New/old shape cutter machine | The Tools of the Trade | Forum

I looked at Burny's, but at the time I was shopping, at least 10 years ago now, they wanted $12k for the control head, and another $8k for software, so I just kept on plugging away with optical trace.

I have been running my optical trace machine since 1992, so I know how to make that work.
It hasnt every really broken, though, so I am not that experienced at repairing it, but if you have any questions about patterns or cutting, I know a fair amount.

I run mine with plasma, not oxy-fuel- when I need stuff thicker than 1/2" or so cut, I send it out, everett steel cuts plate up to 6" or 8" with no problems.

Them's nice rectangles. Now you gotta kick it up a notch-
cut a few holes in something, maybe...
These are both just cut from paper patterns, lotsa sharpie drawing by hand.
The big galvanized panel, in Wiggums Hollow Park in Everett, is 4x8 x 3/16" plate.
The bench is about 6 feet long, its just 1/8" and 14 gage, which has been powdercoated.
With my machine, you have to manually locate the beginning of each cut, then push the off button at the end, so something like this is a lot of baby sitting and button pushing.

All steel.
The seat is 16 gage, which is heated and wrapped around the round bar frame.

The only problems I have ever had with my machine, which I bought new in 92, were with overheating resistors- in my case, the one that is in the voltage sensing circuit that measures the plasma cutter voltage to adjust the height- but its true, capacitors can also wear out.

I think I am just lucky that my machine is well made. Its a C&G, which wasnt as big a player as Koike or MG, but has made a lot of machines over the years, and it has always just worked.

I use 4' wide white butcher paper, I buy a roll of it every few years from big paper supply houses- we use it for all kinds of patternmaking in the shop, as well as for cutting machine patterns.
I have never had a problem with the machine not reading sharpie lines.
I do know that almost every machine ever made uses the same electric eye unit, and that they sometimes go bad, and need replacement or rebuilding.
HL-90 or HL-93, I think, originally Westinghouse made.

Something is wrong with the electric eye, or the control circuit, if it wont follow a line. Does yours have the little flashlight bulb, and does it work?
They wont work well without the light.

There should also be, as Gene says, gain controls on the control board, and they may need adjusting.

I am ok with electrical, pretty clueless when it comes to troubleshooting actual electronics- but this is not a very complicated system, and it shouldnt be that hard to fix.