Torchmate 4800 in service for more than 6 months now... thoughts

We have had the TM 4800 in service at Motobilt for more than 6 months now. I have been running older versions of the TM product line for a while. Switching to the 4800 offered some improvements that were nice

1. The ability to easily side load the machine. With the previous machine we had to load and unload from the end. While this may seem like no big deal it does speed things up.

2. The water table and slats are a not as deep on the 4800. This is better to make reaching into fish parts out. Less water and smaller slats to reach around. While talking about slats this was an improvement. The 2 inch slats are much cheaper to replace.

3. the linear guides are nice. they require less maintenance. The previous design used flat bar for guides. We had to keep them wiped down and trash off of them to ensure smooth movement of the gantry. While this did not take long it is one less thing we have to do.

4. This may sound a little trivial but we take great pride in our brand and appearance at Motobilt. The new table looks more like the quality equipment that it is. When showing customers and fans around the shop it does look a lot more professional. Value in your product and services are all effected by visual things. A lot of people do not understand this. If the quality of your work is spot on and presented in a less than clean and professional looking shop it will have a lesser perceived value. Lincoln has stepped up in this area.

5. There are a few improvements with the software and functionality. I am a huge fan of the auto datum feature standard on the 4400 and 4800 series. Again this may not seem like a big deal but it is a big time saver. We did notice some changes with where things were located on the screen. It is still very easy to input changes to the torch height controller. The way the machine works with arc voltage is nice with this release.

6. The all in one machine is a huge improvement. Remove the crate, connect to power, air, and you are ready to make a cut. Having the touch screen computer built on is a nice touch. While it lacks storage space to handle the files we keep in our library I think the small to average shop will be fine with what it has to offer. Our parts library is extensive and stored on cloud storage. We made a slight change to the setup to only share active files to the computer. The Flexcut 80 has been a very nice plasma. We are getting huge numbers on pierce count when we replace electrodes. Numbers we are seeing are in the 1700-2500 pierces which are way beyond what Lincoln engineers have recommended. Keep in mind we have purposely pushed this machine hard to see what it can do.

7. Cut speeds. Our cut speeds have gone up on 18ga to 14 ga. We have been maxing the machine out at 500 ipm on 18ga P&O sheet metal. Its pretty cool to see this machine run this fast. We dropped to 400 ipm on 16ga because of some lines not cutting well when running parallel with the slats.

We are pleased with the Torchmate 4800. Like any CNC machine you have to study the results you are getting so you can improve on your process. If you input junk data you will get junk parts. I am saying this because I hear from people saying they can not make their plasma cut properly. You must understand the data you are inputting into the controls. If you are cut speed is too slow or too fast what it will do. If your amperage is too low or too high how that effects the outcome. Cut height and how it effects kerf. Being also to look at the top dross and/or bottom dross and knowing what to do. These things may seem difficult to someone starting out with a CNC plasma but it is something you will catch on to if you pay attention to what you are inputting and the results you get. I recommend documenting everything you cut. Document the material, cut conditions including amperage, IPM, initial cut height, arc voltage, and so on. Make notes on what produces positive results and fine tune from there.

If we can ever help be sure to ask.

Thanks,
Dan DuBose
Motobilt, Inc.

 

Great piece Dan and I'm glad that you touched on some of the subjects that you did regarding the table. Understanding that there is some "tweaking" that you have to do to get good cuts is great advice that everyone should take into account. Thanks for the time!

 

Thank you for the update and advice!