# Building a cnc plasma cutter



## Durma (Jan 21, 2022)

Hello all!

@Tmate and @DavidR8, I was told you two might be good ones to ask...

New here but have done some looking around and along with a friend (who has built a cnc router years ago) have a list of things to buy but I wanted some input any off you may have. One thing is the THC?

I have some cnc expierence... work at a shop where I run Haas machines and have 20 or so years of experience building, fabricating, and welding.

Looking to build a 5x10 cnc plasma table and will be using either a Everlast or a Hypertherm plasma depending how much I spend on the table.

Here is what Im looking at getting:

Stepper motors:





						NEMA 23 Stepper Motor (425 oz-in) KL23H2100-42-4A with 8mm Shaft |
					

High-Torque Stepper Motor, Stepper Motor, Driver, Stepper Motor kit, DC Servo Motor, DC Servo Motor kit, Stepper Motor Power Supply, CNC Router, Spindle, and other Components.




					www.automationtechnologiesinc.com
				




Control Board w/ smoothstepper:





						6 Axis Ethernet SmoothStepper Motion Board for Mach3 and Mach4, with C11G, Relay and Spindle control |
					

High-Torque Stepper Motor, Stepper Motor, Driver, Stepper Motor kit, DC Servo Motor, DC Servo Motor kit, Stepper Motor Power Supply, CNC Router, Spindle, and other Components.




					www.automationtechnologiesinc.com
				




Drivers:





						KL-5056 20-50VDC 5.6A Digital Bipolar Stepper Motor Driver -32 bit DSP Based |
					

We can not find chips for KL-5056 any more We use the DM556 to replace: DM556 20-50VDC 5.6A Stepper Motor Driver KL-5056 20-50VDC 5.6A Digital Bipolar Stepper Motor Driver - 32 bit DSP Based: Heat Sink is included. ● Low noise, high stability ● Selectable resolutions: 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 126...




					www.automationtechnologiesinc.com
				




Power supply:





						36V/9.7A Switching CNC Power Supply (KL-350-36) |
					

High-Torque Stepper Motor, Stepper Motor, Driver, Stepper Motor kit, DC Servo Motor, DC Servo Motor kit, Stepper Motor Power Supply, CNC Router, Spindle, and other Components.




					www.automationtechnologiesinc.com
				




THC:
Really unsure about this but was looking at the Warprunner








						WarpRunner THC
					

WarpRunner THC




					www.cnc4pc.com
				




Linear rails:
HGR20 from ebay

Helical gear rack:
from avidcnc

And of course all the small things like proximity sensors, e-stop, shielded wire etc.


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## DavidR8 (Jan 21, 2022)

What are you going to use for your frame material?


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## JimDawson (Jan 22, 2022)

That is a pretty big machine for some of the parts you are thinking about.  You won't be happy at all with a 36V power supply.  I would at least upgrade the drives and power supply.  Especially the power supply, switching power supplies don't work well as a stepper power supply.  You need a linear power supply.  






						KL-8060E Digital Bipolar Stepper Motor Driver-32 bit DSP Based |
					

Stepper Motor driver




					www.automationtechnologiesinc.com
				









						Unregulated Linear 1440W/72VDC/20A Toroidal PSU (KL-7220) |
					

High-Torque Stepper Motor, Stepper Motor, Driver, Stepper Motor kit, DC Servo Motor, DC Servo Motor kit, Stepper Motor Power Supply, CNC Router, Spindle, and other Components.




					www.automationtechnologiesinc.com
				




I have no opinion on the WarpRunner THC.  I'm curious to know how well it works.


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## Durma (Jan 22, 2022)

DavidR8 said:


> What are you going to use for your frame material?



@DavidR8 Frame will be made of steel tubing. Gantry will be larger aluminum extrusion.


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## Durma (Jan 22, 2022)

JimDawson said:


> That is a pretty big machine for some of the parts you are thinking about.  You won't be happy at all with a 36V power supply.  I would at least upgrade the drives and power supply.  Especially the power supply, switching power supplies don't work well as a stepper power supply.  You need a linear power supply.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


@JimDawson cool, power supply was another I was thinking I would probably have to change. 

What will the other drivers achieve? What's the real world difference in them? How precise the cut is?


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## DavidR8 (Jan 22, 2022)

@JimDawson is definitely more informed and experienced than me so heed his advice on power supply and stepper size. 
What are you thinking for motion? 
Ball screws of that length are going to require a rotating ball nut or you will have tremendous whip. 
You might want to head over to the PrintNC site and have a look at how those are built for some ideas. I’m nearly finished my build. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Durma (Jan 22, 2022)

DavidR8 said:


> @JimDawson is definitely more informed and experienced than me so heed his advice on power supply and stepper size.
> What are you thinking for motion?
> Ball screws of that length are going to require a rotating ball nut or you will have tremendous whip.
> You might want to head over to the PrintNC site and have a look at how those are built for some ideas. I’m nearly finished my build.
> ...


@DavidR8 gonna do helical rack


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## JimDawson (Jan 22, 2022)

Durma said:


> @JimDawson cool, power supply was another I was thinking I would probably have to change.
> 
> What will the other drivers achieve? What's the real world difference in them? How precise the cut is?



The 80V drivers allow you to a 72V or 80V power supply which will give you about a 4X increase in motor performance over the 36V supply.  For precise cuts with a plasma torch you need to be able to achieve high acceleration rates, specially around corners.  More voltage allows you to flatten the torque curve on the motors thus allowing greater torque at higher RPMs.


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