Diamond Plate Project with PP205 Plasma with Pics

[Buggy Chief]

I just installed aluminum diamond plate for my flooring of my cargo Trailer. I had to rip 4' x 10' sheets as well as make circle holes to accommodate the tie down anchors. My Plasma cutter did an amazing job. My lines were perfect and true. I accomplished this by buying the instruments from plasmahelper.com. I also made the diamond plate cabinet from scratch and welded it with my PP205. Really enjoy working with it.

[posixPilot]

Buggy,

Excellent looking cuts! And I really like the guide system that you found. A couple of questions about the guides ... What size of collar did you use for the A81 torch? Also, how does the center pivot of the circle cutter attach to the base metal?

Edit: Never mind, I see that you have a different torch ... It just looks similar to the A81.

Thanks
Mike

[Ray]

Buggy,

Excellent looking cuts! And I really like the guide system that you found. A couple of questions about the guides ... What size of collar did you use for the A81 torch? Also, how does the center pivot of the circle cutter attach to the base metal?

Edit: Never mind, I see that you have a different torch ... It just looks similar to the A81.

Thanks
Mike

looks like the S45.

[Buggy Chief]

You guys are correct it is the S45 Trafimet.

[sportbike]

Trailer looks very nice. I may do mine with rubber tread plate. it's a bit bigger than yours and would take quite awhile and cost a small fortune to use aluminum.

[everlastsupport]

Very nice. Off to see what plasmahelping tools they have on their website. And try not to spend any money.

Did you have the diamond plate or buy it at current prices? Sure it was not a cheap venture, but it does look nice.

How think was the plate and what type of sub-fllor or structure?

[Buggy Chief]

Very nice. Off to see what plasmahelping tools they have on their website. And try not to spend any money.

Did you have the diamond plate or buy it at current prices? Sure it was not a cheap venture, but it does look nice.

How think was the plate and what type of sub-fllor or structure?

I bought the diamond plate and it is .063 thick and sub floor was 3/4" plywood. I ended up buying 4 x 10 sheets. I really had to search for a great price. I ended up buying it for about 1/2 of what i was paying. I live in Charlotte and found the metal supplier that supplies all of the Nascar teams called stock car steel. I think about $100 per sheet. Thanks for the positive feedback.

[everlastsupport]

Ahh, so laid it over old floor. Makes it look nice $$$.

That is not a bad price on the diamond plate. They get $95 for 5'x10' 3/4-9 steel expanded down here.

[Buggy Chief]

Ahh, so laid it over old floor. Makes it look nice $$$.

That is not a bad price on the diamond plate. They get $95 for 5'x10' 3/4-9 steel expanded down here.

Pretty much tried to make it easy on myself. I then got 3/4 aluminum angle to trim out the job. As far as price...I just asked around and kept digging until I found a supplier with great pricing. The good thing about Stock Car Steel is that they don't have minimums. I can literally buy a 1' piece of flat bar at a great price. They will cut and give you just what you need.

[everlastsupport]

The angle trimmed it out nice. It looks rich and nothing wrong with doing it the easy (smart) way.

Down here we have the little steel cartels and they all talk. I am lucky to have a friend that owns an iron work shop and another person that owns a scrap yard. Hurts when I have to pay the metal people the real price. But sometime they let me slide too. If I bought more there I would probably do better. We have to work every angle we can. My guy will sell me whatever size I want, but seems always better to buy bigger and lug it home.

How does the circle guide for you. Was it smooth? I am making one (magnet) so will not work on aluminum. I see they get $80 for it. Looks like it did a good job. How does the V attach to the aluminum, drill a hole?

[Buggy Chief]

The angle trimmed it out nice. It looks rich and nothing wrong with doing it the easy (smart) way.

Down here we have the little steel cartels and they all talk. I am lucky to have a friend that owns an iron work shop and another person that owns a scrap yard. Hurts when I have to pay the metal people the real price. But sometime they let me slide too. If I bought more there I would probably do better. We have to work every angle we can. My guy will sell me whatever size I want, but seems always better to buy bigger and lug it home.

