I recently upgraded from a hand torch on a TD42 to an HTP 875 with a mechanized torch. I looked at the Langmuir offerings but wanted to do something that gripped the torch better and provided more adjustment in the torch mounting height. (In the future I plan to raise the X-Y rail assembly with taller side plates to get the Z-axis further from the water splashing)
I had an adapter rail made that would fit in the stock Z-axis carriage, with bolt holes to match a standard picatinny rail. On this I mounted two short pieces of picatinny rail and 35mm scope mounts to hold the torch. I am having a local machine shop quote the adapter rail if anyone is interested, the picatinny rails and scope rings came from amazon (~$30 bucks)
@smashbeat I got a quote back that had a larger minimum than I was willing to order but I would be happy to send you the print if you have someone local that can do the machine work. I will get the print converted to a PDF tomorrow.
I dont have my Pro yet…email says shipping in approx 3 weeks!! Anyway I started looking at your design again so I can start machining one to have when my Pro arrives. I see you are tapping lots of holes to allow the repositioning of the short picatinny rail pieces. My question is why not utilize a longer piece of picatinny rail (12"?) and only drill and tap the holes required to mount the rail? You could still position the scope rings at pretty much any location on the rail. Secondly, I was wondering why the width of the aluminum bar is .9840" e.g. 25mm? Does it fit into a 25mm slot on the z axis mount? thx
Correct on the 25mm, that is what fits the Z-Axis carriage. I choose the shorter rails because the pinch strap for the torch needed to fit in between where I wanted the mounts on the torch, I also had no idea what adjustment I would need so I choose to go with overkill
Machine torch can be setup square to the table and metal.
You can change consumables with out removing the torch.
It is more solidly mounted.
There is less weight as the torch is straight up and down were as a hand torch has the torch cable hanging out there in the air bouncing up and down.
Mechanic416 is bang on…
The other advantage is the machine torch has a much longer torch cable so you can keep the machines apart.
You can also leave the machine torch on the table and still have the hand torch for other use.
I am glad I gave both
Interesting. A new machine torch is not a cheap investment as it can easily be 10-15% of the whole CNC setup. How noticeable is the difference between a machine torch and a regular one in terms of squareness and stability. Do you have to take out the micrometer and surface plate or it can be seen by eye? Context: I have not received my Crossfire PRO yet so I am not sure what to expect. However I plan to cut a relevant number of relatively large parts out of 1/4" thick aluminum plate so I’d like to start forming an idea of my requirements
Good to know, that’s good information. Yeah was already planning to have a router table setup to finish the edge (after removing most of the dross) and I know I will have to go through tuning phase before committing to manufacture the parts I need.
Makes sense…hope you don’t think I wasn’t being critical…just wanting clarification. If you didn’t need all those holes drilled and tapped the price for production would go way down. Looks like you already have a cad drawing so finding a local shop with CNC mill to turn you CAD into G-code for their machine and they should be willing to do small quantity runs. I’m sure others on this forum would be interested if you offered them as a package (bar, rail, and scope rings).
