# 4’ x 8’ CNC Plasma Table Build



## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Ok folks I have always wanted a CNC plasma cutter for a long long time. There are many commercial ones out there but are way out of my league of one lump sum pricing. So I decided to build one. I am using a kit from Precision Plasma. The CNC controller stuff is from CanCNC. Please note I am not affiliated in anyway with these companies nor am I promoting them. I know if I post this without the names of the companies I am sure I will be asked. This is still a rather large investment for me as well. It will be the next step in my home shop to take it to the next level. I have a lot to learn and the learning curve for me anyway is huge. Just reading the manual on loading the software for the CNC stuff is just sensory overload for me. I have CorelDraw I have yet to learn as well as Sheetcam and Mach3.I will be running a Hypertherm 85 Plasma cutter and a machine torch. I have seen others build complete tables and have them up and running in a total of 2 weeks. Those guys have experience with CNC. This is not me. It will take me a long time as I have other projects, family and a full time job. Plus, acquiring this stuff aint cheap either. So as time and money permit with this project it will advance slowly. There is going to be many milestones. I figure this will take me at least a year to complete.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

So here we go.
I cannot afford to buy everything all at once as others have done, thus I purchased the Precision Plasma 4 x 8 kit first. Then got some steel and set off to build the frame. I did not follow the exact plans from the Precision Plasma link that is sent to you when you purchase the kit. I kind of customized it to my likes. Ron from Precision Plasma answered all my questions and concerns right away. So far customer support is great.
I have yet to get the CandCNC Bladerunner AIO 620 oz kit and software package as well as a Hypertherm 85 machine and machine torch. I already have a PC and such ready to go. I already have Coreldraw as well. Cutting the material included a horizontal band saw followed by a trip to my Bridgeport Milling machine for precise squaring and length. Welding the table consisted of TIG and MIG welding. Some of the gaps when welding a 90 degree intersection of the 2" tubing required MIG welding, because the radius on the tubing. I also TIG welded as much as I could too.









Layout the tubing









Drill and Tap holes for the Y-axis









Y axis rails bolted to tube for mockup


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

More shots of the rail kit. This gantry kit was not cheap.









More table building.









Crossmembers


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Gantry.









Cool.









Where the machine Hypertherm Plasma torch will be mounted.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

More...


























I TIG welded a lot of this.


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## Rat_Power_78 (Sep 16, 2008)

Good to see you going 4x8. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me to go smaller. Judging by the rest of your fab work this will be the nicest build table around.


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## Banksy (Aug 31, 2005)

Rat_Power_78;1841954 said:


> Good to see you going 4x8. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me to go smaller. Judging by the rest of your fab work this will be the nicest build table around.


X2. Look at those welds!


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Full welds. Hope all is straight. LOL









Making the feet.









Pads









Pads.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

As stated before I did not follow the plans. I added many supports and gussets. Remember a 4 x 8 sheet of 1" thick material is heavy. Oh and my overhead welding practice. Hence the creeper.









More









Added a back bone and more supports. Added castors to the feet. Rolls nice.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Wooohoooo.









Hypertherm Machine torch and consumables.









New Hypertherm PM 85 machine.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

update. building a computer cart for the table. My goal is to be able to "plug" it into the table. Also has wireless so I can do my CAD(coreldraw) stuff on my laptop in my computer room and then send it to the CNC table computer. Go down stairs in the garage and then press "cut" and go. Well that is my goal anyway. This cart is all made with scrap. I also got castors and a monoprice monitor mount.









Here is TJCAD drawing of the cart.









Base.









Uprights and stainless top I had laying around.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Making plates for Castors on the Bpt. Mill.









Plates are done.









Welding studs to the plates for the castors to bolt onto.









studs welded for the castors


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Mounts welded to the bottom of the cart.









Just waiting for my monitor mount to come in and I will build a keyboard mouse tray too. I have 40 bucks into it. Once I get my CNC table up and running I am going to make sides with louvers in it for protection and cooling.


