PlasmaCAM Advnaced Motion Control?

[Metriccar]

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience or seen improvements when upgrading to PlasmaCAM's advanced motion control. It looks very interesting. It adjusts speed when cutting smaller holes.

How would this (a PlasmaCAM with said motion control and a Powermax air system) compare with a high definition plasma system (without True Hole), namely a HPR130 (not XD) with Hypertherm Edge 1 controller cutting a 1/4" hole in 1/4" thick mild steel?

[jimcolt]

The HPR130 is a $30k (plasma system only) high definition plasma cutting system. If it is mounted on a precision industrial machine with a good height control and good CAM software it will cut faster, with better quality and at a lower cost per foot as compared to any Powermax system. The 130 uses oxygen as the plasma gas and air as the shield gas for cutting steel, it is 130 amps at 100% duty cycle, liquid cooled torch. If the machine has goof motion control a 1/4" hole will be nice and round, with virtually no edge hardening (you can tap the hole if you desire). Without True Hole technology the hole will have about .020" taper (smaller at bottom than top). With the Edge control you will need an office computer to draw your files and for CAM post processing, this cannot be done at the cnc control......as most industrial applications want the operator cutting metal, not fiddling with the machine. The HPR130 can pierce 1" materials

The PlasmaCam with a Powermax is designed for smaller shops. Most of the Powermax units have duty cycles in the 60% or higher range. These systems use air as the plasma gas so expect a nitride hardening on cut edges on steel. A 1/4" hole programmed correctly will be round with about a .040" taper. You can draw and post process your cut files at the machine.....which is what most small shops desire.

From a high productivity, long consumable life and productivity, cut quality....the HPR130 is the best choice assuming it is mounted on a good quality cutting machine.

The advanced Design Edge software allowed me to stop using AutoCad and Corel for my projects. I can use Design Edge for almost all drawing, and it opens up some motion control features that previously only were available on high end industrial cutting machines.


Jim Colt

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience or seen improvements when upgrading to PlasmaCAM's advanced motion control. It looks very interesting. It adjusts speed when cutting smaller holes.

How would this (a PlasmaCAM with said motion control and a Powermax air system) compare with a high definition plasma system (without True Hole), namely a HPR130 (not XD) with Hypertherm Edge 1 controller cutting a 1/4" hole in 1/4" thick mild steel?

[icmplasma85]

Just got advanced software, including height and machine control, and its definitely worth it. You can set it so that the machine slows down on curves and circles, and you can also index sheets thru the machine so you can cut pieces larger than 4x4. I can cut holes on my plasmacam that look just as good if not better as the true hole technology we have at my day job.