Shop notes
Plasma cutting tables, beds, slats and build-it-yourself kits all come with practical choices. They are made in Epping, with the kind of details that matter in Western Cape workshops and on flat-packed deliveries inland.
Practical choices for plasma cutting beds
Our table range made in Epping includes lite and portable cutting tables, water tables, downdraft beds, replaceable slat packs, frames, structures and DIY table kits. The aim is to help a workshop match the bed style to the material, floor space and clean-up routine it already has.
Some readers are setting up a fresh bay. Others already have gantries, rails or a controller and need only the cutting bed underneath. Our scope stays on the steelwork side of the machine. We make the table, bed, frame and slat hardware. We do not make the controller, power unit or a complete machine.
If you are comparing options, start with the extraction method, the plate sizes you cut most often and whether the job needs portability. From there the choices usually narrow down.
Picking the bed type without guessing
The main split is between a water table and a downdraft bed. Both support the plate and both use replaceable slats, but they handle fume, dust and cleaning very differently. A lighter portable table is a separate route when mobility matters more than extraction hardware.
- Choose a water table when spark capture and fume knock-down matter more than dry dust handling.
- Choose a downdraft bed when your shop is already set up for ducting and dry extraction.
- Choose a lite portable table when the cutting area must move between bays or fit a smaller workshop.
- Choose a frame or structure when you already know the bed layout and want a base built around your own machine arrangement.
In coastal air around Cape Town, water management needs a bit more attention than some buyers first expect. On inland sites the dust side of a downdraft bed often gets more attention than corrosion. The right route depends on what lands on your floor at the end of the week and how your team prefers to clean it.
Water table or downdraft on a real floor
A water table keeps the cut zone close to the water surface, which helps with smoke and hot debris. It suits shops that want a simpler bed area under the plate, especially where finer dust drifting through the bay is a headache. Cleaning usually means sludge handling rather than dry bin handling.
A downdraft bed draws air and particulate downward through the cutting area. That can work very well where extraction is already planned into the workshop and the duct route is properly thought through. It also keeps water out of the picture, which some operators prefer when they are cutting on and off all day.
- Water table: better spark suppression, wetter clean-out, attention needed on water level and corrosion control.
- Downdraft bed: dry extraction route, more dependence on airflow layout, cleaner around water-sensitive stock.
- Portable table: easier to shift, less floor commitment, often chosen for smaller jobs or shared bays.
If your work changes from thin sheet to heavier plate, bed depth and slat arrangement start to matter more than the brochure words. A bed that looks right on paper still needs to suit the daily routine on the workshop floor.
Slats are consumable steel with a service life
Slats carry heat, spatter and the weight of plate, so they wear out. Wear often shows up unevenly. Middle slats often take the hardest punishment, while edge slats can last longer depending on nesting patterns and where piercing is concentrated. Slats do not all fail at the same rate.
Replaceable slat packs make maintenance far less disruptive than a welded-in arrangement. Instead of treating the whole bed as worn, a workshop can swap the affected set and keep the frame. That matters when the table is part of a production line and a full strip-down would stop other work.
- Watch for slats leaning over or thinning badly at the pierce line.
- Check whether parts tip during cutting or catch during retrieval.
- Look for excess dross build-up locking slats into place.
- Measure whether the plate still sits evenly across the cutting zone.
Our notes on slat changes go into more detail, but the short version is simple: if the bed stops supporting plate properly, cut quality and operator time both suffer.
When a DIY kit makes sense
A DIY table kit suits workshops that want the table steelwork supplied in a practical format and prefer to handle the final build in-house. Flat-packed kits are useful where freight size matters, where access to site is tight or where the team already has the capacity to assemble and square the frame itself.
This route is usually chosen by fabricators who are comfortable reading dimensions, checking diagonals and working through assembly in a methodical order. The kit gives you the structural base and related components. The controller and cutting power side are supplied separately.
For buyers outside the Western Cape, a kit can be easier to move than a fully welded table. That makes a difference for deliveries to places beyond the Cape Town metro, especially where the receiving workshop wants to manage final handling with its own lifting gear.
Details worth sending with your enquiry
Good table advice starts with the cut area, material range and the way your shop is laid out. If you already know you want a water table, downdraft bed, portable table, frame or DIY kit, say that early. If not, a few practical dimensions are enough to narrow it down.
- Planned cutting area and maximum plate size.
- Approximate material thickness range.
- Whether the bed must be portable or fixed in one bay.
- Whether you need water handling or dry extraction layout.
- Whether you want a finished table, a frame, or a flat-packed DIY kit.
Workshops in Bellville, Paarl, Worcester and George often have different access, floor and extraction conditions, so those details help. For projects elsewhere in South Africa, flat-packed kit requirements can be sent through our contact form with the intended destination and unloading setup.
Questions we get asked
Do you sell complete CNC plasma machines?
We make the table, bed, frame, slats, structures and DIY kits. We do not sell controllers, power units, complete machines or used machines.
Can I replace only the slats instead of the whole bed?
You can replace only the slats if the frame and main bed structure are still serviceable. Replaceable slat packs are intended for that kind of maintenance.
Do you only serve Cape Town workshops?
We build in Epping, deliver across the Western Cape and ship flat-packed DIY kits to the rest of South Africa.
Tell us about the job
Send sizes, materials and where you are through our contact form, and we will come back with the practical options.
Open the contact form