The moped / GT500 comparison is implying speed difference, which is a moot point if a slower THC can keep up with slower cutting conditions. It's only valid when a THC cannot keep up, as the cut speed and voltage rate of change becomes too fast.tcaudle wrote:A Moped will get you to the store just as easy as a Mustang GT500. Maybe not as fast, maybe not as comfortably and perhaps a bit wetter in the rain but if your goal is to just to GET there then why spend the extra bucks?
Just a few observations though.
. You shouldn't be crossing over other kerfs/voids to begin with . That is Pilot Error . Only time you should cross a kerf is at the ending of a closed object as it approaches the beginning. That occurrence can be stopped using a Velocity Anti-Dive because the trajectory is going to slow down as it decelerates at the end,
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I don't know a single Engineer or Programmer that does not think they can do a better job on a design or software than any other person. I think its part of the personality of those trades.
Regarding crossing kerfs / voids. Operator error or not, nearly every decent plasma system has this facility built in, obviously it seems to be a required feature. As you said a great many cuts are closed objects and these have lead ins/outs, and therefore a kerf is crossed every time with these. So kerf crossing is a very common and basic part of plasma cutting and is therefore most often NOT Pilot error. You could also get someone using a piece of metal that has a small hole drilled in it, or whatever, and the torch path crosses this. But at the end of the day a top end high performance system should have it included (void lock) as a basic function.
Sorry Tom this bit has completely gone over my head:
That occurrence can be stopped using a Velocity Anti-Dive because the trajectory is going to slow down as it decelerates at the end.
Velocity anti-dive is normally set as a percentage of feedrate, and automatically turns off the THC when the feedrate drops below that percentage speed. I tend to term this "Corner Lock" as opposed to the very different "Void Lock" (kerf crossing). Due to deceleration when changing direction for instance the torch can be forced to slow down, and so the THC gets temporarily disabled until the torch accelerates out of the corner and regains a speed above the velocity anti-dive setting. So not sure what you are saying in the above statement and how it's applied to kerf crossing.
And not sure where you are going with Engineers/Programmers doing a better job on a design. I'm only trying to get some facts sorted so users are not led to believe they need a super fast high performance THC when they are doing jobs that simply do not require it. How good or bad any of us are with design has little relevance to what we are talking about.
I started this thread because I was wondering how far a basic THC UP/DOWN system can get me before I need a higher end PID controlled THC system. Now it seems to have turned into warnings of doom and gloom (if you don't have the latest top end THC) for cut quality and consumable life even when cutting at very slow speeds.