Anything welding

nawww.. in that case go for the laguna tools smartcut plus in 5'x10'

https://lagunatools.com/cnc/plasmas/smartcut-plus/

 

Not familiar with Laguna but for many years Arclight was the standard for non-commercial CNC tables.

 

Well, um, it is. lol. I thought once you got through all the issues you liked yours. No? The 4x4 STV is still pretty big for my space and a bit more pricey…. I sorta shot my wad on the brake. Ha ha.

 

Gonna depend on a few things like thickness of material.. 1/4" pierces with less than ideal air and consumables can throw some sparks a handful of feet plus. You're going to eventually have an issue where sparks are thrown.

 

If you have enough room for the Langmuir Crossfire XR (4x8') go for that one.. it's the newer/latest generation Langmuir CNC plasma offering and is major bang for the $$ ($7500). I'm very happy with mine.

As for the smaller table offerings.. STV is a better drive system and a MUCH bigger price. $9500 vs $2800

 

Langmuir is a hobbyist table, and it reminds you of that all the time. This applies to all their tables.

The STV is far better in terms of quality, movement, software, everything.

 

This is also coming from a guy with a langmuir table IIRC

 

This.

 

Yeah- I think for my needs and where I am in this process hobbyist might be ok. I don’t know what I don’t know yet. And I just don’t have room for anything big! But I will also check out arc light!

 

I shouldn't make any assumptions really, but if you're a hobbyist and bought a Titan 25T just because, then you'll appreciate a table that's better built and has significantly better movement than any table by Langmuir.

Even their "top of the line" XR table uses many of the same components outside of their ballscrew setup. Same cheap control box components, same basic VIM, same everything else like the cheaper tables. There's a reason why Langmuir pops up a lot, it's the cheapest table on the market.

Because I'm poor and have a small garage, I'll be looking into buying a modular STV table in a 4x4 setup. I plan to get the Optimum control box and gear reduction upgrades which, does put you within $1,000 from their Pro model, but the modular can be upgraded to a 4x8 at any point.

The Pro is nice because it is fully welded and arrives to you practically assembled.

A truck with a 2 car trailer will show up to drop it off if you get the Pro so you'll want a forklift to unload it. They're out of Las Vegas.

Arclight would be a really nice option if you're ok spending a bit more.

 

With that said, I can't comment on other tables since I'm unaware but a company like STV designed their entire gjg around Hypertherm plasma cutters.

They're an authorized retailer for Hypertherm so it only makes sense that the tables are designed for said plasma cutters.

It doesn't mean other brands won't work, they do, they just require more from the end-user to "play well together".

For instance, only Hypertherm has published information such as voltages for maintaining torch height. They also have ohmic sensing if a table supports that instead of your standard touch off switch. My buddy fumbled too much trying to use his PrimeWeld plasma cutter with his STV and finally opted for a Sync65.

So I'd look at groups/forums to see if any one table favors a specific plasma cutter or not. If they do, it's either their own (like Go Fab or something) that the company offers, or a Hypertherm.

 

Yeah I have some research and shop reorganizing to do to make this work, whatever path I take. But it seems the quality of the parts you’re getting off your Langmuir are pretty good! Good enough for my one-offs!

 

Dollar for dollar, for a value priced setup, I can recommend the Crossfire Pro any day of the week.

The non-Pro is too small and you'll easily outgrow it, like I did. And the XR is priced too close to better table options to be recommended, which makes it a bad buy for me.

But nothing comes close to the size and features of the Crossfire Pro and it handles mostly everything I do.

 

This! The similar sized STV is almost I think two grand more… it’s foot print is a little smaller, which is nice but… Might be a lot for what I need!

 

Glad that helps.

I don't mind saying something negative about a specific product I have experience with, regardless of the brand (whether I like it or not).

The XR just doesn't give you much more for the money, and the non-Pro is too limited being priced so close to the Pro.

I guess I'll be sharing my thoughts here in the next few months comparing the PrimeWeld I've had for 2.5 years with the Hypertherm I just picked up.

Just need a machine torch but that fucker's like $800+

 

Is there any preference for wire diameter size for a 110v for 1/8" or so

 

I use .035 for everything, whether 16 gauge or 3/16", on 110 or 220

You'll want to run it hot though and watch your duty cycle, but ultimately it comes down to you running some beads to dial it in

 

Right on! I started practicing with .035 but man were the beads really wide. Ran out of that spool then I tried .030 and thought I had a better bead. I guess it all comes down to practice and time behind the gun.

 

I read through this thread and am starting to scare myself away from weld-on sliders.

https://weldingweb.com/vbb/threads/32568-6011-or-7018

Can y'all give me a bit of a reality check here? Are these guys being unduly harsh or did OP well and truly fuck up?

 

Going through that site is nauseating and the pictures not showing fully sucks. Sorry, not going to browse through it.

What exactly scares you?

Where did the OP mess up?