How does the circle guide for you. Was it smooth? I am making one (magnet) so will not work on aluminum. I see they get $80 for it. Looks like it did a good job. How does the V attach to the aluminum, drill a hole?

Yes, you just drill a hole with aluminum. Comes with a magnet too. The circles were about 3.5" diameter and I imagine it will go down to only about 3" and as big as you want (given you provide threaded studs). I actually bought the normal wheel kind with the guide rod that attaches and didn't like how flimsy it was. I am a guy who appreciates precision and this guys plasma tool guides (plasmahelper) is all machined out of aluminum and really nice stuff. I am very happy with the purchase and the precision is dead on. Finally, the circle cutter is smooth and if you need to reposition, it works fine too. The PlasmaHelper site is not the best, but I ordered and communicated with the guy through email and he shipped right out. I bought all 3 off his offerings. Hope that helps.

[everlastsupport]

I like the circle cutter. Do not want to pay that much but when you look at what you get it is a deal. I watched the video, funny his battery died in the one demo. Flipping the 1/4" and magnet tab inside you can do smaller circle cuts. What do you think the smallest circle would be (with the S45), he has a WG60P torch, I like them but we do not sell them anymore. My A81 is a little larger than your S45.

[Buggy Chief]

I like the circle cutter. Do not want to pay that much but when you look at what you get it is a deal. I watched the video, funny his battery died in the one demo. Flipping the 1/4" and magnet tab inside you can do smaller circle cuts. What do you think the smallest circle would be (with the S45), he has a WG60P torch, I like them but we do not sell them anymore. My A81 is a little larger than your S45.

I would say around 3" diameter is the smallest circle. Watching the videos is great as you can see exactly how the apparatus performs. great if you need to replicate many different holes.

[everlastsupport]

I would say around 3" diameter is the smallest circle. Watching the videos is great as you can see exactly how the apparatus performs. great if you need to replicate many different holes.

He flipped the middle mounting piece in (flipped it inside) the video and looked small, but good point the torch thickness and overhead times two. The video made it look like 1-1.5" Will have to watch it again.

[Buggy Chief]

He flipped the middle mounting piece in (flipped it inside) the video and looked small, but good point the torch thickness and overhead times two. The video made it look like 1-1.5" Will have to watch it again.

Yup, just flipped the anchor point and put a caliper on it and it is 1.5" (radius); so 3" diameter.

[PlasmaHelper]

Buggy Chief, Glad to see the plasma guides worked out for you. Project came out real nice. Just ran across this thread when viewing my site stats. Would like to add your images to the site if it's OK.

later, DeWayne

[Buggy Chief]

Buggy Chief, Glad to see the plasma guides worked out for you. Project came out real nice. Just ran across this thread when viewing my site stats. Would like to add your images to the site if it's OK.

later, DeWayne

Not a problem. Thanks for quality products!

[everlastsupport]

Yup, just flipped the anchor point and put a caliper on it and it is 1.5" (radius); so 3" diameter.

It was a guess (pretty good one), but that is not bad at all, 3". The guides look like the're of good quality for the price. Looking into the ripper and might pop for the circle guide too. Mine circle guide worked OK, but was not perfect by any means.

[Winky]

The project turned out great ... looks awesome. I was wondering if there is a plasma guide system that would allow you to make free hand type cuts but steady your moves to the point that it would resemble a cut made w/ a CNC system ... something like a guide used for cutting out lettering in wood with a router. I used to see these things at vendors booths at fairs and amusement parks ... they produced name and address signs. They weren't lay over templates but rather a set of guide arms that were manipulated remotely by hand. If no one has come out with something like this someone should, there would be a market.

[Buggy Chief]

The project turned out great ... looks awesome. I was wondering if there is a plasma guide system that would allow you to make free hand type cuts but steady your moves to the point that it would resemble a cut made w/ a CNC system ... something like a guide used for cutting out lettering in wood with a router. I used to see these things at vendors booths at fairs and amusement parks ... they produced name and address signs. They weren't lay over templates but rather a set of guide arms that were manipulated remotely by hand. If no one has come out with something like this someone should, there would be a market.

There is one. I know I saw it not too long ago...It had a manual actuating arm...seems like it was on another forum.