TP
 most of the stuff I will be doing is in the 4mm to 20mm range in  Alu and 2mm to 20mm Stainless, so the plate bending shouldn't really be an issue, or at least I hope it wont be
I asked the russian guy that I am getting the THC from, about the Ohmic sensor he sells and he said he didn't think the torch I will be getting would work with it. I may however get a machine torch at a later stage so could look at it if need be.

Rob
 I looked at the 45 and thought it was a bit too small for what I need. It was a toss up between the Powermax 65 and three from TecArc, the 65, the 95  and the 125. Decided the 95 and 125 may be too big for what I want so I ruled them out.
 So it was the Hypertherm 65 or the OptiCut 65, the capacity and duty cycles were about the same (the Opticut fractionally  better on some).
 The Hypertherm was more expensive but that wasn't a major consideration as I tend to try and only buy once. I spoke to someone who has used both and he rated the Opticut a better machine and he is a Hypertherm owner, so decided to go with it.
 I am also not a big fan of Inverter technology, the lifespan tends to be lower, or certainly is with TIG. The only Inverter plasma I would consider is a  Hypertherm as they get a good name for life. The Opticut however has a transformer at its heart so hopefully will be more rugged. The Tig I have certainly is more rugged than the Inverter based one  I had previously.

Hood

Thanks for the info hood, I'm keeping my eyes open for a bigger capacity machine hence appreciate the info, as the UK market seems flooded with Chinese made ones that aren't suitable for machine cutting and the longevity, information (cut speed tables) and owners plus parts manuals and replacement bits are zero.

Ohmic sensor has an insulated cap (best solution) or a fabricated insulated ring with a spade connector ... If you type in hyperthem or thermal dynamics and ohmic sensors into Google searching images there are a few variants of the same thing or principle about.  I know both of them offer an ohmic solution specifically, not seen any others though.

The hyperthem 65 and 85 offers modbus control of the plasma as well as the machine interface which I like the idea of... But I'd need to get one direct from the states as single phase.  Other than filtering I cannot see why a single phase ce hyperthem is not offered.... Or why it really wouldn't work.

I'll keep my eyes open for any machine cuts you post as I'd be interested to see the edge finished cut on the opticut 65.

If only single phase then make sure you have the capacity as I think the Hypertherm 65 needs 40 or 45 Amps. The Opticut 65 is 32 Amps.
 I went for the dual voltage one as I have 3 phase so if I take it round to a boat in the harbour I can run off a 3 phase supply (use 2 phases) In fact that is what I will run it on when on the table.

They tend to build the Opticuts to order so I have to wait 7 working days. I ordered 2 days before Christmas and they just started back yesterday, so probably next Monday or Tuesday when I get it. I could have had a 95, that they had in stock, the next day but it was a single phase model, more expensive, probably a bit too big for my needs but the deal breaker was it needed a 64 Amp supply.

I will just be using it to hand cut for a while, have quite a bit of work on at the moment so no time to build the CNC.


Hood

Oh forgot, TecArc seemingly can offer CNC Interface boards in the machines but that is an option. Don't know what it consists of or the price though.
Hood

Got the plasma cutter on Wednesday night and spent the next day making a mess of metal

I don't know how I managed without it before
I tried various settings and various metals and it works great.
Cut 3mm up to 20mm Alu,  4mm up to 16mm stainless and 2mm up to 32mm steel and it was amazing to use.

Just wish I had the time to get the table built straight away, sadly that will have to wait a while as I have a fair amount of work on at the moment.
Have been using it for one of these jobs, cutting 10mm alu sheets up, it is like a knife through butter, cut a section with it that took maybe  5 mins to do, would have taken me near an hour with a grinder I think.
Cut a hole in the centre of the section, 150mm dia, just milled a thin piece of alu out at 160mm internal dia and used that as a template, piece of cake

CNC will make things much neater and easier though

Hood

 

Oh also got the THC from Russia, hooked it up to the CSMIO here at home (been wiring the panel up here ) and it seems to work well, certainly in test mode it responds very quickly but I suppose the real test will be when its hooked up and controlling a real axis.
Hood

Thanks for the update, I for one will be very interested to know how it works on thin and thick stuff (high and low cutting speed)

What are people thoughts on having a water table?

I have been trying to work out how I can get the table into the back section of my workshop and it would be extremely tight with the bandsaw and the plasma. If I did away with the water table and just has a portable grid of 2500mm x 1250mm that I could pull forward when I am using the plasma it would make things a bit less cramped.

Pics below of with and without the water tray. In the second pic the grid would be in this position when not using.

Hood

Are you doing stainless?  If so, I thought a water table was beneficial to avoid blackened edges (so is the use of nitrogen I think it is).

Is it a workplace (as classified by hsawa 1974....)... In that case you would need to consider hsg 258... (Search hsg 258 PDF and you can download the guide for free).

A downdraft chute will also work ... But not on stainless edge quality or blackening (think the grade of SS may be an issue)

Not done SS myself, just read titbits

What are people thoughts on having a water table?

I have been trying to work out how I can get the table into the back section of my workshop and it would be extremely tight with the bandsaw and the plasma. If I did away with the water table and just has a portable grid of 2500mm x 1250mm that I could pull forward when I am using the plasma it would make things a bit less cramped.

Pics below of with and without the water tray. In the second pic the grid would be in this position when not using.

Hood

I think you need the unit next door as well.