Hypertherm or Thermal Dynamics?

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I am planning on using the plasma cutter with CNC as well.

which one will ernie leimkuhler pick???? everyone's got thier cash out, now where did the heck ernie get too?

Hypertherm is the only way to go for a CNC setup. I have a Hypertherm 1100 that I ordered with all the machine provisions although I haven't had it connected up to a cnc machine yet.
tim

I think I saw he somewhere over...there. Nope just another Jackalope.
For CNC Hypertherm.

I have had a TD Cutmaster 81 for a little over a year with zero problems. With the new contact start machines the consumable life is as good or better than Hypertherm. The Thermal Dynamics 81 I have has spent 99.9% of the time on my CNC table and I would purchase one again.
Steve Peterson

All this Jackalope talk -
I've seen one - or a stuffed one :-)
And a bear trap - with teeth - around a boot with a ranger star attached.
Oh - that was in Noel ? New Mexico near Bonetia sp dam.
Martin
Ernie Leimkuhler wrote:

I have the cutmaster 101 on a cnc table. I am just getting up to speed on it though. I had a real hard time trying to get the table maker to believe that a Thermal will work on a cnc table. It used to be that Hypertherm was about the only way to go if you wanted ease of setup. Now with the Thermals new torch and other things they did to the cutmaster series, they work wonderful. I have the Thermal machine torch that is the same as the hand model but 180 degrees. The cutmaster 38 has been cnc ready the whole time. That is another sweet little unit.
Ps- you will not find a better guy in the welding world the AL that runs Thermal plasma stuff. You will get great support.

The reason Thermal Dynamics machines weren't approved for CNC table is the older ones had high frequency start the newer plasma cutters have a contact start system as the 38 has had for quite some time. Works great! I agree about the support. I had some questions about running smaller tips on my 81 in order to get a narrower kerf and I didn't even get put on hold like allot of other tech lines. What brand of table do you have? Steve

" Steve I just got a 5x10 practical cnc table. I have been talking to the local reb about setting one up for awhile. This guy out here in Oregon is the best rep bar none (Bob). Al from Thermal send me a nice email saying if I needed anything contact him. He sent me some info that has helped me already. I talked to the Bob about him and low and behold Al runs the whole Thermal-Dynamics show. He has run other parts of Thermadye too. That is service when you get the top dog helping the little guy out.
What tips are you running and do you have AHTC? I would guess you have a plasmacam?I like there software but I think by the time The bob/cad gets its upgrades it should be a very good setup too.Bob-art is just out now and some nesting and other things are on their way in a month. Plasmacam has this stuff already but I don't care as long as they are working with the stuff I got.
Scott

How are the Thermo 101's on "actual" cut rate (inches per minute) and cut edge?
Do you get a good edge at high speed? How's the piercing ability?
When I check out the specs it's only half of the 1250.
Thermodynamics 101 : 39 ipm, 1/4" mild steel, 40A, 100% duty cycle Hypertherm 1250 : 74 ipm, 1/4" mild steel, 40A, 100% duty cycle

The data below is taken from the Thermal Dynamics SL-100 1TORCH manual (CUTMASTER 101 uses this torch)and the Hypertherm Powermax1250 operating manual.
CUTMASTER 101 with SL-100 1TORCH Operating Manual No. 0-2962 Page A-13 Amps @ 106 Volts 1/4 mild steel Shielded tip style consumable Recommended speed @ 112 IPM
Powermax1250 Operator Manual 803950 Revision 0 Page 4-2 (Hypertherm manuals are not publicly posted online)) 80 Amps @ 134 Volts 1/4" mild steel Shielded nozzle style consumable Fastest speed @ 161 IPM Best Cut @ 105 IPM
Al