New to site and plasma cutting!

[mr.stickerz]

Hello all! Im new to the plasma cutting world. My father owned a cnc machine shop growing up so i knew what it was just never did it. He retired from machining about 5 years ago and bought a plasmacam about 2 years ago hoping to work with metal again but in a funner way without the tight tolerances. Unfortunately do to his diabetes his vision has gotten pretty bad since purchasing the plasma and has actually never used it. I lost my job over the summer so i decided im going to get back into the vinyl sticker business that i did back in collage, so iv been hanging out back at the parents house the last month or so dusting off my equipment. SO after walking past this plamacam a few dozen times in the shop it finally caught my attention last week. I spent a few days reading up and watching videos and i think i have it about 90% set up and have pretty much burned up a 4x4 sheet of 1/16 steel doing test cuts and learning the cut software. I can say since then iv forgot about my stickers and spend all day messing the the plasma and all night reading up on this sight.

Iv found there is alot of arts & crafts shows in my area over the winter so im going to try my hand at a 10x20 booth filled with southwest, outdoors, gun, type art and such. my fathers machine shop has been turned into pretty much storage so im going to to start cleaning it out so i can set myself up a killer metal shop. I have lots of experience with vending and selling at shows been doing it off an on for 10 years, so no worries there. i just gotta master plasma cutting and the different ways of finishing. Sorry for the long story!! lol i appreciate the great amount of knowledge iv already learned from the site and all the great members!!! hope to learn more in the future and hopefully share my experiences, thanks so much!!

[Capstone]

welcome to the crazy house. hope you learn some things from the residents

[jimcolt]

Be happy to help you out, my son and I use a PlasmaCam table with Hypertherm plasma as well.....fire away as questions arise!

Jim Colt

[mr.stickerz]

The issue i have currently is my material is warping on the table during cutting and the torch runs into it or sometimes bows in the metal shorten the dimensions on near cuts and they overlap or such. We just bought the plans off ebay to build a water table. any suggestions? im still in set up stages of the machine so im sure i dont have something set right?

[jimcolt]

The cause of warpage is normally cutting too slow, or with too much power. The best way to solve it is to cut fast and at the right power levels. PlasmaCam tables all have height control systems...and if it is working properly your torch will follow the plate accurately....even with a little warpage. Using a water table to control warpage is not the correct solution....water tables are to control smoke and fumes.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

The issue i have currently is my material is warping on the table during cutting and the torch runs into it or sometimes bows in the metal shorten the dimensions on near cuts and they overlap or such. We just bought the plans off ebay to build a water table. any suggestions? im still in set up stages of the machine so im sure i dont have something set right?

[mr.stickerz]

Thanks guys. i have a Hypertherm 45. Im going to look up the cut sheet today and do another burn.

Unfortunately iv already warped the crap out of the sheet iv been testing on with only about a 1/3 cut on. Will i damage the table if i use weights on the sheet to finish my testing on at least? Il do a slow test run first to make sure the head moves clear of all the weights.

[drakus]

Thanks guys. i have a Hypertherm 45. Im going to look up the cut sheet today and do another burn.

Unfortunately iv already warped the crap out of the sheet iv been testing on with only about a 1/3 cut on. Will i damage the table if i use weights on the sheet to finish my testing on at least? Il do a slow test run first to make sure the head moves clear of all the weights.

I use a Hypertherm 45 on my pcam. if you need help with settings feel free to pm me. I cut anywhere from 10 to 32 gauge with little to no warpage.

[mr.stickerz]

Thanks for everyones support! i just made the $20 contribution to the forum also! Iv been too busy helping my parents getting their yard ready for winter to do any work in the shop yet