plasmacam question

[ironhorse]

I was just wondering if anyone has successfully cut mild steel plate without using the height sensor? Can it be done successfully?

Thanks in advance,

Greg

[weldor2005]

plate, sure. there isn't a lot of distortion to plate, just manually set the z height. and then you wont have the ability to raise and lower between cuts.

Thinner stuff than plate will have some bow in it and that might cause some issues with this practice.

[ironhorse]

plate, sure. there isn't a lot of distortion to plate, just manually set the z height. and then you wont have the ability to raise and lower between cuts.

Thinner stuff than plate will have some bow in it and that might cause some issues with this practice.

Thanks for that. I am attempting 1/4 " plate using powermax 30 can you suggest an adjustment for z height? And should I be adjusting the arc voltage? Thanks I sure appreciate your help.

Greg

[weldor2005]

I'm sorry, I do not have a PM30, but looking at the specs in the manual, everything has a stand off distance at 0.06", so that would be my starting point. Then I would try 30ipm, and no clue about the voltage.

You would have best luck getting suggested specs from Jim, as I have not tried this setup before. I do know that you should be able to get a fairly consistent height on the plate without THC. Of course having it, I would recommend it.

[ironhorse]

Thank you so much for your suggestions.

[ironhorse]

OK, here is where i am at with the settings for 1/4" but as you can see in the pictures I got a long way to go, the dross is super bad. Any suggestions please?

Thanks,

Greg

[muzza]

Sorry I don't have a cut chart for PM35 only a 45. Assuming that 1/4" is within the spectrum of a PM35 looking at your kerf width and dross I would suggest your cut height is way too high and pierce height way too low. Pierce is generally done at about 250% of cut height. PM45 lists the cut height as 0.06 (half of what you have), try dropping it down and a pierce height of 0.15 (double what you have). Also piercing at that height you have possibly already killed your nozzle so have a look at it to make sure the orifice is round.
Murray

[ironhorse]

Lol... oh yea I burnt the nozel. Ok I am gonna ghange as you suggest. Wish me luck lol. Thank you so much.

Greg

[ironhorse]

Sorry I don't have a cut chart for PM35 only a 45. Assuming that 1/4" is within the spectrum of a PM35 looking at your kerf width and dross I would suggest your cut height is way too high and pierce height way too low. Pierce is generally done at about 250% of cut height. PM45 lists the cut height as 0.06 (half of what you have), try dropping it down and a pierce height of 0.15 (double what you have). Also piercing at that height you have possibly already killed your nozzle so have a look at it to make sure the orifice is round.
Murray

Ok tried those settings and definatly an improvenent but still a ton of slag. I try set the cut height to 0.06 but my machine changes it automaticly to 0.056 not to sure why I can't change that lol.

[AnotherDano]

PowerMax-30 settings for .25" plate that worked for me.

Settings for .25 plate.jpg (143.05 KiB) Viewed 2974 times

Settings for .25 plate example.jpg (134.96 KiB) Viewed 2974 times

[weldor2005]

Well that second one is a heck of a lot better.

It is changing it automatically to adjust for your Z shift setting.

Does look alot cleaner cut this time though. Sorry that you have to do trial and error for this one.

Also, if you do not use THC, then I recommend cutting tread plate with the treads down, so that you have a flat unobstructed surface for the cutting head.

[AnotherDano]

Well that second one is a heck of a lot better.

It is changing it automatically to adjust for your Z shift setting.

Does look alot cleaner cut this time though. Sorry that you have to do trial and error for this one.

Also, if you do not use THC, then I recommend cutting tread plate with the treads down, so that you have a flat unobstructed surface for the cutting head.

If you are referring to mine, I WAS using THC with the tread down.

[ironhorse]

Again, thanks all for the advice and again, thanks dano. Those settings really helped me get a start point to successfully wrap up the job. All the best everyone... This site is amazing and surely worth a whole lot more than $20.00 for membership. It's people like you that don't mind taking a moment out of their time to share some advice or share some art that make PlasmaSpider a success.

Greg Brownell

[weldor2005]

You are welcome, and Dano, I didn;t even realize it wasnt posted by Ironhorse, Sorry.