Hey everyone I put in my deposit for the XR. I am looking to use the machine as a hobby at first, then hopefully get into doin side work for people in my geographic region. Looking mostly at thinner material, hopefully nothing over 3/16" on a regular basis.
I have an old garage that I am going to turn into a small fab shop.
I have a couple questions to help me get started on the right foot.
I am looking at the Hypertherm 45XP with CNC port, 35’ line and remote pendant. Is this remote pendant worth it? Any suggestions with this machine? pros or cons? anything better out there?
I need a compressor, any suggestions? looking at 60gal, 15.4 CFM @90PSI.
What type of filtration? Looking into the harbor frieght air dryer($400). Anyone have experience with this?
Power supply. I currently have 50A circuit at my shop. I am looking to run a new line with 100A service. Will this suffice?
Ventilation. I seen an earlier post about a ventilation hood for the XR. Im sure this would be great, but is it necessary?
Anything else that will make my life easier to run this machine? Im trying to have a lot of this installed and purchased before the delivery so I can get goin as soon as i get the table.
be prepared for a lot of input here…I will go first…
I wish I could help you on the plasma choice…but I do not know anything about the Hypertherms.
compressor depends what you want to pay and what the reviews are…then you should have an air cooler., this wil help reduce the temp of the air before it goes to a refrigerated unit…either built into the compressor or build one yourself…building one yourself is easy and there are many ideas…after the cooler you can put a refrigerated dryer…there are many to choose from…I have a desiccant dryer just before I go to a motorguard air filter then into my plasma…that gets me truly dry filtered air.
last but not least …make sure you have either automatic condensate drains or constantly drain those low points.
50A is a little low…as it will most likely pop if you are cutting and the compressor comes on…100A is plenty…even 60A would suffice…but 100A is small house power…and gives you options for more power.
ventilation…a key factor for any plasma cutting…both for the room and yourself…the black smoke/duct is nasty and gets everywhere. some people build partial rooms around the table with direct ventilation out of recirculating filter systems…some people just open the door with a fan…it all depends on your climate…I would make sure you are protected first then think or venting…
Great input. I’m beginning to understand the importance and clean, dry air. I would rather pay more now and not have to fight it later on.
I’ve seen people with filtered ventilation. Is this because they are pumping that air back into the shop? is there anything wrong with just ventilating it through the roof into the atmosphere?
I have an everlast…but the other guys will cirp in on what they feel is the best plasma cutter…
you can eliminate a lot of problems with proper dry filtered air…
so if you vent outside you have to replace the air in the shop you push out…so if you live in a variable climate with winter conditions…then that causes the shop to freeze fast…
if you recirculate then you have to filter the heck out of the air…
I am doing a combination of all…
In summer I will vent directly outside with a fan
cooler times I will be using a heat exchanger for the shop…
I will be also using a multi-filtered room recirculation unit…something like a smoke eater.
Great machine. Only ones better are the bigger brothers but you only need that for mucho thick material. For you the 45XP is probably the perfect selection. A machine torch is worth way more than the pendant.
50A would for the plasma. The 100A will give you enough juice for a good 240V compressor.
A TiG welder if you don’t already weld. Once you can cut things, you’re going to want to glue them together in new ways. Not critical but you’ll find lots of uses for a welder. And some kind of brake - I have a 20T finger press brake that is great for making fold ups, etc. The welder can be used to do that kind of fabbing too, but sometimes it’s nice not to have all sides of boxes and such welded.
After spending some time on what Air Compressor to buy, I put this one on layaway until I can make room for it. 5hp. 2 stage pump that puts out 15.8 CFM @ 90 PSI and 80 gal tank.
I currently have a 3.5 hp 20 gal tank single stage that is way to weak to even run an air grinder.
I am glad there was no way it would run the plasma cutter. It forced me to upgrade.
Sometimes I’m too frugal for my own good!