Some encouragement from a complete noob

Can’t say enough good things about my ArcDroid :slight_smile:

At times I need some convincing so for those in a similar place to me, here is hopefully some encouragement. I’m an older weekend garage type trying to work on my cars, no real skills and Youtube is my instructor, mostly (mostly dangerous?)

The ArcDroid arrived from Machinery House Sydney recently and after sourcing some of the recommended 18ga shielded wire I got it up and running. I didn’t want to open the case on my Everlast 3-in-1 so I soldered it onto the two pins inside the external Everlast connector per the picture below. Works a treat. Calibration was fairly painful with the shuttle jumping off the triangle, mostly towards the end of the third rail. Got there in the end with plenty of lessons for next time.

I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler (possibly the issue with the calibration!) so my previously limited attempts at free-hand plasma use were… not encouraging. Even a small plasma table is just ridiculous $$ and I don’t have the space anyway.

So I started with a quick test cut using SimpleTrace. That was enough to get me interested so I downloaded the free F360, watched some vids and the result is below. It’s a simple plate to mount the castors onto the frame the ArcDroid is on. But wow, I’m going to need some more steel sheet to play with, cause this is fun.

My setup is;
Everlast PowerPro 205D - 3-in-1 Stick|AC/DC Tig 200a|Plasma 50a (think it’s called a 205Si in some regions?)
Chicago Air Hush150 Silenced Air compressor - CFM: 14.45 @ 100psi (410lpm FAD)

No tuning yet - based on googling I started cutting with 40a, 0.9mm tip, 70psi. The castor mount is 3mm hot rolled steel and I used feed rate of 2000 mm/min. No cleaning - thats how it came off the floor.

@Andrew if this invention of yours isn’t flying off the shelves - I just don’t get it. Big thanks for making CNC plasma accessible!

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@urq81 Thanks so much for sharing. I’m really glad you are enjoying it!

@urq81 it’s addictive isn’t it!? You and I must’ve gotten the same bug. :joy:. Since the ArcDroid, I see things thru a new lens - what sheet metall can I salvage off the piece if junk. Remember, practice makes perfect, both with the Droid & Fusion360. Always challenging myself to fab the next thing I feel I need. BTW, I use the Everlast 256Si. Great machine like yours. Never had any issues. Connected the torch similar to you, but used a separate pin connector rather than the same as the torch - take a look around eBay. I also reached out to @Amp_Mechanic_JB for his voltage divider for THC. Works great. ArcDroid using Torch Height Control - YouTube.
You’re absolutely right, if you’re willing to put the time into learning/experimenting, and it sounds like you are, the sky is the limit with the ArcDroid.

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Yes, definitely addictive.

Dropped a message to @Amp_Mechanic_JB about a divider. That THC could be really handy.

I also grabbed a video of the cut on my second project here,
Wombat First Cut

Some adjustments needed to the drawing in F360 but really close. I used GIMP and Inkscape to make a jpg then convert to svg, before importing to F360.