Pulled the trigger on a CrossFire PRO because of this online community and support. Everyone here seems genuinely interested in helping out. I’ve been welding and fabricating for years, but always the “hard way” (cutoff wheels, flap discs, drill press)… now it’s time to take that giant leap in accuracy, speed and aesthetics with a really capable CNC Plasma table.
Got my first email from Langmuir that my boxes are about to head to UPS, and honestly I’m still unsure about what PC is really necessary to get started… there is probably a thread in here somewhere about that, just need to find it.
Anyway, can’t wait to start digging in and making forward progress on my projects.
I recommend searching for “recommend computer” as a good start. But, the simple answer is practically anything for just running the table. The real challenge is what design software you plan to use. THAT will establish more stringent requirements.
I was thinking about a simple, sacrificial PC in the workshop for the cutting (as you said, doesn’t need to be fancy or expensive) and a nicer machine in my clean home office for drawing parts where the extra horsepower would help with rotations, renderings and more complex assemblies. Ideally, I’d like to be able to “send” files from the office machine to the workshop PC somehow… either via a common NAS-type shared storage device, or maybe the Fusion360 already has this kind of capability built in…? Not sure yet.
Method of sharing files depends on what OS you plan to use in your office computer. With the Firecontrol computer running Windows, then Workgroup share works well enough if you’re office computer is also Windows 10.
Fusion 360 has collaboration between multiple users but I don’t think that helps you - for one, it forces your Workshop computer to be higher power and, I believe, TW can correct me, the CAM output is to a local file. That local file COULD be on your network.
NAS works fine too, that’s what I use in my year round home.
Fusion 360 is cloud based. That being the case, provided you have internet access you can log in from multiple computers (only 1 machine at a time). If you do choose to run multiple computers you may want to consider having both machines capable of running your design and CAM software. I have found it beneficial to access my design files in the shop in the event I need to make a design change on the fly. For me it is a 10 min drive to the shop and back. If it was simply walking across the lawn back to the house from the shop or the garage it probably wouldn’t be a big deal to go back and make the change at the home computer.
Excited to get started for sure!!!.. I know it’s possible from YouTube, but want to learn the quickest way to import paper templates into actual dimensioned drawings and cut-files. I do ALL of my design work starting in heavy cardstock, and used to transfer it all to steel by tracing it with a blue Sharpie…
Going straight from template to a nice cut part will save me HOURS of effort every time I’m in the shop!!
Fusion 360 works great for going from a picture of a part or template. You just import the picture and then use the calibrate function to scale a known dimension. Then just sketch over top of the picture and your resulting sketch will be to scale. I’ve used it a fair amount to cut replacement brackets etc. Did this one just recently. Think it took me all of half an hour to go from start to finish.
Welcome aboard and to the world of cnc.
As far as computers go, on my table im using an old acer aspire netbook with windows 8.1. Its a sacrificial one simply because it has a lot of issues not plasma table related. For my design computer, i custom built one since i couldnt find one i like at a good price. It’s way more horsepower then needed but everything runs silky smooth.
Thanks! If you have time, do me a favor and check out my 2022 PC/Laptop Recommendation thread here…
I haven’t finished all the research, but it seems like its possible to build an Intel i7 / GeForce RTX 3060 and 16GB with an SSD for around $1000… (HP Pavilion TG01 for example). The benchmarks I’ve found seem to show that’s a pretty solid performer without being overkill. Adding a DELL 24" touchscreen is another $399 but people here really seem to like having a touchscreen on the CNC table itself and the software seems to be setup well for that kind of use.
Bought a lenovo legion 7 gaming, all i could find off the shelf with that grapgic card. Same i7 and 16g mem.
Added a 1TB ssd for storage. $1200 plus the ssd.
No issues with fusion
Have a $350 HP latop dedicated to the table.
Both are at my house. USB Stick moves files from desktop to laptop for now.
EDIT
I have the desktop hard wired to the router. Fusion runs a tiny bit faster and seems to be more stable.
