that a lot. I have a couple sketches of an adapter plate to put the plate marker right up close aside the torch and positioning them both pretty much in line with the center line of the yaxis drive motor. I don't remember the exact dimensions but I think I had it figured out to get both torch and plate marker within an inch of either side of a 4' sheet and not lose any x axis travel.

Doing what you did, do you lose any xaxis travel?

sometimes our parts are 47.875 so i had to make sure i could cut a full 48". Yes i lost over 6" of X-Axis movement, however i'm not concerned with that.

[Dave Boyd]

Originally Posted by SoundManCO

I emailed my sales rep (Andy, got to give the guy props, he has been a big help) and asked how much tool-path I would lose with the plate marker and it is more than I am willing to loose on the 2x2. After seeing this I may get the marker anyway and make a mount for the hand held torch mount in front of the plate marker.

Are there any issues with the torch being very close to the plate marker? Dross blowing back up, heat or anything that I may not be considering?

The plate marker is actually farther away from the plasma as originally designed. Dross blowing back up doesnt seem to be an issue. cutting .188 aluminum or thinner doesn't produce really enough heat to hurt anything.

[HardcorewannabeXJ]

Originally Posted by SoundManCO

I emailed my sales rep (Andy, got to give the guy props, he has been a big help) and asked how much tool-path I would lose with the plate marker and it is more than I am willing to loose on the 2x2. After seeing this I may get the marker anyway and make a mount for the hand held torch mount in front of the plate marker.

Are there any issues with the torch being very close to the plate marker? Dross blowing back up, heat or anything that I may not be considering?

The plate marker can remain very close to the torch without any issues.

On a 2x2 you would be loosing travel in either dimension, and since the machine is square I wouldn't see the need to develop a custom bracket to hang it off the front. With the material on top of the extrusions you would get 24" out of each tool, but not in the same "program" together.

[Torchmate]

I am with Dave. I don't think mounting the plate marker close to a plasma torch is going to hurt it. In the pic's on here from one of our big 10'x40' Torchmate X tables they have it mounted a little further away. Of course they are cutting 4" thick plate that really throws some heat. Especially when they turn that bevelling head towards the plate marker. If it will put up with this, it will handle just about any distance from a plasma cutter.

[StinkBug]

Just wondering, how much toolpath are the TM guys claiming you'll lose with the normal setup? On my 4x4 I've found that if I set the machine up with the Y-zero right at the very last tooth on the gear rack I can get almost 47" of Y axis travel. The only thing that drives me nuts sometimes is if i have a part that uses both tools near the edge of a sheet, but it's just a minor annoyance.

[SoundManCO]

Originally Posted by StinkBug

Just wondering, how much toolpath are the TM guys claiming you'll lose with the normal setup? On my 4x4 I've found that if I set the machine up with the Y-zero right at the very last tooth on the gear rack I can get almost 47" of Y axis travel. The only thing that drives me nuts sometimes is if i have a part that uses both tools near the edge of a sheet, but it's just a minor annoyance.

I think Andy told me a little over 6" of tool path would be lost. That's a quarter of the tool path on the 2x2.

[HardcorewannabeXJ]

Originally Posted by StinkBug

I can get almost 47" of Y axis travel. The only thing that drives me nuts sometimes is if i have a part that uses both tools near the edge of a sheet, but it's just a minor annoyance.

This is the part that we are saying you lose the distance on, when you are doing both a scribe and cut in the same program. The machine travel itself is just slightly effected.

[StinkBug]

Originally Posted by HardcorewannabeXJ

This is the part that we are saying you lose the distance on, when you are doing both a scribe and cut in the same program. The machine travel itself is just slightly effected.

Ok I see what's goin on. You may wanna make sure that's clear when you describe it to people on the phone. I really only lose about 1.5" of overall travel, but yes if you have to make a very tall part that has both operations in it you are limited more than that. I've just never personally had that issue cause it's rare for me to cut anything that's both 4' tall, AND 4' long. obviously for a 2x2 your dimensions are much more limited.

[Dan DuBose]

Originally Posted by Dave Boyd

When i researched the plate marker i knew it was designed to mount next to the plasma which in turn hindered my ability to cut a full width sheet (48"). that was not acceptable and torchmate did not have a solution so i purchased it anyways with the intention to design my own front mounting system. this is what i came up with and it works great.






Bill advised me from the beginning that there may be issues with the down force of the platemarker pushing the linear slide up. i found that not to be an issue, however the weight of the plate marker and this bracket did tip the slide over (forward). You must have Cam followers on the bottom of the X-Axis rails.

Thats a cool set up Dave

[Torchmate]

Originally Posted by Dan DuBose

Thats a cool set up Dave

Crap Dan, I have been meaning to call you! Man, I would forget my head if it wasn't attached. I will try to remember tomorrow. Will you be around?

Bill

[Dave Boyd]

here are the pictures again as i changed our server so the originals do not show anymore.

[TPIJeep]

Thanks for reposting them Dave! I already have cam rollers on the bottom side of my tracks to I may give that setup a try!

[MetalHeadzFab]

Ordered my plate marker today!

[sadisticiron]

i did the same. built brackets off the torch holder