It's a disease that has no cure..........WTF did he do now???

[Runs With Scissors]

I am going to try and get some Federal help through the ADA for my incurable "buy-a-tool-osis".

Well a few weeks ago those bastards at Langmuir Systems decided to pull a dirty trick and had a "4 of July sale" and offered $700 bucks off their "Crossfire Pro CNC plasma system."

I am only human and my disability, simply would not allow me to pass that deal up,

So, off we go.

"Shop Space" is getting limited, so I had to make a "command decision" and using using something similar to the "Eminent Domain" doctrine, I requisitioned about 400 more square feet from the "Finished Basement" project.

That project was DOA a long time ago, so no biggie. (hahahah except for the toilet....I did put a sh!tter down there, and it stays...hahah)

The machine came rather well packed, but it does come in "multiple shipments", so you kind of have to "wait for it"

It took about 2 weeks for it all to arrive.

That gave me time to "prep" a "new section" of shop space.

Now I am a yuge fan of painting "shop areas" white to reflect as much light as possible, so after moving all the "crap" from the new shop area, it took 2 coats of "epoxy" to get the floor covered properly.

Here it is "pre epoxy"

And here it is after 1 epoxy coat and some HD lighting......Those 46 inch lights do a fantastic job.

I decide to use a "set up" table to try and keep everything as "organized" as possible (at least for me)

It's almost "go time"....

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I tried to "video" the assembly, so I did not do a great job on taking pics, but i got a few.

The "table" and the X and Y axis beams was pretty simple and straight forward following the directions.

Now for some reason, the I had some "minor difficulty' getting the "bearing plates" and bearings in the proper orientation.

The instructions were good I suppose, but there was some "unnecessary disassembly" in my opinion.

All in all, not a big deal.

I took my time and had about 3 "six hour" days into it.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Now in order to get some of the "bearing plates" for the lead screws on, they for some reason, said that you have to "disassemble" the axis attachment points one at a time.

But being the "old school mechanic" I am, I have this weird aversion to taking things apart when I don't have too.

The Mechanics out there probably know what I am talking about, but it is just against my nature to "disassemble" things if I think I can "get around it" by finding a shortcut. Its sort of a "character flaw" I guess

The crazy thing is that, finding a "short cut" most often takes longer than just disassembling it. So for "one off" jobs it makes no sense.......But alas, I still do it....

There must be some sort of "dopamine hit" I get when I find a "shortcut" because I look for them too often. It's not necessarily smart, it's just who I am I suppose.

The holes for these screws will fit the allen wrench, but they are too small to feed the "cap screws" into, hence thier suggersion to "disassemble" one section at a time.

Well I found that using a magnet and placing the screw at a 90 degree angle, I was able to then feed the allen wrench in and get it "started" then tighten it.

Here I am using the magnet to "align" it.

Then I get the allen wrench "lined up"

And with a little "jiggle jiggle" and some luck, it threads in pretty easy.



Here is a "close up" of me getting it lined up

Then inserting the allen wrench to "grab it"

Here it is all "tighten up"..


Rinse and Repeat for all 6 bearing plates.

FULL DISCLOSURE:

I F'ing put half of the "bearing plates" on "backwards".

Although not a yuge deal, it would make replacing bearing in the future a PITA, so I decided to swallow my pride and just take the time and "fix" them all now.

So my "Magnet Trick" actually did save me a little time.....this time anyway....

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Now that all the "bearing plates" and bearings are installed, its time to intstall the lead screws.

The directions tell you to leave the "lead screw guides" loose and you have to "squeeze them" when you first begin to thread the lead screws in.

The X and Y "screws" are easily identifiable due to their lengths.

They don't expliclty tell you to use a "drill" to thread them in, but "The Laziest Man South of the Mackinack Bridge" is certainly NOT going to thread them by hand,

so break out the Dewalt

Clamp it lightly on the end and slowly spin it into place.

Now it's time to place the "electronics"

The directions are very good here, but you do have to open the box, check a few things, attach it, then close it back up.

And....WALAAAA here we are.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

One of the "complaints" about this machine is that the "water table" tends to leak since it's a 2 piece design (for shipping I suppose)

Well I was going to TIG it shut, but I was "curious"

When they were placed next too each other from the factory, there appeared to be "large gaps" that I thought could be made "better/eliminated" using a "hammer and dolly" before assembly.

I got it "pretty close" and today when I filled it, it did/has not leak/d (knock on wood)

 

[Flintknapper]

Just don't fall on the damn thing!

Looking forward to see it operating.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Now for those of you contemplating getting one of these, the easy part is over.

The damn "computer stuff" is my "Achilles Heel" for sure.....

I have been beating my head against a wall for "weeks" trying to learn Autofusion 360 CAD, SheetCAM, and Firecontrol.....

The software is BY FAR AND AWAY the most difficult thing....at least for an "old cranky dinosaur" like myself.

I ended up having to buy a "cheap windows laptop" to use.

Using my Macbook Air was just "over complicating" things that are already nearly insurmountable to me, so streamlining things was necessary.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Just don't fall on the damn thing!

Looking forward to see it operating.

Hahaha....I "knocked off" all the sharp edges already......

 

[Runs With Scissors]

Well boys, here we are.....

It was "go time" today and man was I nervous.

It took about 6 or 7 "go's" making some adjustments to get the program going, but I'll be damned, it worked.

about 40 seconds later.

BAM!!!!!

Nearly perfect.

I need to make some minor adjustments but I am "super stoked"



I made 1 small adjustment, and cut another piece, and "side X side" you can see the improvement to the small "dimple" that the torch is making.

I feel unstoppable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Here is a quick video of the "second cut"

https://rumble.com/v5a3gm5-langmuir-crossfire-pro-second-cut..html

 

[GreensvilleJay]

re: I feel unstoppable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yeah, right, up until SWMBO comes home and wants HER sewing room........