Plasma/Mesa Guru's

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05 Sep 2010 02:46 #3980 by austin.mn
Plasma/Mesa Guru's was created by austin.mn
I am looking to hook my plasma to a Mesa 5i20 and THCAD

I have already had it working somewhat with an MP1000 but it seems to be getting progressively worse the more I use it. I was told to do a bunch of different things that "will fix it" non of them ever did... it just kept getting worse. I would like to get away from using mach and into EMC. My current machine is more of a test bed/ learning experience. We plan to build a new machine in the spring that will be extremely accurate and closed loop. I would also like to have an oxy torch on it along with a plate marker. In the mean time I just want my current machine working and learn to add on all the bells and whistles a guy could want.

First off, is the mesa combo what I really want to be using? I haven't spent a ton of time with EMC as of yet, I do have my bridgeport boss machine running with it, and a Chinese laser. Those were really just plug and play installations though. I really didn't have to do much in the way of configuring the Hal or recompile the source code.. Is there a basic how to for using the Mesa thc cards?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

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05 Sep 2010 14:39 #3984 by Rick G
Replied by Rick G on topic Re:Plasma/Mesa Guru's
Plasma with THC is on my list of things to do...maybe this winter. However Mesa is well supported here at EMC. John is using the THC with Mesa and seems very pleased, I am sure he will pipe in with any details you need.

Rick G

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05 Sep 2010 16:13 #3985 by austin.mn
Replied by austin.mn on topic Re:Plasma/Mesa Guru's
I figured that this was a better place to ask about the mesa stuff than cnczone. I am pretty sure that everything will make sense as soon as I start really getting into using it. I remember back in the day, just getting a stepper motor working seemed like it was something just way out of my league. Then I found a driver schematic online and wired everything up. It still took some time just to get it working, but once I did it no longer seemed like rocket science.

I still wouldn't mind a few helpful hints to get me started though.

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05 Sep 2010 17:52 - 05 Sep 2010 17:53 #3986 by BigJohnT
Replied by BigJohnT on topic Re:Plasma/Mesa Guru's
What I use on my plasma is a 5i20 with the THC card. I wrote a comp to convert the signal from the THC to volts and then raise and lower the Z when your running to maintain the set volts. There are two versions of the THC now ( I have the prototype :) ) one takes 0-10v and the other takes 0-300v. I use the 5i20 to drive my Gecko 203v drives as well. I can get 500IPM on the X and Y with no problems.

My plasma table:

s47.photobucket.com/albums/f163/johnplctech/Plasma%20Cutter/

The big question is what kind of plasma cutter do you have?

I have a Hypertherm 1250 and they are very CNC friendly. As I understand some are not...

When I get a chance I'll upload a screen shot of my plasma pyVCP additions to the Axis interface.

EMC2 has an excellent blending algorithm and can cut very fast with lots of tiny lines and arcs that sometimes plague other control software and bring them to a slow herky jerky cut speeds.

I'm not a Guru but I do reply a lot here...

John
Last edit: 05 Sep 2010 17:53 by BigJohnT.

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05 Sep 2010 19:17 #3987 by austin.mn
Replied by austin.mn on topic Re:Plasma/Mesa Guru's
BigJohn

Thank you for chiming in. I have an Esab ESP-50 it has all the hook ups for machine control. Trigger, Arc OK and a 20:1 torch volts. I am thinking that I should be in good shape to use the 10V THC card.

The rest of my machine is a rack and pinion, single side drive gantry that is 6' X 10' I am running the older gecko 201's and I run 450 ipm conservatively. I have had it up to 575, but I backed it off to help assure I don't miss any steps.

Any files you would be willing to share would be a big help. I haven't been able to find much out there on using the Mesa THC.

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06 Sep 2010 11:28 - 06 Sep 2010 11:32 #4002 by BigJohnT
Replied by BigJohnT on topic Re:Plasma/Mesa Guru's
Here is a link to the man page for THC

www.linuxcnc.org/docview/html//man/man9/thc.9.html

I'm in the process of adding that to the manual but got sidetracked by a Bridgeport Discovery 308 on my trailer that wants to be in my shop... before the rains come.

I use a floating torch head with a micro switch to indicate material height. So at the beginning of each cut I do a probe move down until I touch the material. The I move up to pierce height. Then start the torch, when I see the Arc OK input I start my motion and the THC starts to compensate.

I've attached my configs.

What software are you using to generate your cut paths?

John

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Last edit: 06 Sep 2010 11:32 by BigJohnT.

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