The Australian Education Reporter
Jaymac CNC Plasma: Versatile, safe and easy-to-use
JAYMAC is an Australian owned family business dedicated to supplying quality products and services to the welding, engineering, agricultural, mining and education sectors since 1980.
Jaymac CNC packages provide users with incredible versatility in design and manufacture. Jaymac directly imports the revolutionary Us-manufactured Plasmacam CNC Cutting tables and renowned Hypertherm plasma machines. These are coupled with a computer and various accessories to provide an ‘all-in’ total package that is easy to set up and easy to use. The included Designedge software is designed specifically for plasma cutting and quickly creates impressive designs. Almost any shape – from scanned images to computer fonts to common drawing programs (CAD & dxf) – can be easily imported, edited and reproduced.
Traditional programming and processing steps are eliminated and replaced with a graphical interface, which allows users to work directly with the images they want to cut. This eliminates unnecessary importing and exporting between multiple programs – designing, cutting and modifying is all done on a single platform.
In October 2011 Mulwaree High School in NSW took delivery of their CNC Plasma package from Jaymac – the first public high school in the State to own a machine of this kind.
The setting up of the new computer-aided plasma cutter would allow the Mulwaree School to go up to another level in both the traditional metal areas as well as the creative areas.
Mulwaree high school art metal teacher Bill Dorman first heard of the Plasmacam from a Sydney company, Almec, which did laser cutting on a commercial scale.
“Almec were donating a whole lot of their sheet metal offcuts to the school, and one of the company’s engineers said I should look at this Plasmacam, which was a mini version of what they used,” he said.
“What I had was lots of access to sheet metal for nothing, and that was the logic behind the Plasmacam.
“Within two weeks we had the money together; it was about $20,000, which was affordable, but the hardest thing was getting approvals through the department!”
More than five years later, Mr Dorman said Jaymac’s after sales service and support was still ready to lend a hand.
“Jaymac themselves have been really, really helpful,” he said.
“I have a pretty good hang of the machine, but every now and again if there’s an issue they are still happy to chat.”
As a teacher, a metalworker and sculptor, Mr Dorman said the hardest thing for kids was cutting the metal. With the Plasmacam, students could draw something up in CAD or the Plasmacam software – ranging from uncomplicated designs to something far more complex – and the machine would cut it out.
“With year 7s we can keep it fairly simple, then with the Year 11s and 12s we can do all sorts of intricate work,” he said.
It is a serious machine too. The students are able to cut anything from .8mm to 10mm thick; accurately, cleanly and safely. The machine’s 1.2x1.2m footprint is also ideal for smaller workshops.
“I did a test one time with one of my year
7 classes, and I got them to draw up a car,” Mr Dorman said.
“In 45 mins we went from no design, to drawing it, converting it, cutting it out, bending it up and spot welding it together.
“A simple, square bonnet car with windows and some wheels and an axle – just as an exercise to see what we could do with it.”
Designedge is by far the easiest CNC Plasma software to learn and teach in the industry.
If you are looking inject some exciting value-add to your metal arts class, Jaymac is well worth a call!
1800 809 362 | www.cncplasmacutters.com.au