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## scott3430 (Dec 28, 2010)

Your welds look great! Nice work


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## linckeil (Sep 18, 2007)

wow. awesome work. i gotta get over there and check out the shop some day....


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## JFon101231 (Dec 5, 2008)

Better hurry because he's moving to Eastern CT soon 

Glad to know I'm not the only one with a Barbie Jeep in his garage! :laughing:


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

JFon101231;1854619 said:


> Better hurry because he's moving to Eastern CT soon
> 
> Glad to know I'm not the only one with a Barbie Jeep in his garage! :laughing:


LOL. It has a real car horn in it. My daughter beeps it all the time and my neighbor thinks someone is beeping in his driveway and comes running out.

I will update some pics of my CNC project soon. I have tons of pics on my phone to upload to my webserver and just have not had the time yet. I modified a drawer and made it as a cabinet to house the CNC controller. I am almost done with my Computer Cart too.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Update. Made the water tray frame. 









Found a metal sliding drawer cabinet that I am going to use to enclose the CandCNC controller. I also made some air vents in it where the fan is in the controller. I then added a plexiglass door and hinges. I also made a large sliding plexiglass door where the drawers went.

I am mounting it to the side of the table. Here is the mount braket.









Sorry for the side shot. My webserver re-rotated it after I edited it.









Here is the controller that will reside in the grey box.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

There are threaded holes in the bottom of the controller for mounting. I located the holes in the box with a jig I made on the Bridgeport with my digital readout. Everything is square and lines up.









Modifying a desk top monitor mount I got cheap from Mono price dot com









Made a post for the modified monitor mount. This will be welded to side of my computer cart









Again, sorry for the side shot.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Plexiglass door and access to the buttons on the controller. Used a key latch I had laying around for a craftsman toolbox.









Made a keyboard mount. Now just have to make a mouse pad mount.









Here is the box mounted on the side of the table. You can see the large plexi glass door that I made slide.









This is where my 220v feed will come down from a cross beam support on the ceiling and into that tube down to more plugs and breakers.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Fabricated a magnetic breakaway torch holder set up to save the torch in the event of a crash or it hits an obstacle.










Still have to slit it and one more to make









Here is the steel plate that bolts to the original Z torch holder. I am using bull nose dowel pins for alignment.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Machining the back side of the plate that will house the magnets and hold the torch.









Magnets locktited in the machined pockets.









Here is what it looks like.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Had to machine down a little where the dowels reside for clearance for the sleeves as well as set the depth.









Getting there.









It will save a 500.00 torch. Just have to burrow a slitting saw and I am done with this part.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Here is a vid of the breakaway magnetic torch set up.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Made some more progress.









I made another box out of scrap. It was from an air handler a/c unit from my parents attic. I cut it apart and made a stout mount for the plasma cutter









Another view. This will complement my other controller box I made our of a bin drawer set up.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Ok. I did not like the torch height sensor that just hangs out there on the Z axis. The instructions state to velco this thing to it. Remember there is water, flame dust, and dross flying around. It needs some protection. Hence the holder I made.









Whittle time on the Bridgeport.









Yay it fits finally.









Mocking up where I am going to mount it on the Z axis.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

cont>









Had to take off the Z-motor mount and drill and tap it. I also broke a tap on those small 8-32 holes for the cover. Unreal.









Polycarbonate cover is done.









Just another view.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Tacked the sheet on the frame for the water tray. There was a reason I did not weld the main rails on yet. It gives me elbow room and act as a welding table to fully weld the sheet. This should be "fun". It cannot leak. LOL.


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## Ne1 (Jan 15, 2007)

Wow, that's all very impressive. Nice job!


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## scott3430 (Dec 28, 2010)

Awesome work!


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## oldmankent (Mar 2, 2001)

You're not done yet? Looking good. Want to make another one?


