Hypertherm powermax 85

Hello all,
Im new here and have some questions and hoping I can be pointed in the right direction.
I will be building a cnc table for a plasma cutter. I have never built anything like this and the only similar experience I have is with a ender3 3d printer and a reprap years ago. So little experience with arduino and little with raspberry pi4. 
From the research I have done I think I want to stay away from Mach3 and use linuxcnc. I would like to run it off if a pi4 and it appears I need the Mesa 7c81 board to make this. I’ve only been reading forums and watching videos the last two days on Linuxcnc and the mess 7c81 and there isn’t much in the 7c81. 
Where is the best place for me to start on what and how to get the pi and the mesa set up and do I need any other board between that and the stepper drivers? Has anyone here made a plasma cutter with this configuration? If so would you be willing to share pictures and information.

waiting to hear back from you guys.


ET

The Mesa 7i96s might be a better choice for plasma and if you pi does not work out, you can use it with another PC
THis video of mine goes through some of the basics of using mesa cards

I have a number of plasma related videos there as well. Be sure to watch the ones showcasing qtplasmac which is part of linuxcnc 2.9.1 which has just been released. Also read the plasma primer and the qtplasmc docs which are both available in the linuxcnc docs.

Wow, thanks for the quick response rodw.
I will definitely be watching the video and reading those. I definitely see my lack of knowledge here but am determined to make a functioning cnc table. So if it requires a lot of reading and a lot of questions that’s what I will be doing the next few weeks. I want to make sure I purchase the correct items, I’ve learned from past experience cheaper low quality products cost more in the long run and make my hair more gray.

Thank you for the links

Question. Why is the Mesa 7i96s a better option then the 7c81

Etkoehn wrote:

Question. Why is the Mesa 7i96s a better option then the 7c81

Maybe I'm biased but the pi has questionable performance for linuxcnc although the new 2.9.1 image seems OK.
If you have a 7i96s you can move to a PC if the pi does not cut it.
The mesa cards are designed to work with the THCAD2 for reading torch voltage, the 7c81 probably can too but is the performance the same? I don't know.
I think stepgen performance may be better on the 7i96s
The Mesa 7i96s has additional firmware  to allow up to 3 encoder A's so you can add an extra THCAD for ohmic sensing (if it can be supported on your torch).

But the most important feature is redundancy as you are not tied to the Pi

That makes a lot of sense. Thank you

I’m not sold on using a pi, I just that it would be easier to do… but like I said I don’t have a lot of knowledge on this note. As far as controlling big machines. I see no difference, if it can control a small one well it can control large ones well. Now if it can’t control small ones well, then nothing will change with the size.
What type of computer would recommend to use… budget friendly. I would prefer to stay away from used. Thanks for the advice