Plasma table

[Hood]

I am about to start on making a new plasma table.
The one I have now is made from old box steel and has a few issues. It was initially designed for inside my workshop where I don't have much space so I was going to make it tilting to free up room when not in use. Just as I started building it I got gifted a steel container so I was able to use that to house the plasma. The problem was the plasma was really the wrong shape for the container which made it awkward to load sheets onto also it was too high and that also added to the problems of loading.

I have decided to make a new table and it will have the gantry running the length of the bed instead of the width as the present one is. That will allow me to load sheets from the door of the container. I am also going to make it much lower, only 600mm to the top of the bed, that should make loading easier as well.

This is what the current one looks like.

This is hopefully what the new one will look like.

The Aluminium for it arrived today.
6m of 4" x 2" x 1/4" RHS
6m of 4" x 2" x 1/8" RHS
6m of 4" x 1" x 1/8" RHS
6m of 2" x 2" x 1/8" SHS
6m of 3" x 1.75" x 1/8" angle
3000mm X 1500mm X 4mm sheet

This is as far as I got today.

How fast this will progress I am not sure, it will depend on my other work.

 

[James1979]

Following with interest. Would a beam bolted along the roof inside be of use? Run a trolley on it with a chain block. We used to fit out workshop containers for the ships like this sometimes.

 

[Hood]

That was always something I was planning on doing but it would have been a pain for thinner stuff as a cradle would have been needed.

With the new design table being loaded from the door and with it only being 700mm high then loading will be much easier, I hope anyway
I have however got a few ideas floating around in the empty cavity of my head which I hope to make into a solid plan at some point. I will almost certainly have a roller on the front to assist loading sheets and I am mulling over several methods of utilising the gantry to pull the sheets onto the table.

 

[Hood]

Got a wee bit of welding done today, not much room for things like this but I am used to it seeing as I work on boats.

First up I welded on the two ends, bandsaw used as a clamp/table.

Then I was able to take out of the saw and weld in the other side.

Pulled it outside and as the wind had dropped a bit I managed to get two of the cross members welded in with the associated legs.

It looks straight enough sighting through but time will tell I suppose

 

[Hood]

A bit more done this morning, gotthe rest of the cross members and legs welded on.

Flipped over and it seems fairly straight but I will know for sure once I do some measuring but that is for another day.

 

[BelgiqueB]

Following with great intrest! My plasma and linear rails arrived this week

Any special reason you went with alu for the frame?

 

[Hood]

Following with great intrest! My plasma and linear rails arrived this week

Any special reason you went with alu for the frame?

Weight mainly but also because it is a material I work in day in day out.

 

[Hood]

Checked out for twisting/warping and it was pretty good, better than I expected but the next part I knew was going to warp things.
Cut the 4mm sheet to size and tacked in from above.

Then flipped onto its side and tacked underneath.

I then fully welded the inside.

As suspected there was a good bow in the sides with the welding so I ran some beads across the top where it was needing pulled, took quite a lot of welding, grinding, checking, more welding etc but I am pretty close now, I will likely tweak it a bit more but it is good enough now in that I can easily shim the profile rail if need be.

I have some drains etc to fit to the tray and possibly make/fit the slotted Alu for the slats but after that it is about as much as I can do until I decide I have time to start dismantling the old plasma and fitting the parts to this one.

 

[Hood]

One thing I have to say about this new table is the low height and end loading certainly seemed to make things much easier. Fair enough the sheet was only 4mm but I would never have managed to get a 2500mm x 1250mm x 4mm sheet onto the current plasma on my own never mind a 3000mm x 1500mm x 4mm.

 

[Hood]

I cut some 6mm alu on the plasma to make slat holders for the new table, the sheet is a wee bit warped so I will just have to see how it is once the water is in. If it is too much out of height along the bed length then I will have to redo things, have a few ideas but will wait to see first before I do anything.
Looks like I should be able to use the original slats that are in the current table, they will need a good clean and over ended but that will allow me to wait until I get this one up and running before I buy some sheets to make new pointed style slats.

I have a 50mm spacing between slats as per current table but I have a 100mm offset for the middle in this one, current is just 50mm.

I also tried it in an extra 50mm up so if need be I can have it set this way.

 

[Adam Marshall]

Looking good what software is the 3d table done on?

 

[Hood]

Fusion 360

 

[mtt.tr]

Makeing good progress, ali seems a good option.

What will you use in the water?

 

[Hood]

Certainly a lot lighter but much harder to keep straight when welding.
I have a feeling I may have to redo the slotted bars but until I get water in and slats fitted I will not really know.

 

[mtt.tr]

What's the deal with disposing of the water?

 

[Hood]

What's the deal with disposing of the water?

I don't plan on having to dispose of it, filter and reuse and top up is all I plan to do.

 

[Bladevane]

I suggest it might be a good idea to include some means of draining the table. It will fill up with dross and will be a nightmare to clean out without first draining it.

 

[Hood]

I suggest it might be a good idea to include some means of draining the table. It will fill up with dross and will be a nightmare to clean out without first draining it.

Like this?
1 1/4" BSP.

 

[Bladevane]

Perfect. I also plug mine with a modified cork so it doesn't fill up with gunge. If I did it again I would try to recess the tank fitting I installed in the tray to allow better run off. As it stands I have to create numerous tsunami waves to get as much liquid out of the tray.

 

[Hood]

I am still not sure what route I will take, I still fancy a tank underneath so I can have adjustable water height. If I do it then not sure if I will use air or a pump to adjust. Knowing me I will end up with neither