On Tue, 07 Feb 2006 21:23:36 -0600, with neither quill nor qualm,
"Martin H. Eastburn" quickly quoth:

I own a 4' x 4' plasmacam machine with a Hypertherm 600 on it.
It has a powerful Cad Cam tool that will import dxf but the machine
uses G and Servos - Large Servos.
It, the plasmacam machine now is a 2 1/2 axis machine - the 1/2 is the Z that
will follow up and down the surface of metal - say - metal roofing that are wavy.
Often metal varies across a 4' sheet - and the controller senses the arc voltage
and maintains it.

The cost is about the same - you buy a computer - and a plasma and an air source (large)
and space - don't forget exhaust of the metal mist - plasma meta can be bad to breath!!!.

If you want to talk - or see pictures - their website is good and we can talk.
http://www.plasmacam.com/

Those Torchmate systems look pretty neat but the Plasmacam looks like
a much nicer and better developed system. How much did the entire
system set you back?


--
Unfortunately, not only do scientists have an incentive to cry "crisis,"
so too do the environmental advocacy groups need crises. Without them,
how could advocacy groups justify thier pleas for donations? Nearly
every American gets bulk quantities of junk mail warning them of ozone
depletion, topsoil erosion, resource depletion, diminishing biodiversity,
and global warming. The money the advocacy groups collect is spent on
lawyers, lobbying, propaganda, and the salaries and perquisites of the
headquarers staffs. The media also have a strong incentive to report
"crises"--they must sell newspapers and airtime after all. So there it
is--an iron triangle of scientists pleading for research funds, interest
groups who need crises to justify their existence, and a press that needs
to sell papers. No wonder people are frightened.
--Ronald Bailey in "EcoScam"