I think the problem is that it doesn’t ‘cut’ through metal, but rather vaporizes it. In essence it puts large quantities of small heavy metal particles in the air. Welding puts a lot of checmical smoke in the air, but no where near the amount of particulate metal. At least that is my understanding.
While I agree with you that this particular Fire Marshall is wrong on several of his stances… he is the one wielding the ban hammer over the whole makerspace.
I would like to ALSO see a hand held plasma cutter back at the space. I’ve seen them on craigslist for as little as $300 or new for as much as $2000, and all points in between.
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The water table is designed to capture much of the metal particles.
For those that aren’t aware, the PlasmaCAM is on loan to DMS, and its owner has expressly forbidden us from using the HyperTherm separately from the table.
I disagree about equipment not being important in a paint job. Having a dedicated, clean, well lit space is essential to getting a good paint job. Plus, painting isn’t the only issue. All activities that put off fumes, from painting to varnishing to acetone baths (and beyond) should be restricted to a filtered, vented environment.
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Robert, Alex, Brandon, Andrew and Everyone,
I am really not wanting to invest in a Plasma Cutter that is buggy I would rather DMS purchase a new CNC plasma cutter solution than spending money on a broken system. It is finicky and is not at 100%.
Okay, to my recollection I have yet to see an issue with that machine that was not training / proper setting related. (not that I am necessarily against buying a new one)
Michael Lass and I got it working fine months ago (I still have pictures of the test cuts including one attached to this post) and so did Chris Wischkowsky with some other folks around April. Around the holidays I saw people repeatedly cutting out complex shapes cookie cutter style with no hitches. There seems to be a sort of mythology that is circulating around this machine and I would like to see hard data in the form of video showing the malfunction. Here are some of the test cuts that Michael and I made with different speeds / arc voltages:
Alex/Robert, I am NOT invalidating your experiences with this piece of equipment, but if it has a real problem, I would like to confirm that problem exists and why before labeling it unreliable. Even if you go for purchasing a new one, it still needs to be ventilated, right?
I have to agree with Alex I brought the Plasma Cutter into DMS and it has always been plagued by lack of training
That can be corrected.
and a Z that was not solid.
I have yet to see that happen if you enable the auto-Z height setting - that is my understanding as to how it is designed to work and was demonstrated to me.
As well a few years of communication disconnects.
I hooked it to two different PC that I own and it never disconnected. My guess from my long experience with PC driven instruments is that the computer was at fault, not the machine. Also you need to set it for PS/2 emulation mode - I can send screenshots of the proper settings.
For what it’s worth, we could unplug the computer from the Plasma and pitch it and the table in the dumpster
That is actually my computer on loan (labeled as such) that runs the PlasmaCAM, so my happy ass that it gets tossed in the dumpster. (though I think the hard drive is a bit dodgy, but that is relatively easy to fix). If you want to get rid of the table, I might be interested. (if it can be dumped)
In the meantime, it does have a parallel port, so perhaps you can use it to run the PCB Mill since I understand that PC is currently down.
I’d still vote for the plasma as a non-cnc handheld torch
For those who have never seen it in action, you don’t know how cool it is to cut through 0.25 plate steel with accurate curves and geometry.
Painting is a much more common need and would be used a lot more than the plasma cutter
Brandon, I sincerely like and admire your abilities (kudos on the Space Kart) but while painting is a common need, it is MUCH easier to accommodate in general outside of the DMS. My Dad has been a commercial painter for 45 years and you have far more opportunities and spaces to paint something in than you do to find a dedicated PlasmaCAM setup.
JAG “Rock Paper Scissors Plasma Paint - Plasma Vaporizes Paint” MAN
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Overall I appreciate your post enthusiastically.
However.
You separated these clauses and made it appear that I am ADVOCATING turning this into a handheld torch and throwing away the computer and table. My point was that I would be in favor of ventilation in that room, specifically so that we could use a plasma cutter, even if it was not CNC. My point was not that I wanted to trash the CNC setup.
On another note, am I mistaken that ventilation in the room will help with welding fumes as well? I don’t know what kind of setups we’re looking at, but moving air out of the space above the plasma table should help with ventilation in that room all the way around, I think…
You said it, brother, and ventilation is needed, to my understanding, before we’d be allowed to use one even if we acquired it.
Both are useful abilities in the space. And the paint booth has the additional use for handling powder coating over spray. But CNC tools are one of the things that most people are not set up to do at home that draw people to the space. A larger number of people may actually want to use the spray booth, but with projects that may need to have exclusive use for 8 hours at a time while they dry, it may not actually serve any more members. I absolutely can rattle can paint in my back yard. I absolutely can’t CNC plasma cut in my backyard without spending a lot of money.
