I’ve barely don’t much cutting but I def see a problem with the torch holder not holding the torch very securely and this probably is some of the reason for bevel cuts on thicker material in y case I seen the torch move in what I preceived to be clamped down pretty good and tight, I really had to crank down on it till the point of distorting the cap, also the amount of surface area is very slim and lacking to say the least some im designing my own torch holder to clamp on a more secure area with a larger surface areas, below are some pics it still is not finished yet.
2 Likes
First cut running the new torch holding block and im happy cut came up pretty good and very minimal dross this part hasnt even been cleaned up, part thickness is 3/8"
Clean cut new torch block holder on left, beveled on on right
1 Like
Sweet! That looks really nice man.
Good job. You have that Miller dialed right in.
I assume your running the 45 amp tip?
Thanks man and yes sir the 40 amp tip for Miller, only thing left is to level the torch carriage to the gantry and dial out the tiny bit of bevel I can still detect, using a bubble level there is a def differnce between the two so it should make even cleaner cuts once that’s sorted out but its already 10x better
Hi. At the bottom of this thread are some pics of where I turned down the cap to fit better.
Best, Steve.
1 Like
That’s nice work man I almost made my outta round stock but ended up using some spare square stock I had, thats very nice though
1 Like
I know who im in boxing if I ever buy a machine torch 
1 Like
very nice work. I’m sure you could sell some of them. I use the 15* torch on hypertherm and it sets in there better than the 90 and oddly enough I can tell just by jogging the machine it seems more accurate.
1 Like
If your real careful, you can turn down the step on the cup, squares it up and givesa bit more surface area to clamp.
Nice idea on the integrated splash guard.
3 Likes
This Miller Retaining cap is roughly ~1.2 diameter on the flat portion with roughly ~.5" of flat area to clamp versus the .180" area of flat on the deflector cap which is actually a very bad area to clamp onto particularly for this Miller Torch, I actually distorted the deflector cap and consequently cracked the brittle type insulator material sandwiched between the brass body and the composite black material, the stuff sandwiched in between has a bronze type appearance (not sure what it is, but this actually ended up being the reason for intermittent no fire and shitty cut quality and I thought it was the torch wiring pinch connectors in another post that actually didn’t really break through the shielding but after I used the smaller crimps I still had intermittent no torch fire’s and then the cracked retaining cap became apparent smh but yea on the Miller XT40 torch this is really a fragile area and an area that has very scant flat surface area to clamp on and is very thing walled here
Also at ~1.2" diameter is would require longer bolts and that is also way to much threaded bolt hanging in free space plus with such a small surface area to catch onto and the limitations of the stock clamp diamond clamp shape the repeatability of clamping squareness is questionable on the Miller XT40 Torch I see other torches that the clamp would be much better suited to clamp on but not the XT40 on the deflector cap, no way
2 Likes
Agree. The cap in my pics are for the IPT brand. It does seem to be brass inside there too. The next ones, I’ll share a before and after. That brand has just a minor step but enough so that holding square seems to be an issue for some folks.
Best, Steve.
1 Like
Here’s a pic of my broken retaining cup and and deflector which I couldn’t remove cause it just would free spin, this was a result of the stock clamp pinching this fragile area, im telling you that material in between is kinda gram cracker’ish lol and the deflector cap is just really think wall copper then couple that with a 4 points of non circular contact and yea I guess this could happen, I prefer my collet style of clamp with 360 of clampage with one pinch point, the torch will basically hold still without it even being clamped down pretty much
1 Like
I might be interested in one of these improved Holders
1 Like
Yeah, the full circular clamping is really the best. I ran an earlier version of the Miller Torch, the ICE-40. Completely different cone and cup that the XPT versions.
I just stick to machine torch mounts mainly. The turned down IPT60 cups are on my friends Everlast 50 and are doing fine but again, a different part.
I think the step in yours really helps support the whole cone as good as is can, top to bottom for that particular brand.
Before this CNC, I had an optical ttacer, its mount wasnt a clamp but just a socket that the torch head just fit into, no clamp. Had it for years without a single issue. Go figure. Lol.
1 Like
Was that a result of clamping right there at the cap, or were you holding it further up on the cone?
That broken retaining cup was a result of clamping it down on the “Deflector” 