Technical Optical burning table

So that’s tracer is a $395.00 option


Interesting
Im sure I’ll show my lack of knowledge but I’d guess it’s some software that translates the eye to arclight’s CNC motion.

Anyway that’s a whole lot of ass ache eliminated for just 400 if you already have a their table.

$12,000 is probably a fair price but more than I’d like to spend.
A unit like this from garage fab would get me 120% of what I currently do ( things could grow) plus it would do this my larger project if I laminate the plates up to thickness. Toss some of that illusive $400 alien technology tracer Eye stuff I can’t have and I’d be on it like a fat kid on a doughnut.

 

@31Vicky with a hemi I found this with a quick search, don't know a lot about it. It looks to me that it inputs the points into their software to drive the cnc and you have to use that tracer with their table, but if you already have a plasma it's a good way to get into this for not a whole lot of money. They have a lot of other accessories to. Maybe someone on the G.J. side would have some experience with it, or maybe one of the other forums like practicalmachinist.com would know about it. I've gotta dig into it myself now! Just saw your reply, that looks good too, maybe they have something similar? Cool stuff out there now.

 

@31Vicky with a hemi Check this out
https://www.plasmaspider.com/viewtopic.php?t=29857

 

These guys are using a motor driven pattern tracer torch setup, looks pretty easy to use.

 

Umm, I have been using Solidworks almost since it came out.

This sounds more like a training issue than anything else. Functions like nudge, trim entities, and several others allow you to fudge geometry.

I routinely render complex models in as little as 15-minutes. There is not one single part, with the exception of a set of very custom pistons, that I have modeled in over one hour of work.

If you already have access to Solidworks, you already have 2D CAD software. You just don't specify any dimensions on any other planes, or just select a random thickness.

You make your model, save it as a .DXF, and off you go. You can even print that out, too.

For everyone else that wants free CAD, well, there is exactly that: https://www.freecad.org/

"A parametric constraints-based 2D sketcher
FreeCAD features a state-of-the-art Sketcher with integrated constraint-solver, allowing you to sketch geometry-constrained 2D shapes. Sketches are the main building block of FreeCAD, and the constrained 2D shapes built with it may then be used as a base to build other objects throughout FreeCAD, be it either with the dedicated Part Design workbench or any other workbench."

If you don't have a local cutter, you can use: https://sendcutsend.com/materials/

For those looking to turn sketches into vector graphics, that can be followed by a machine, there is: https://inkscape.org/about/overview/

There are solutions out there, and most of them are free.

Buying equipment is cool and all, but only really makes sense if you are operating a business.

If you are not, your time would be better spent learning to use some of the free programs, and sending the work out. It would come out better, you would have it quickly, it would cost less, and you won't have extra equipment taking up space in your shop.

Yesterday, I made a upper mount for a steering gear box. I computed the maximum speeds and feeds that I would have been able to implement were I to have made it on the manual mill. Not including tool changes, it would have taken 4.5-hours.

I rendered it in 15-minutes, and it dropped onto the chip conveyor 6-minutes after I clamped the block in he machine. Round that to 25-minutes to include deburring, and then compare that to 4.5-hours. 10-minutes later and it was in the car.

Time is money. Time is not free. Money is not free. You can make more money, but that takes more time.

You cannot manufacture time.



Expensive, yes, but it paid for itself in 189-days.

Would I buy this to have in a home shop? Hell no!

 

Same here.

I have already done this for several people on this board.

People make it sound like new technology was somehow developed to make life, and commercial operations more difficult, instead of the opposite.

 

I agree with you completely @gimpyshotrods about new technology being beneficial. You just have to be willing to embrace it using the methods you outlined and work with it not against it. Most shops that had cutting edge direct tracer technology back in the day have probably either gone away from that as machines and software got updated over the years or gone out of business because they did not keep up.

I have a few local shops that could work off of a cardboard cutout, but you would have to pay to have it scanned in and have the geometry cleaned up. It's a pretty quick and easy process, but not all shops like the small jobs like that. I would rather do this conversion (or draw the thing from scratch) myself so I can alter geometry to my needs on my own time, and then just pay the shop to do the cutting for me on a multi hundred thousand dollar machine.

It's sounds like if the OP can post some pictures there are numerous people here that draw it up in a format that modern shops can drop into a machine and press go.

 

I think it’s on sale .

 

I’m going with the arcdroid.
Close enough to what I’m looking for.
Not quite but maybe more .