If CNC capabilities aren’t part of our draw, why do we have 4 polyprinters, PCB mill, HAAS and EMCO CNC mills, vinyl cutter, 2 laser cutters, and the CNN router?
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Andrew,
I am not mad or even annoyed at you or your suggestions, but I will obviously speak my mind if I feel clarification is in order.
Overall I appreciate your post enthusiastically.
Good - thank you!
Okay, I have a pretty good mastery of the King’s English and when I read an explicit statement like:
“we could unplug the computer from the Plasma and pitch it and the table in the dumpster”
in my mind the ASCII characters reassemble to form the idea of doing exactly what you said you are not really advocating, which is shitcanning the entire Plasma CNC setup. I have reread your statements several times now and I don’t know how else to interpret that. If someone can diagram the sentence for me and see how I erred in translation, I would LOVE to see the alternate interpretation.
In the meantime, I will take you at your word that is not what you intended and there was a protocol communication error, but I would encourage you to be concise and clearer for reactionary muffinheads like me.
My point was that I would be in favor of ventilation in that room, specifically so that we could use a plasma cutter, even if it was not CNC
Well, Judas Priest on a Pony… just say that!
Arrrghh! I am sorry, Andrew. I was raised in a very literal, exacting household and engineering school has only made me more of a nit-picking SOB.
On another note, am I mistaken that ventilation in the room will help with welding fumes as well? I don’t know what kind of setups we’re looking at, but moving air out of the space above the plasma table should help with ventilation in that room all the way around, I think…
That is a very good question - I would also advocate better ventilation in the metal shop, period. Not just from the smoke, but also the metal particles.
I would like to ALSO see a hand held plasma cutter back at the space You said it, brother, and ventilation is needed, to my understanding, before we’d be allowed to use one even if we acquired it.
Stan and Andrew, TOTALLY agreed on this point.
JAG “Rants for Rent by UDP” MAN
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The nice thing about a hand held plasma cutter is that it could be taken outside and used in a pinch before the ventilation system is installed.
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Except for the whole power cord thing…
Also I am not going to dig it up, as it should be in one of the threads already mentioned, but i recall getting the impression that we did not want to do anything like that as it might be seen as being subversive and trying to circumvent instead of comply…
No need for apologies. I am sure I could have used better phrasing and although when I read through my words I see what I meant I don’t blame you for defending your equipment if you read it differently. I certainly did not mean it as an attack. I simply wanted to emphasize that it is the ventilation of the room I am voting for, not the cnc-ness of the equipment. My reasons are several and include at least the desire for a free-hand plasma (vetilation req’d), learning to use the cnc plasma (ventilation req’d), and last but not least, I think the welding room needs better fume evacuation even when the filter is working.
So. Everyone. Let’s forget I’m no wordsmith and agree that the ventilation of the metal shop is the most important thing.
Y’know, unless you voted for the paintbooth. Then we’ll agree to disagree on the more important thing. 
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A plasma cutter being used outside would not be “subversive” or “circumventing” anything. You can’t get much better ventilation than outside air… we just couldn’t leave it there overnight and it obviously wouldn’t be a permanent solution, but it would let people actually use the thing until we get the proper ventilation installed.
There are two 50A 208V sockets between the dock doors, one has a car charger plugged into it (NEMA 6-50), the other has the forklift charger plugged into it (NEMA 14-50). Take your pick. There is also an air hose and 120v at the dock door for the CNC Plasma and computer.
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I also joined partly of the plasma cutter. It is frustrating that I am unable to use it.
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Whoa! I stand corrected. I had not considered borrowing an outlet. Fetch thither the plasma cutter!
Do you’ll think this might be something to call for an official member vote?
What the running planning is to remove the walls were the compressor and existing paint room are and transfer the compressor into the electrical room.
This is as official as it needs to get for “official” we have to have quorum. Since we have not had quorum in the past year now don’t expect it to happen.
This is not a binding vote but more give an idea to the BOD where the membership stands on the topic
Anyone is also able to come to the BOD meeting
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In case anyone missed it, we don’t own that PlasmaCAM machine. It’s on loan from a friend of the makerspace. I’d like to see the machine get purchased if we’re going to invest in infrastructure for it.
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An 8’ x 10’ x 7’ paint room might seem big enough at first blush but what size project will you be able to paint in that size room. It strikes me as being a little small. The old room seemed to me to only useful for small projects.
If you are going to walk on all sides with a paint rig I would think you would need about 3’. That would make your work limited to 2’ x 4’. Granted you could move the piece around and get about 5’ x 7’ but that would be pretty cumbersome.
I cannot in good conscience vote for spending that amount of money on the paint booth without being able to repaint a motorcycle or car or smaller trailer.
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