recently purchased this plasma cutter, with no info on it concerning software, hardware, etc. could anyone just give me a very basic idea of what im working with here........Im very familiar with industrial 3D printing tech, so if I could just figure out where to start with getting this thing off the ground, or identifying potential issues obvious in the pics, it would be greatly appreciated!!!!!
Looks like it is running Nema34 stepper motors (could be Nema42, can't tell the size from a pic). Pretty simple to get it up and running with open source software and hardware, change the controller out for the new Openbuilds Apex controller with some external stepper drivers for the motors, create your tool paths using Fusion 360 software. If the plasma cutter itself is working, you should not have to spend too much to resurrect this machine. If you can get the model number and manufacturer of the stepper motors, we can figure out how much current the stepper drivers will need to handle. First thing to do before spending any money on it would be to test the individual components like the plasma cutter itself, and power supplies. If the plasma cutter itself does not work, I would not go any further with the project, at that point best thing to do would be to harvest the working components for another build.
Does it turn on when you plug it in? How about a few pics inside the electronics cab. Like Tony said check the torch, but it can likely be fixed if it is down.
The company that built the machine or controls is still in business. You may want to convert this to opensource hardware, but a call out to them with a serial number may give you a lot more information. They have servo and stepper motor models. candcnc is what is on the controller and a quick google search found them.
