Dimple Die for CNC Plasma Water Table

MtnBiker

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We've got the Langmuir XR CNC Plasma table all set up. Working really well for us.

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However, the water table didn't really have a viable OEM drainage solution. Two 1/4" drains that didn't sit flush and didn't drain the middle two pans all the way. No bueno. We're weekend warriors and I didn't want a bunch of standing water humidifying our shop all week long. We plan to dump the water after each cutting session. We had a plumbing problem and needed a solution.

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Found these bar sink drains at Lowe's. The right size and enough depth to use some filter media so we don't build up metal sludge in our plumbing system. The XR water table is made from 4 individual sections (cheap shipping and well, just a cheaper way to manufacture) so we needed 4 drains.

Now, to get the drains to sit flush we needed to make some recesses (the dimple) in the water pans. We used the plasma table to cut 4 holes in the water table (just moved the torch lower and paid some attention to not cut through support structure). Picked up some round stock and went to town on the lathe.

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A little modeling in Fusion 360 and some machine time. 1018 is probably not optimal but it was in the remnant bin and happy enough with the results. Some threaded rod for the squishing and a little elbow grease and here's what you get:

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The drains use a regular tail fitting and we wanted to use standard PVC pipe for the plumbing. Not directly compatible.

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This adaptor made the transition easy. Works like a shark-bite fitting. Nice O-ring seals and removable after installation for periodic maintenance.

Finally for usability we plumbed through our garage vent to a leach line outside:

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The advantage with this setup is really fast drainage without causing any erosion (the leach line is about 8' long with a bunch of drain holes). And when we want to fill the table we close the ball valve and turn on the hose. Fills from the drain up so there is no splashing and no water hose getting loose and spraying all over the garage.

Finally, we're making a new vent cover on the plasma table that will close the hole in the wall and keep the rain out much better. Will also have a pass through for an airline so we can feed our pop-up paint booth.
 
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New vent cover prepped. We'll attach a custom vent cap on the outside one. Will give us room for the drain plumbing and airline.

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And this is the finished inside vent cover (less the air fitting):

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Outside vent cover fabricated and installed.

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The new covers don’t have the louvered openings…and with all the gizmos in there (we’ll add the air line) we wanted a better way to keep rain out. Ready to start making money with this thing.
 
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