https://www.centroidcncforum.com/
Can you describe how the Proma 150 works and worked for you and how you integrated it with the CNC control? (Which are you using? Mach or LinuxCNC?)agsweeney1972 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 30, 2018 11:03 am There is a guy who documented his conversion of a PlasmaCAM machine in which he used Gecko drives to drive the original X and Y Servo Motors and a Stepper Driver to control the original Z motor.
Info Here: http://www.readytocut.com/community/for ... rofit.190/
The THC stuff is currently outside of the Acorn's abilities but hopefully with enough interest that will change. You can get a stand alone THC or a Hybrid one that listens to the controller and when enabled takes over the "Z" axis. I have not messed with anything but the Standard Proma Compact THC 150 (on my non-Acorn machines) which is fairly common in the MACH3 and LinuxCNC worlds.
Marty,martyscncgarage wrote: ↑Thu Aug 30, 2018 11:43 amCan you describe how the Proma 150 works and worked for you and how you integrated it with the CNC control? (Which are you using? Mach or LinuxCNC?)agsweeney1972 wrote: ↑Thu Aug 30, 2018 11:03 am There is a guy who documented his conversion of a PlasmaCAM machine in which he used Gecko drives to drive the original X and Y Servo Motors and a Stepper Driver to control the original Z motor.
Info Here: http://www.readytocut.com/community/for ... rofit.190/
The THC stuff is currently outside of the Acorn's abilities but hopefully with enough interest that will change. You can get a stand alone THC or a Hybrid one that listens to the controller and when enabled takes over the "Z" axis. I have not messed with anything but the Standard Proma Compact THC 150 (on my non-Acorn machines) which is fairly common in the MACH3 and LinuxCNC worlds.
You may have done this in another thread, if so, I apologize but if you can post the link here, it may be helpful. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Marty
You are welcome - send the beer and pizza to @cnckeith as he has been very helpful to all of us in our CNC endeavors.
You should hit up Jim Colt.cnckeith wrote: ↑Tue Oct 02, 2018 1:50 pm hey guys, we are wrapping up several projects and are getting ready to start work on a Plasma Plug in for CNC12/Acorn so i am reaching out to you to give you'all an opportunity to have input on the Plasma specific features that you would like to see.
So here is a description of the different THC's that i am aware of....
Available THC controls fall into one of the three categories below.
1.) Fully independent of the CNC, uses its own additional Z axis and axis motor to move the torch head up and down. No special Acorn Plasma Plug in is needed for this type of THC. cons expensive.
2.) Integrated with CNC style a: and hijacks the step and direction signals from the Acorn to the axis motor driver and adds and subtracts pulses as necessary. No special Acorn Plasma Plug in is needed for this type of THC. example http://proma-elektronika.com/index.php/ ... act-thc-sd
3.) Integrated with CNC style b : THC has three outputs UP, DOWN, and ARC OK. These Outputs are connected to the Acorn Inputs. v4.14 Acorn Wizard as these selections in the input drop down list. ThcUp, ThcDown, ThsArcOk. The THC sends these ‘commands’ to the Acorn by closing the input, when the UP input is closed CNC12 Adds steps to the Z axis position, when the ThcDown input is closed CNC12 Subtracts steps to the Z axis position. CNC12 waits for ThcArcOK before moving XY commands, when the ThcArcOK input is closed CNC12 knows that it is good to continue with XY movements. example http://proma-elektronika.com/download/PDF/thc150_en.pdf
We will be creating a Plasma Plug in for the third one on the list above..
What is on your plasma wish list?
please be as descriptive as possible when describing the CNC functionality that you are after for your plasma table.
I'll take your input and do my best to add the functionality/feature into Acorn CNC12!
Agreed just please make it compatible with Thermal Dynamics since I have one lol. But seriously those are the two big ones and then you get into the Everlast category. Candcnc has a good integrated thc and is probably the #1 system home builders, retrofitting, and table manufacturers that don’t have proprietary software use for plasma tables. But he’s obviously not going to be much help since Acorn will be competing with his controller. Also as for the stand alone idea Hypertherm and ESAB/Victor use those for their high definition controllers, but your talking big money for those setups.martyscncgarage wrote: ↑Thu Oct 04, 2018 3:08 pmGood idea. Jim is one of the most helpful factory reps on the web.
cnckeith wrote: ↑Tue Oct 02, 2018 1:50 pm hey guys, we are wrapping up several projects and are getting ready to start work on a Plasma Plug in for CNC12/Acorn so i am reaching out to you to give you'all an opportunity to have input on the Plasma specific features that you would like to see.
So here is a description of the different THC's that i am aware of....
Available THC controls fall into one of the three categories below.
1.) Fully independent of the CNC, uses its own additional Z axis and axis motor to move the torch head up and down. No special Acorn Plasma Plug in is needed for this type of THC. cons expensive.
2.) Integrated with CNC style a: and hijacks the step and direction signals from the Acorn to the axis motor driver and adds and subtracts pulses as necessary. No special Acorn Plasma Plug in is needed for this type of THC. example http://proma-elektronika.com/index.php/ ... act-thc-sd
3.) Integrated with CNC style b : THC has three outputs UP, DOWN, and ARC OK. These Outputs are connected to the Acorn Inputs. v4.14 Acorn Wizard as these selections in the input drop down list. ThcUp, ThcDown, ThsArcOk. The THC sends these ‘commands’ to the Acorn by closing the input, when the UP input is closed CNC12 Adds steps to the Z axis position, when the ThcDown input is closed CNC12 Subtracts steps to the Z axis position. CNC12 waits for ThcArcOK before moving XY commands, when the ThcArcOK input is closed CNC12 knows that it is good to continue with XY movements. example http://proma-elektronika.com/download/PDF/thc150_en.pdf
We will be creating a Plasma Plug in for the third one on the list above..
What is on your plasma wish list?
please be as descriptive as possible when describing the CNC functionality that you are after for your plasma table.
I'll take your input and do my best to add the functionality/feature into Acorn CNC12!