Plasma table + 4th axis

It sure is easy to put off posts!

I've got the gantry pretty well designed and started 3d printing parts for a mock fit.

 

 

The gantry coming together with 3d prints. 



I over designed and over engineered this in the name of training - and fun. 


Stiffness is a nice thing to run fea on since its all relative so you dont have to be nervous of the results. 


After some crazy lightweighting I got to machining all these pockets. This was another part of the learning curve. I payed attention to my programs, tool usage, and machine time. Trying to think more about the job shop rather than a person having fun without regard to cost. 
 

These are some of the coolest looking parts I've ever machined. After all the work with lightweighting the 4 main parts of the x/z stage I was able to reduce the weight to 49 percent.

 

 

 

I am also switching from rhino over to the dark side (fusion 360) for their far superior cam package. Very pleased with all the features I keep learning about.

 

I got a 7i96 a while ago and recently picked up a 7i44 to break out to stmbl drives and realized the head pin cable connection is 26 vs 50 pin. I hope I didn't mess up there. 

 

Got myself a view sonic 24" TD2430 touch screen. Works great with linux cnc so far with my little testing.
 



I also got a WHB04B-6     6 Axis Pendant after finding some good info on it in the forums. Hopefully its not too challenging to setup. The build quality feels great so far! 
 

Parts look awesome!

Can anybody comment on the compatibility of the 7i96 and the 7i44? I looked up the pinouts for the 26 and 50 pin connectors and it doesn't look promising.
The whole point of using a 7i44 is to connect to the stmbl drives.

If it turns out to be a big hastle I will just order a 7i94 like my buddy has and be done with it. Of course that might mess with the ability to run a thcad for torch height...

Mesa 7i74 is a 25 pin 8 SSerial board, same as 7i44.
That still leaves you with 7i96 and THCAD and STMBL, and probably cost less.
-
Never had a 7i44, but see if there is a possibility of using a 25pin header on both sides (one side of the connector to 7i44 will have to be ground a bit as not to bend the pins on insertion) with flat ribbon cable, and if that makes it possible to use part of the 7i44, maybe 4 channels?

Oh yeah I see the 7i74. Looks like I just ordered the wrong one.
I will buy the 7i74 and skip any headache of trying to get the 7i44 to work.

Thanks for the help tommy!