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First plasma table build

CarterKraft

CarterKraft

Red Skull Member
Joined
May 21, 2020
Member Number
892
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3,241
Loc
DFW
I bought some skate bearing trucks off eBay while on vacation...

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My plan was to build a low budget 2'x2' using LinuxCNC and develop the knowledge of Linux, G code, CAM etc.

I got going and bought a Mesa 7i96s and THCAD-10 but I had hell with the laptop and Linux trying to get all that working.
I got frustrated and realized the laptop was the problem and instead of buying a used PC I doubled down with a Odroid N2+.
That put me in the same boat but with less knowledge or support...

After a year off I finally bought a HP 600 G3 mini PC and the LinuxCNC process had improved enough I didn't need as much knowledge so it's all running like it should waiting to talk to some stepper drives.

I got turned on to those stainless washing machine drip pans so I'm gonna s ale it up to 32"x32".

I have a old nema cabinet from a abandoned phase converter project.
Since my 3d printer (another abandoned project 😕) is working again I started building the control cabinet.
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I'm gonna try and get the frame started today/tomorrow and then get stepper drive stuff on the way.
It was suggested to get 2nm holding torque motors and I found stepperonline has 2nm nema 23 closed loop motor/drives for $80 each. I think even though I don't need closed loop for this type of machine it might be worth the minimal increase in cost.
Anyone have any experience to that end?


TS Series 2.0 Nm/283.28oz.in 1 Axis Closed Loop Stepper CNC Kit Nema 23 Motor & Driver w/ 2m Cable - 1-CL57T-S20|STEPPERONLINE

TS Series 2.0 Nm/283.28oz.in 1 Axis Closed Loop Stepper CNC Kit Nema 23 Motor & Driver w/ 2m Cable - 1-CL57T-S20 - Closed Loop Stepper Kit - Items in Kit 1 x 23HS30-5004D-E1000: 2.0Nm Closed loop stepper motor 1 x CL57T: Nema 23/Nema 24 Closed loop st
www.omc-stepperonline.com www.omc-stepperonline.com
 
Saturday was a bust, daughters volleyball tournament from sun up to sun down.

But I got a table frame built today and It might actually cut what I planned 32"x32"...
All out of scrap material I had kicking around. I got the 4 legs from the scrap dumpster at work, they were perfect length and already had the ends capped ready for feet to be welded.
Like I said this is a low budget, hobby grade machine.

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Anyone have input on the closed loop steppers vs open loop?
Worth it, not worth it? Money better spent on gear reduction?
 
I just discussed this last weekend with my buddy who's built a couple wood CNC routers. He's done both and is of the opinion that it's 100% worth it.

He said that you won't notice it on quick parts but when you're doing an hour long job it stacks up and shit gets wonky to the point of jobs regularly failing beyond that point.
 
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arse_sidewards said:
I just discussed last weekend this with my buddy who's built a couple wood CNC routers. He's done both and is of the opinion that it's 100% worth it.

He said that you won't notice it on quick parts but when you're doing an hour long job it stacks up and shit gets wonky to the point of jobs regularly failing beyond that point.
Click to expand...
That was my thought, it isn't needed 100% but on a questionably built machine it might make it tolerable to use.

I don't think this style of drive has enough resolution but I can add planetary reduction or belt drive.
 
SomeGuy said:
It was serious...you can run servo rather than steppers:

Servo motors with built-in drive/controls; $249

ClearPath® is an integrated brushless servo motor w/servo drive & controller in one compact package. Simplified wiring and auto-tuning. Easy to use. Buy online.
teknic.com teknic.com
Click to expand...
I'm well aware but didn't think spending $750 for drives on a 2x2 plasma was a smart move....

Close loop steppers which it seems like what clearpath is, are only marginally more expensive than open loop.
 
Interesting timing of this thread. I'm also gathering parts to build a 28 x 32 table. I do not have the knowledge of these components or setting them up. I found JD's Garage website that sells complete plans and setup for the system. I have realized I am spending too much of my time cutting out things by hand. Anything that saves me time is very valuable.
Looking forward to learning.
 
