After all my research there doesn't seem to be a machine out there that works flawlessly easy to run I am wondering if I just stick to handheld and patterns for now. Had it down to torchmate / plasmacam. Around 15k. Confused.
All machines have a learning curve. Keep in mind that once the machine is dialed in and settings are established the majority of the operation is CAD based. So if you are looking for a table... understand there is more computer than cutting.
Thanks for the reply, still unsure of what unit to get. I like all the info/learning stuff that torchmate has to offer and have been checking it out. But the plasmacam seems easier to produce parts. Less actual steps
What are you looking to do with it? How big are you wanting? Id recommend taking a look at these: http://torchmate.com/torchmate-cnc-tables
Well... do you research on that for sure. I only know TM so being the lead trainer of the cad and our machines I can say ALL machines require steps to produce anything.
Just spoke w a lovely young woman on sales. Alana. She was very informative and pleasant to talk to. Seems like a lot more support from tm
The help you line up the tip of the torch with the edge of the material easier without having to lower and raise the torch a bunch.
We have both a plasma cam and TM table with our welding program for HS students. We have had our PC table since 02 and purchased the TM in 14. The tech support with TM far exceeds PC!! The TM software may seem a little daunting at first, but once you learn it, there is no comparison. Replacement part for PC are not cheap. Not trying to sway you in one way or the other, just my opinion.
Don't let the marketing of Plasmacam lure you in. Their beautiful brochures and dvds make it look like the parts will just magically fly off the table for you and that is not the case.
I do not know what PC has for resources but you have a wealth of knowledge right here on this forum, as well as support after the sale.
ok thanks again , still researching , comparing, getting electrical figured out for compressor, hypertherm 65, as I Don't want to have to unplug my lincoln precision tig 185
Using our software you have the ability to design anything you want, if you can lay it out in our Cad or other 3rd party cad software, then we can tool path it and generate a part from it, the only constraints is your mind. If all you want to do is take a canned part (predefined parts) we have that ability as well using our parts library. And to take that further you can take that canned part and modify it to fit your needs, (change the shape of it, weld it to another part and so forth) keep this in mind when looking around so as to not limit yourself in only being able to cut what is already out there. We have made it easier than ever to go from design stage in Cad, to generating a job and running that job in the VMD softwarer. See videos below on creating a job to runing that job. http://torchmate.com/tmu-2-exporting http://torchmate.com/tmu-1-job-setup
I basically want to copy /scan my own design nautical artwork , I think I saw a video on utube then it has to be cleaned up some and then made into g code. For the machine to cut Am I getting warm here?
Yes you have the gist of it, we can take a picture and through our Scan and Trace Wizard can vectorize that image to turn it into a line drawing. Keep in mind garbage in garbage out, the picture needs to have good contrast with clear defined lines, if you take a pixalated image then you are not going to have good results and will need to clean it up to make it useable. To get an idea what it is like there are numerous programs out there that you can try (google search) that are free that let you take a picture and will vectorize it into a dxf file. We are not reinventing the wheel here, as they all generate the same results. You can take that dxf file, import it into our TM cad software, do what you need to do with it, clean it up, delete features, resize it then create a tool path and save the gcode as a .gm file to run that job. Video link on using the Scan and Trace Wizard: http://torchmate.com/tmu-8-scan-trace
Have you looked at Baileigh cutting tables? they have had good reviews. I'm in the same boat looking to purchase a 4x4 table but am overwhelmed with all the choices.
