Not Far Off now! New Pipe Cutter Accessory!

[tinspark]

Very simple and ingenious design. Thanks for the share!!

[adbuch]

This looks interesting! If I didn't already have one of the Plasmacam stand-alone pipe/tube cutters, I would probably pursue this. It's never a problem to have too much information about new ideas for these sorts of things. Right now I've just got too many other irons in the fire - so to speak.
David

[Joe Jones]

I also played with a design that lays a track on the grates, and uses a trolley that rolls over the track on 48" conveyor rollers. The tube rests on top of the two rollers, and rotates in the opposite direction. This works similar to the direct roll method (above)but it just takes a different approach. The track is 3/4" square tubing with 3/8" cold roll steel round bar tack welded on top. This makes for a very minimal point of contact between the round track and the round conveyor rollers rolling on the top center. This is very smooth, as almost no plasma dust can be caught in the contact point between the two round surfaces.

The track and trolley could be hoisted to the ceiling above the table, and lowered to the table grates when needed. Then a simple connection between the gantry and the trolley provides the X movement with no additional belts, or gears, or anything.

The trolley frame has rope pulley wheels that roll on the 3/8" round stock to keep it aligned. The conveyor rollers can be positioned at any two points along the frame and thus provide for cutting round cylinders up to 60" or larger in diameter! The challenge is getting the torch to the top center of such a large tube while still connected to the carriage riding on the gantry tube. I have solved this problem with the cutter I am building, which is like neither of these.

The carriage would run on the gantry Y axis as usual, but the torch would need to be extended out over the top center of the tube for cutting.

Joe

[Joe Jones]

The dual flat plate design can theoretically cut any length of pipe up to 6" in diameter, with my rail riser kit installed onto the table. It raises the rails so a tube or pipe can be inserted over the grates from the side of the table, and under the rails. A third square tube "track" could be set up level with the other two, but outside of the table on either side or both sides, for the additional pipe length support.

Rather than the flat plates, they could be redesigned to allow the four wheels to come down onto the pipe from two directions, and the pipe could extend beyond the plates in both directions, or even out beyond both rails of the table.

Joe


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