Plasma THC control some needed long time updates

[jcoldon]

Is there a way to control THC feed rate speed. With on screen setting . Doing THC feed rate threw M667 F command means stopping a cut and repost. This needs to be on screen to adjust on the fly . How hard can this be to add for better THC control . Plasma users have been waiting a long time for masso to fix things this be a good start of some on screen control .

Another would be a THC turn on delay .So after Pierce then cut height. Delay would start. On screen setting .

A separate setting and input for ohmic and slide switch . That way we can use both ohmic and slide.

 

[frank-corcoran]

Yes! Plasma needs a whole host of controls that mills don't. Not to mention that consumable wear is exponentially faster than a mill cutter.

More even than just THC, which is really only useful for thin material. Real-time control over speed and delays from the pendant is what I have always used. Once a material is dialed in it is saved to NV memory on the motion controller.

This is not a trivial thing though and may not be possible using Masso's architecture. The developers undoubtedly have constraints we are not aware of, priorities we are not privy to, and concerns we are ignorant of. Not to mention they are smart!

Below is control box of Plasmacam here in the USA. the encoder knob will adjust travel speed in real time both faster and slower. Z axis buttons allow real time THC cut height adjustment while cutting. If pause before cut is enabled (but after ohmic touch-off you) can adjust the pierce height. Of course when the cut is done these new settings can be saved as a named configuration.

Here is the pendant from Multicam plasma. It uses an embedded motion controller connected over ethernet. I loaded all material configurations direct from Hypertherm into my machine, which gets you close for most cuts. The pendant displays a job loaded and askes for XY origin and material being cut. It also tracks total pierces and cut time and will apply an offset to keep consumables in spec.

No going back and forth to a computer to adjust cutting parameters. All this can be edited at the machine.

This is not a criticism of any kind. These are both mature companies and vastly more expensive. I just feel like Masso could be really great at plasma!

 

[jcoldon]

I agree with you i am very well versed in plasma design. i been doing it for 20 years . plasma cam does have a very good THC controller .Jim colt has his hands in plasma cam. I believe he owns some of there stock.. masso thc inputs are in real time . if they would just put some effort in plasma . put some of the controls you mentioned on screen. i had a G2 could never get plasma THC working the way it should having to put all the controls in G code that fine for a mill .I went uccnc new plasma screen .and vital systems hicon and mach4 new plasma screen . in my builds. I going to try the G3 again. If not i use it on a mill retro i am doing. Even mill lacks things like being able to speed up axis over 100 percent with override. I really like the masso concept. A few guys on my FB page. cnc plasma table builders run a masso plasma and struggle with the THC part do to lack of control on screen and features .