Plasma Water Table

[bjwat@comcast.net]

Hey gang,
I just wanted to post a picture of the water table that I made for my plasma ShopBot. I spent about $250 on it in materials and a few lazy days of assembly. I made a 2X2 box frame with adustable carriage bolt feet like the SB and capped off the legs with 2X2X1/4" plates that were the same contour as the box steel. What was nice about making this was the fact that most of the components, mainly the pan, were cut on the ShopBot and welded. I love having the ability to make my own tooling


The pan itself is 84" long and 66" wide. It is made out of 1/8" steel sheet and was MIG welded all along the outside seams. The inside seams were beaded with pure silicone caulk. I have to wait until tomorrow night to fill it up and check for leaks...

I made a downdraft cabinet a few months ago and was very unpleased with the way that it worked (or didn't for that matter). I really hope that this works for eating up most of the smoke...IT BETTER!!! I really don't want to move it again!

I'll let you know how it works out. Next modification will be to the router ShopBot when I add the indexer


http://home.comcast.net/~bjwat/WaterTable.jpg

-Brady

[bjwat@comcast.net]

Well all looks good....I filled it up to the 6" mark, about 7" below the top of the grid. It greatly reduces the smoke generated in cutting, I'd say about 70% less smoke. There's no way around the smoke issue with plasma....It's going to happen. There isn't any splashing generated from the cutting process, only when small parts fall into the drink.

I'm glad that I made the water table...now I can crank out some parts with a major reduction in smoke.

-Brady

[HTMACHCO@aol.com]

Brady,

Send us some pictures of your table in action. Did you follow the plan that Hypertherm sent you?

-Steve

[bjwat@comcast.net]

No I didn't, Steve. The sheer amount of time and material involved in just making the water level go up and down seemed like a waste to me. There isn't any performance gain for a small 5X8' table by using the HT design.

For the most part, the smoke is eliminated as soon as the sparks hit the water. The dust and smoke go right into the pan. There are a few plumes of smoke here and there that can be attributed to oil on the support grid and oil or residue on the actual material. I did wipe the supports down with isopropyl but there is still some here and there.

For the most part I am pleased with the outcome. It is worlds better than the downdraft that I made especially because the downdraft does nothing to cool or condense the smoke. Plus, I'm in a residential/commercial area and I wanted to get a handle on the smoke before I was greeted by fire trucks


-Brady