CarterKraft said:
I'm well aware but didn't think spending $750 for drives on a 2x2 plasma was a smart move....

Close loop steppers which it seems like what clearpath is, are only marginally more expensive than open loop.
Click to expand...
Hi CarterKraft:

I’m an applications engineer with Teknic and I wanted to clarify that the integrated ClearPath motors are fully closed-loop brushless servo motors (their construction, like all three-phase servo motors, is quite different from stepper motors). On the Clearpath “SDSK” and “SDHP” series, we made the control interface compatible with controllers that output step/dir signals. This capability makes ClearPath motors compatible with many CNC controllers.

For more technical information, check out our website here: Brushless servo motors; built-in encoder/drive $257.

If you have further questions about ClearPath, I encourage you to reach out to us directly by making a contact request (here: U.S. manufacturer of OEM servo products; Buy online) or by giving us a call at 585-784-7454.

Best regards,

Abe A. - Teknic OEM Applications Engineer
 
Tenic_Servo said:
Hi CarterKraft:

I’m an applications engineer with Teknic and I wanted to clarify that the integrated ClearPath motors are fully closed-loop brushless servo motors (their construction, like all three-phase servo motors, is quite different from stepper motors). On the Clearpath “SDSK” and “SDHP” series, we made the control interface compatible with controllers that output step/dir signals. This capability makes ClearPath motors compatible with many CNC controllers.

For more technical information, check out our website here: Brushless servo motors; built-in encoder/drive $257.

If you have further questions about ClearPath, I encourage you to reach out to us directly by making a contact request (here: U.S. manufacturer of OEM servo products; Buy online) or by giving us a call at 585-784-7454.

Best regards,

Abe A. - Teknic OEM Applications Engineer
Click to expand...
Thanks for the clarification.

For the scope of the machine I am building your products would be awesome but increase the cost prohibitively.
 
RustyC said:
Interesting timing of this thread. I'm also gathering parts to build a 28 x 32 table. I do not have the knowledge of these components or setting them up. I found JD's Garage website that sells complete plans and setup for the system. I have realized I am spending too much of my time cutting out things by hand. Anything that saves me time is very valuable.
Looking forward to learning.
Click to expand...
I kicked that machine around a bunch, at the time I didn't have a 3D printer that worked and I didn't care to buy 3D printed parts so I sort of ruled it out. I may still repurpose all this shit in to a smaller format portable rig like the Crossfire or JD machine to sell if I end up building a full size.
At the moment I don't plan on it so a 2x2 would be perfect.

My current opinion is ANY machine is better than none.
 
Tenic_Servo said:
Hi CarterKraft:

I’m an applications engineer with Teknic and I wanted to clarify that the integrated ClearPath motors are fully closed-loop brushless servo motors (their construction, like all three-phase servo motors, is quite different from stepper motors). On the Clearpath “SDSK” and “SDHP” series, we made the control interface compatible with controllers that output step/dir signals. This capability makes ClearPath motors compatible with many CNC controllers.

For more technical information, check out our website here: Brushless servo motors; built-in encoder/drive $257.

If you have further questions about ClearPath, I encourage you to reach out to us directly by making a contact request (here: U.S. manufacturer of OEM servo products; Buy online) or by giving us a call at 585-784-7454.

Best regards,

Abe A. - Teknic OEM Applications Engineer
Click to expand...

How you managed to find this thread here in such short order I find interesting...do you guys monitor site analytics to figure out inbound traffic and then come check it out?
 
SomeGuy said:
How you managed to find this thread here in such short order I find interesting...do you guys monitor site analytics to figure out inbound traffic and then come check it out?
Click to expand...
I was impressed too 😉
I was gonna give him a irate salute but he seemed genuinely helpful so a pass was given...
 
2x2 is going to be great, but I can tell you that you will out grow it in about 30 minutes

I have a 10' table and wished I went bigger

I am not trying to shit in your build, just keep expansion in the back of your mind for the future
 
SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
2x2 is going to be great, but I can tell you that you will out grow it in about 30 minutes

I have a 10' table and wished I went bigger

I am not trying to shit in your build, just keep expansion in the back of your mind for the future
Click to expand...
I'm already "regretting" not building a 4x8 but I will say that a table that size with zero knowledge would have taken me forever to even get functional.

