TORCHMATE gantry CNC shape cutting machine - A full functioned automated flame cutting machine that uses your personal computer

The Torchmate II Super-Duty CNC gantry kit was over a year in development. Improved over the standard Torchmate in a variety of ways, it is comparable in construction and performance to industrial CNC plasma cutting machines costing $50,000 or more.

Torchmate II kit includes our 3 axis Windows-based electronics and driver software. Motors are 135 oz. in., and use a 3.4:1 reduction via timing pulleys and belts. This results in 459 oz. in. of usable power. The unit is powered on both sides via a 3/4" diameter drive shaft. We supply the components to do this other than the 3/4" cold roll round bar, which you purchase locally.

The heavy extruded aluminum gantry unit comes 90% finished. You make the simple drive shaft, paint the steel brackets, and bolt it together. You fabricate the rail system from locally purchased steel to save shipping dollars.

Kit completion time is approximately 16 hours -- probably no longer than it would take to bolt together a light duty machine that comes in a box.

	The Torchmate II Windows based CNC gantry kit is pictured in the thumbnail image to the left. Click on the photo to see a large photo. The gantry itself is approximately 95% finished with only a couple of minor fabrication steps remaining. You build the rail system from locally purchased steel. It is a simple project that can be completed over the course of a weekend. We provide full instructions.
	The Y axis uses a super-precision linear motion cassette with eight 1" diameter needle bearing rollers riding on hardened and ground rails. Load capacity is an amazing 4,518 pounds. The carriage is fitted with replaceable felt wipers at both ends. Hardened cap screws secure the rail assembly every 3" to the machine's heavy extruded aluminum frame. It is possible for a man of normal weight to stand on the roller cassette and have the machine carry him on both axes.
	The machine rides on a three point support system comprised of 1" hardened and sealed needle bearing cam followers with a dynamic load rating of 2,225 lbs. each. It is guided laterally by identical cam followers. The rails are 1/2" x 4" cold roll flat bar. Cold roll bar is quite precise--usually under a thousandth of an inch in tolerance. By using mild steel rails, the cam follower surfaces will never wear. Should the rails wear slightly over the years, they can be replaced quickly and economically.
	SolidWorks illustration of the gantry carriage. Effective in September, Torchmate purchasers will get an instruction CD which includes this SolidWorks 3-D model of the gantry portion of the machine. They can rotate the gantry and see it from every angle, and zoom in on any part of it to see the smallest detail. This requires the SolidWorks Viewer, available free at: http://www.solidworks.com/html/downloads.cfm
	Torchmate offers a simple kit that allows you to support a full sheet of material up to approximately 3/4" thick. Slat support brackets have laser cut slots, into which you insert 3/16" x 3" hot roll steel slats. These are sacrificial, and can be first inverted, and then individually replaced as necessary.