First time poster - been lurking for a while. I’m finally close to a decision on a plasma table. I’ve considered building my own using plans from the interweb, but of course, concerns over support and such have me a little nervous.
So I’m here, because I don’t need full sheet cutting and I’m not a production shop. I’ll be using the table primarily for cutting parts that will help me resurrect old machinery, and frankly, it would be cool to have in my retirement.
My question to all of you with the Pro - knowing what you know now, would you do it all over again with Langmuir? Why or why not?
Appreciate any and all feedback. Happy holidays!
Rick
I have the Origanal crossfire and the Pro. Im like you in that im not a production shop in any way. Its strictly a hobby. My origanal crossfire 2x2 hasnt been turned on since I got the Pro. So the price is what got me into it. I would do it all over again no questions asked. Ls support for me has been outstanding. Any issue wether it was the machine, software or just a brain cramp they took care of me in a timely manner. The Pro with the THC is a dream come true for somone that cant sell a kidney to buy a larger production purpose built machine. Yes I think i seen the Pro was described as a production ready machine but you know what I mean if you have priced the other tables. Make sure you can buy the best plasma cutter you can afford, and a aircompressor that can handle the job, air dryer of some sort. The software seems to be the biggest learning curve of all. So yes I would do it again .
I am also almost-semi-June 1-semi retired.
A few years ago I got into metal art…and it took off…I wanted my hobby to be more fun.
I did a lot of research and joined the forum and lurked…surfed the good old inter-web for reviews…prices…
I found that Langmuir was what I was looking for…Inwas about to buy the 2x2 table and then Pro came out…I was on a bus in the middle of the Jodanian desert and thank God the bus had wifi…I ordered the Pro.
It was a long wait but well worth it.
I knew zero about cnc…and I mean zippo…nada…but I am glad I stepped up and bought it.
I am not a production shop and not retired but people love what I do…and I love doing it.
Because you assemble the table you get to understand it…the forum support you will appreciate as I have only seen generic forums on cnc but not company specific forums.
The boys at Langmuir are part of the forum and participate in the forum.
Wecall learn from each other, and Langmuire learns from us I feel.
You will read and hear of a few dissatisfied people…but very few who could never be satisfied u less they got a $10,000 machine for the same price of a Langmuir.
You also get to choose the plasma cutter you want to use and not be tied I to only obe that comes with the machine.
You can model the table all you want or leave it basic…
I have the second release CrossFire Pro and am very happy so far (I love it). I have been using it for 4 months so far. I have had very little problems so far. I have the plug and play with the RazorWeld 45 cutter. I see many others have larger plasma cutters for what they are doing. The RazorWeld does what I need. I cut up to 3/8" so far. Like Keith said “cheaper than therapy”. And a lot more fun!! Making things I didn’t think I could. Just made a full size Klingon Bat’leth. It was awesome to see it come to life. If I need spacers now I just cut them out. Made hinges for some new drop down ramps on my big trailer (12000#) It is almost endless of what you can do!! My wife asked me if I needed any help moving into the Barn? LOL!
My wife gave me permssion to build a garage expansion so I ould have more space to work…I actually think it is so she can put her car backin the garage…but who cares…I am cutting stuff I do not even need…
I am having so much fun my neighbors are starting to call me the Metal “zucchini” Man…because some one who grows those is always trying to give them away…I am making stuff and giving it to everybody…
and again…would I do it again…yup…possibly earlier
I would do it again and may do it again! I would not do the Razorweld cut 45 again. Its not a bad machine, but for the price theres other options. Look at all the custom ideas some of us guys are doing and just build it right from the start. I may order another and convert it to a 4x4 machine eventually and then sell my 48x33
I’m with ya here. I love the machine but wish I could have just purchased the electronics and mounting hardware. The parts are beautiful!
Dying to make it a 48x48 too.
Wish we all saved our money on making and shipping, as well as purchasing the water trays.
I would have appreciated the option to either pay the few bucks extra in shipping to send it a single piece or save some to not send it at all. The drains are awful and mine is starting to drip at the glue seam. I welded 1" stainless pipe to get threads below the deck so it does drain and ran pvc from there. The bottom is starting to discolor in lines from the heat in spots and I’m wondering if that burnt the glue?
I would absolutely love to be able to tap into that extra expansion port as well but need to wait for Langmuirs tech to catch up. I have been thinking an extra axis to chuck up small pipe and tube in!!!
It’s the little things that I wine about, but overall its a well put together machine for hobby/ light work use. The price point is what got me sold on it knowing we can always find ways to make it meet our needs as they arise.
Ditto. And I can’t argue with anything you posted. I got into it as something of an experiment and jumped on the Pro an hour or so after they opened up ordering for it. Never looked back.
I had the benefit of doing CAD/CAM for both laser cutting/engraving and a Shopbot CNC mill so the software part wasn’t a problem for me.
Langmuir has been there whenever I had a question or problem (I mucked up the original build when I didn’t install the lead screw nut correctly and later when I had a slightly bent lead screw). I downloaded all of the instructions for the Pro early and while I waited for it to arrive I edited the heck out of them, puzzled out things and asked a bunch of questions as a result. They took my editing suggestions and answered my questions and never acted like I was some kind of idiot that might be better off playing with rubber tools
This is a company that has earned my money. I’ll keep buying what they keep coming up with (yes, I did get the new fab table too ).
In a heartbeat! The team at Langmuir have been super helpful! I was lucky enough to get in on the first batch and if they ever make a 4x8 table I will be signing up for that one as well.
Absolutely would do it again… I picked mine up still brand new but assembled from the original purchaser that got frustrated with the software. He said the most he could get it to do was jog it around work envelope and that jived with what I saw on the table. So anyway a few weeks ago he put it up on Facebook marketplace and luckily I was the first one there with cash in my hand.
I really wanted the XR but I wanted to try out the less expensive option to see what the quality of the machine was like and the quality of the support. Happy to say that I absolutely love this little machine… Coincidentally I’m a national service manager for a major German fabrication Machine tool builder. When when I saw the size of those tiny little ball screws I wondered how accurate the machine would be but it is shockingly capable of some pretty fine detail. The beak on these hummingbirds/house number I made for our mailbox were a very pleasant surprise as I have programmed quite a few lasers in my day and was very hesitant about the detail I could get from a plasma, especially a consumer grade like a thermal dynamics cut Master 42. But what an absolute pleasant surprise this whole endeavor has been. The machine is well thought out, well-designed, and when you’re looking at the machine operating software screen you would swear you’re looking at a $200,000 plasma system. Like a few others have mentioned here it would be nice to have an MDI mode that if you were setting in a particular location and you knew what g commands you wanted to have happened right at the moment, you could type them in and execute them but that’s nitpicking.
Jump into it the machine is a piece of cake, if you can’t afford the sheet cam at $140 which is really easy to use, then just run with the fusion 360 and you will eventually get the hang of it and it won’t cost you anything.
And like I preach to the customers we have for my day job… For Christ’s sake you spent as much on one of these machines is a new Ferrari, treat it like you care about it. Take a look at the electrode nozzle every once in awhile on your torch, and please please wipe those ball screws down with a little light oil after every use of the machine.
Sheet Cam is a one-time purchase price, so very affordable and a great cam program… For my cad programs I use delta cad,bendtech for design of offroad roll cage/frames and Inkscape for signs don’t use Fusion 360 anymore, got tired of continuous updates and changes…
).
So I must be Super slow! 