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## Moose's Mowing (Oct 6, 2012)

looks like a fun project. I have a PlasmaCam system at the school where I teach. I run a Hypertherm 65, it really opens up a whole new dimension for the kids in the shop. Might I ask what you'll have into this when you're done? I think I paid around 13k for the 4x4 PlasmaCam setup without the cutter. My table is only 4x4 but the ends are open on the front and back so you can still cut any length, it'll just hang out the side of the table. The program allows you to index the plate if you need to as well, but we'll never use the entire table as it is. We mainly are making smaller parts and brackets. How difficult is the program to learn? The PlasmaCam program is easy as pie, but leaves a little to be desired when drawing with it. Best thing I've found is to use Solidworks for the drawings, then convert it to the a dxf file and send it to the table. It'll also read TIFFs, JPEGS, and a few other formats.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

I will have around 12k total including the hypertherm PM85 machine. I will let you know on the software. I am using coreldraw to sheetcam then to MACH.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Update. Took the Z car apart and drilled and tapped the two extra holes to 5/16". This is going to allow me to make a bracket for the cable carrier to attach to. By the way, the holes do not need to be drilled with an "F" drill as they are the correct size for 5/16" tap.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Got my test fit cable carriers in. They seem wide for my aluminum channel. Not sure where these companies measure their products but the specs I read online gave me at least a 1/4" on each side. The pics show otherwise(about 1/8"). I hope I will not have a binding issue.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Some updates. Made bracket for the cable carrier. Was kind of flimsy. Added a brace as well.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Here is the brace. Much better.



















Here is a vid.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Brackets for home switches.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

More and VID.









Video as well.


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## Alpha Property (Jul 25, 2008)

looks amazing, 
When I was in highschool we ordered a plasmacam unit with the 4x4 table, I was part of the team that assembled it, added the water table and a vent hood, and made the computer cabinet. We burnt up a couple computers being exposed to the metal dust and smoke in the air so cabinet version 2.0 was made, using some small cooling fans blowing air through furnace filters in a sealed cabinet. as far as I have heard that computer is still alive ang rocking almost 10 years later.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Bringing this back to the top. This has been the biggest project I have ever done. This is such a huge learning curve as these kits are so complicated and the documentation leaves too many assumptions. I finally was able to wire it (well that was fun as the instructions conflicted each page of text). Anyway got a test run and got the motors to move from a simulator test file(no torch on just yet). I still have tons to learn as I am having trouble with the Z homes right now.

Here is a short YT vid


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## cwren2472 (Aug 15, 2014)

I think you forgot to put a piece of a steel on the table...


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## leigh (Jan 2, 2009)

Hows the hypertherm 85 working out? I've got the 45 and its been a great mid sized cutter. I just cut by hand but always dreamed of setting up a table. Got to hand it to you for sticking to it ! Quite the project.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

I have not even fired up my hypertherm 85 as it was in the box for quite sometime as I ordered it with a machine torch and not a hand torch. I will let you know how it performs. I do have an HTP plasma cutter that I have been using for many years to "hand" cut stuff. That thing is still kicking.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

I am in testing phase. Getting there.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

This table is up and running and making parts. See American Flag being cut out in the vid. Still learning but getting there.


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## cwren2472 (Aug 15, 2014)

TJS said:


> This table is up and running and making parts. See American Flag being cut out in the vid. Still learning but getting there.


Nice work!


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

Some parts and other items I have made so far. Flag










Backhoe bucket ears.

Cut a bunch of other stuff. Still learning Inkscape and Sheetcam as I go.


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## golfball (Sep 14, 2011)

This thread is the reason i joined this board. I was stoked to see it cutting parts. Good job, excellent craftsmanship. Thank you for documenting everything.


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## TJS (Oct 22, 2003)

golfball said:


> This thread is the reason i joined this board. I was stoked to see it cutting parts. Good job, excellent craftsmanship. Thank you for documenting everything.


If you want to see some crazy builds of CNC plasma tables head over to plasma spider dot com. Tons of stuff. Makes your head spin on the stuff they talk about.


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## golfball (Sep 14, 2011)

Thank you. I will check it out tonight.


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