If I need a bigger table I'll buy a conex and build a table to go in it with all the "favorites" I learn from this.

It should be easy to sell this table to some family or friends that are into this stuff.
 
3D printer is still helping a bunch. I hope this table ends up like the printer for convenience.
Getting all the shit crammed in the box, the 24v supply might be too big physically but I'm going to keep plugging away on it.

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SomeGuyFromOlympia said:
2x2 is going to be great, but I can tell you that you will out grow it in about 30 minutes

I have a 10' table and wished I went bigger

I am not trying to shit in your build, just keep expansion in the back of your mind for the future
Click to expand...

I've always thought that a pass through table would be a nice compromise, do 4x2 and then you can always scoot the materials through to do bigger cuts if need be.

I've been itching for cnc plasma capability but have no space, so watching these build threads careful...thinking I could make it fold up/flip down somehow (like rotate the entire table vertical) for storage.
 
Included extension cables are definitely not long enough to get to the cabinet so I'll probably add gx16 connectors at the end of the cable chains and make some extensions.


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SomeGuy said:
I've always thought that a pass through table would be a nice compromise, do 4x2 and then you can always scoot the materials through to do bigger cuts if need be.

I've been itching for cnc plasma capability but have no space, so watching these build threads careful...thinking I could make it fold up/flip down somehow (like rotate the entire table vertical) for storage.
Click to expand...
So... that's what this table was supposed to be but I got distracted by the stainless drip pans.:lmao:

I will likely end up building another frame once I get this going but I'm not gonna worry about that until it's a problem.
I might end up liking this size.
 
CarterKraft said:
So... that's what this table was supposed to be but I got distracted by the stainless drip pans.:lmao:

I will likely end up building another frame once I get this going but I'm not gonna worry about that until it's a problem.
I might end up liking this size.
Click to expand...
the good thing about building it yourself, you can modify it when the time comes
I have already stretched mine once
 
SomeGuy said:
I've always thought that a pass through table would be a nice compromise, do 4x2 and then you can always scoot the materials through to do bigger cuts if need be.

I've been itching for cnc plasma capability but have no space, so watching these build threads careful...thinking I could make it fold up/flip down somehow (like rotate the entire table vertical) for storage.
Click to expand...
I had the same thought
checked out a 4x4 run that was able to index
I wasn't impressed, so went bigger

but I may be doing different things that the guy down the road, he was a hobby guy
 
Plugging away.
Kind of sorta got the electronics working to hopefully spin the motors with the tape on the shafts like the cool kids but I got so confused with the pncconf and which pins of the TB3 pins I kind of gave up and kept wiring.

I fucked up and reversed the polarity to the mesa card that caused a lost day trying to get the PC to talk to the card. It wouldn't ping the card no matter what, finally out of desperation tried a windows PC and it instantly pinged and then I switched back to the Linux PC and boom it works:mad3:

Got the belt and pulleys in today from China. Pulleys kind of suck belts look ok.
Pulleys are 20T not 10T like I thought I ordered. Rechecked the order and sure as shit it says XL20T:homer:

So I'll probably have to build 3:1 reductions for it but I'm gonna run as is until it's a problem.

Anyone help me setup the TB3 pins, limits, home e-stop etc?

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And the encoder cables caused problems with my GX plate. The design was to have 24+ on pins 1-2 but I needed all 6 pins of each connector.

I punted and cut the board in half after I couldn't de-solder the gx16 from the board. I cut the PCB all the way around the connectors and just reattached them to the 3D printed plate. Not ideal but good enough to run for now.

There is A LOT of $100 to death shit :lmao:


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Belt tracking is kicking my ass...
Half ass attempt with not real tight belts but they kept riding up or down the stacked skate bearing idlers.
Pondered on it a bunch but I think I need to get the belts setup correctly and properly tensioned then work on the idlers, either adjustments or 3d printing smooth flange roller housings to try and keep them captured.
There are flanged 608 bearings I could use too.
 
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