'Bought a Turn-Key plasma: What should I accept for quality?'

• For the ultimate in speed: Up to 4000 ft @ 115.2 kbaud 12 times faster! •

star123 (220.226.172.234) -

So I ordered a full turn-key table from one of the larger CNC Plasma Cutting companies. For the moment I'd like to keep which company out of it as I'm still trying to have existing issues resolved.

Issue number one: The X axis (or the long axis) uses V-roller bearings running down the table and, like most, has a gear rack. After spending half an hour trying to figure out why I couldn't get the thing to track straight I found out that the V-rail and gear rack aren't stright. I guess I never looked at it (or for it) before but I finally looked down the length of the rack and the deviation is visible.

Issue number two: The system I ordered has a vacume table which has a series of holes cut in it to dispurse the vacume over the entire table. Clearly the holes were cut with a plasma and many of them aren't straight. In some cases you can see where the holes were actually mis-cuts (maybe the torch crashed) and the holes never even got cut out. After the baffles are installed I can't see that they're screwed up but I know they're there.

I paid nearly $15k for this sytem. I know issue #1 isn't acceptable but should I give them the opportunity to try to get it right again or should I just take it in the shorts and fix it myself (because I know I can make it square). On issue #2 - as far as I can tell the holes (or lack of) won't decrease the abilities of the vacume table. Is it unreasonable for me to ask that they replace those pieces with ones that are closer to the way they should be?

I own a business that produces "parts" made out of metal. We believe very strongly in quality and sometimes I push my ethics on other companies when they don't believe as I do. Go ahead, give me your $.02.

Comment #1 HerrJason from Canada -

If I knew what company it was, I'd be in a better position to tell you how receptive they are to support on these matters...

I'm pretty familiar with how DynaTorch, Precision Cutting Systems (Easy Loader), Torchmate and Plasma Cam work on the warranty, repair, and assistance end of things...

Comment #2 Ken_00 from Tulsa, OK -

I have a 5'x10' Dynatorch table & I had the same problem as #1 listed above.

I actually mounted the gantry & ran it down the length of the table, then the gantry fell off! Stood back & looked at it, then I realized the rail was so far warped I had to make some immediate "fixes".

Table cuts "alright" however I've had far better results on some other plasma tables that I've used in the past.

Comment #3 Jeff (216.114.202.241) -

I purchased a Dynatorch control system then designed and built my own table with LM guides on all axis to get away from the out of the box V rails. I can't see were you will ever get much consistency out of the type of system. As for Dynatorch, I am very impressed with the support, updates and control software.

Comment #4 Metal-Mass from Utah -

So you work with DynaTorch and PCS easy loader? Which of those do you like better? I'm a educator and looking at both. Right now it’s a tossup between the two. Does one break down more than the other, or any info would be helpful. Thanks!

Comment #5 Nick Julia (68.194.239.254) -

"10 Things to Consider when Buying a CNC Plasma Cutting Table"

I bought a CNC plasma cutting table from Tracker CNC and was very impressed with it. It comes with Automatic Torche Height control and very heavy duty parts. Tracker's computer & interfacing seems to be good and I havent had any problems with there table. There software could be better, but once you get the hang of it, it's very easy to use. It also now comes with 1000 Vector Graphics preloaded on a thumb drive.

I saw this on there website and helped me decide between the other plasma table vendors:

E-Mail:         

Name:            (required)

Title:           (required)

Message (do not enter emails or links or urls in the message!):