Please let me introduce myself

Continuing the discussion from Computer replacement:

Hi all
I’m just learning the features of discourse and not being tied to a particular thread seams like a nice feature.

After @Bigdaddy2166 and @brownfox gave me some good tips I feal compelled to introduce myself.

I’m a Mechanical Engineer getting ready to retiree. Been welding since I was 13. MiG, tig, stick etc… lots of automotive and race car fab. I do engineering and project management at work but build stuff to keep myself sane. This will be my first CNC machine for myself. We have lots of this stuff at work but I don’t run them there, so I’m familiar with the general capabilities and such, but not as a user.

I expect to do small runs of moderate sized parts for myself. I have a heavy metal addiction. I restore old construction equipment, tractors, and other shop equipment (like old wood working machines). Lots of parts just aren’t available for machines made before the 1960s. I’d mostly be making things like brackets to mount an alternator where a generator was originally placed, or new electric motor mounts for my 1964 martin 80 lathe (22” swing x 120” cc).

Right now I’m mostly focusing on putting the infrastructure in place to support a plasma table, like upgrading my air compressor to something north of 8hp with a good air dryer. I have an old thermal dynamic pak5 Xr that I’ll probably replace with a hyper therm 45 due to power limitations.

Right now my shop is off the grid so anything more then 10kw will be out of reach for a while.

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I am a retired engineer myself. I went bat s#$t crazy sitting home, so we went into the marina business.
50 or 60 amps should be a doable scenario. You probably won’t be able to run the lathe and plasma simultaneously. An 8hp air compressor will eat up that amperage fast, though. Unless you mean a gas powered one.

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The compressor will be an electric start gas engine (looking at about 14hp right now). I just sourced a pair of two stage pumps with a 100gal receiver and a ct-30 dryer. I’m thinking a home built condenser between the pumps and the receiver . So I just have to drive this table and plasma cutter.

Sure won’t use any machine tools and the plasma table at the same time, but then there is only one of me.

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I like how you think: fixing things and bringing them back to life.

Welcome to the forum.

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Ah great! Welcome aboard. We’ve seen people buy a machine and not realize they need an air compressor for the plasma cutter so I was just throwing out a feeler.

Sounds like you will do well!

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