Students seeking Guidance and Collaboration for CNC Plasma Cutter with LinuxCNC

Hello LinuxCNC community,We are a group of engineering students working on our semester project – building a CNC plasma cutter using LinuxCNC as the control system.Since we are developing the machine from scratch and learning LinuxCNC at the same time, we would greatly appreciate the opportunity to discuss and receive guidance from experienced users. We are particularly interested in understanding potential challenges, key considerations, and best practices for setting up LinuxCNC for our machine.Brief Overview of Our Machine:

• CNC plasma cutter with X, Y, and Z axes
• Z-axis with a ball screw and linear guides
• Floating head with a proximity sensor as a probe input
• Plasma cutter with a voltage divider and THC (Torch Height Control)
• LinuxCNC control, likely using Mesa hardware
• Torch Height Control (THC) integration via Mesa THCAD-2
• Voltage divider (50:1) for plasma voltage feedback
• Probing system for automatic height sensing before cutting

We have already explored various existing solutions, but we would love to hear from those with practical experience in setting up and running a CNC plasma cutter with LinuxCNC.Some key topics we would like input on:

• Choosing the right hardware (drivers, Mesa cards, sensors)
• Configuring LinuxCNC (HAL, INI, probe input, THC integration)
• Common challenges and pitfalls when setting up a plasma cutter
• Best practices for calibration and fine-tuning

If anyone is willing to share their expertise or discuss this with us in more detail, we would greatly appreciate it. A virtual meeting would also be very valuable for us.Thank you in advance for your time and help.Best regards,
Ibrahim Al-N and the 4.semster students at Absalon Kalundborg (Denmark)