Z axis and wavy lines confusion

[McCordDesign]

Hello PlasmaSpider Community!

Wanted to reach out to see if I could get some help. I bought a slightly used Wright CNC 4x4 with Hypertherm 45xp to replace my smaller Langmuir Crossfire and I’m trying to work some of the mistakes out.

1. Not used to the Z Axis so I’ve been trying to make sure all the steps are correct. But I seem to be missing some, in Fusion360 for CAD/CAM I’ve been trying to set the clearance height, retract height and top height correctly but can’t seem to get it right. Any tips or tricks for Fusion 360 in setting the Z Axis correctly?
2. Also is there steps in Mach3 that I need to complete to get the Z axis working properly?
3. I’m getting this really wavy cut as well when cutting, Just by looking on the forum this morning I feel like it may be my cutting direction and yesterday I was thinking it was the torch tip(but it does have a new one now) and then possibly the alignment may be off( and I have no idea how to align such a big machine)

So with that said any tips would be much appreciated !

Thanks, Ricky!

[acourtjester]

There are many things that can cause wavy lines, I don't use Fusion 360 but some here have said it is not good for Plasma cutting. Another thing about the drawing you use keep the line width very small. I use Inkscape and set my line width to about 0.005" this can be hard to see on larger drawings as they become lighter in larger drawing at that width.
Other things can be mechanical movements where the table is not rigid enough, a simple way to check is to attach an ink pen to the torch and use it to draw on paper. There are posts here showing how many have done this to show table movements.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tet2rRsqBts
Her is a video on checking the table for square, this is for a router but the same for plasma table
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU0iZKajpoo&t=722s

[plasmanewbie]

I can't be of any help on Fusion and Mach3 but as for your wavy lines I notice it happens after the torch changes direction so its likley that the torch is not securely mounted or you have some slop in your machine.

[McCordDesign]

Thanks, I’ll give those things a shot.