12-15 Degree Taper on 16 Ga - Powermax 85 Sync/Shopsabre

[tylermfgco]

I have a new Hypertherm Powermax 85 Sync and a Sidecick 10 table that I've been doing quite a bit of 14-16 ga work on. I am able to get a real nice cut overall, but having trouble reducing the taper. I'm getting 12-15 degrees on 16 Ga with new FineCut consumables. Is this normal? I'm using book settings, but have tried tests where I raise/lower cut speed and arc voltage, but have had almost no change to my taper. Torch is square to the table and consumables for this test were brand new, but doesn't seem to get much worse with older consumables. Any advise gladly accepted here!

[djreiswig]

Are you cutting at book height for the Sync? I think it's higher than the original PowerMax 85.

[tylermfgco]

Yep, Sync book settings for FineCut High Speed. Maybe so, I don't have any experience with previous version.

[adbuch]

In general, the thinner the material the greater the taper. Try cutting some thicker material - maybe 1/4" , 3/8", and 1/2" and compare the results.
David

[tylermfgco]

In general, the thinner the material the greater the taper. Try cutting some thicker material - maybe 1/4" , 3/8", and 1/2" and compare the results.
David

I have definitely had better results out of 1/4-1/2 material. Seeing 2-4 degrees out of that. Was just hoping to get better with the thinner material since that's been the majority of my work lately. Do I just need to expect a lot of taper on thin material?

[acourtjester]

So you know the Plasma stream is the shape of a candle flame, so cut height is very important. I would question the book spect for cut height, I don't have a Sync, With my PM 65 fine cut is lower at 0.060" at 45 amps.

fine cut.JPG (39.69 KiB) Viewed 1294 times

[tylermfgco]

So you know the Plasma stream is the shape of a candle flame, so cut height is very important. I would question the book spect for cut height, I don't have a Sync, With my PM 65 fine cut is lower at 0.060" at 45 amps.
fine cut.JPG

That's a good point. I'll try running some with the settings from your chart and report back. Thanks!

[robertspark]

cutting the right direction?

https://www.plasmaspider.com/viewtopic. ... 769#p64144

[cutnweld]

If I remember correctly, I think Hypertherm stated 0.100" cut height for the sync models

[Jason@bc]

I have a Hypertherm 85 cutter, when cutting 16g or lighter with the finecut consumables the only way I can reduce taper is if I slow down the cut speed, it makes for a lot more dross but the edges are not as tapered. I have to spend more time getting rid of the dross of course....but I have nicer edges, kind of a trade-off you could say.

[adbuch]

In general, the thinner the material the greater the taper. Try cutting some thicker material - maybe 1/4" , 3/8", and 1/2" and compare the results.
David

I have definitely had better results out of 1/4-1/2 material. Seeing 2-4 degrees out of that. Was just hoping to get better with the thinner material since that's been the majority of my work lately. Do I just need to expect a lot of taper on thin material?

I believe the answer is "Yes" - according to Jim Colt.
David

[adbuch]

I don't know about the sync cartridges, but for the Duramax they offer both right hand and left hand swirl rings. The right hand swirl rings are meant to be used when cutting in a direction such that the good side of the cut is to the right side of the direction of motion of the torch, which is 99.9 percent of the time. There will be less taper on the right side edge for this scenario. So in either case, cutting in the wrong direction for a given swirl ring will leave the edge with less taper on the scrap side of the part. So Robert has a good point about cutting in the correct direction. I'm guessing and assuming that you already are, and this may just be a manifestation of the sync cartridge. Do you remember getting less taper with your Duramax cutter?
David

[weldguy]

It is hard to tell from the pics but it looks as though your taper is the same on both side of the part, tapering outward from the top to the bottom.

I snagged this picture from the PS knowledge base forum which may be of some help. See the image on the right, this is what I think may be happening in your case, torch too high. This gives you that same top to bottom outward taper on both side of the part.

If you can pause the machine mid-cut and measure the distance between torch and material with a feeler gauge, I would be interested to hear what that measurement is.

You can then try reducing your arc voltage to reduce the cutting height, maybe go 5 volts at a time and see if you are noticing the cut edge begin to square up.

[tylermfgco]

So you know the Plasma stream is the shape of a candle flame, so cut height is very important. I would question the book spect for cut height, I don't have a Sync, With my PM 65 fine cut is lower at 0.060" at 45 amps.
fine cut.JPG

I followed the 16 ga settings per your 65A chart and got a clean cut, but I'm looking at around 20 degrees on my bevel. See attached. Per weldguy's advice, I stopped paused the torch mid-cut and checked the height with a feeler gauge and it was right at .060. This is with THC off. If I use THC @ 78V, the tip drags as soon as the THC delay is up.

[tylermfgco]

I don't know about the sync cartridges, but for the Duramax they offer both right hand and left hand swirl rings. The right hand swirl rings are meant to be used when cutting in a direction such that the good side of the cut is to the right side of the direction of motion of the torch, which is 99.9 percent of the time. There will be less taper on the right side edge for this scenario. So in either case, cutting in the wrong direction for a given swirl ring will leave the edge with less taper on the scrap side of the part. So Robert has a good point about cutting in the correct direction. I'm guessing and assuming that you already are, and this may just be a manifestation of the sync cartridge. Do you remember getting less taper with your Duramax cutter?
David

I'm using a CW motion on the outside and CCW on the inside. I don't believe Sync offers right hand and left hand options, but please correct me if I'm wrong. My machine is brand new and came with the Sync system, so unfortunately I don't have another setup to compare to.

[adbuch]

I am not as adept at holding everything and taking a picture at the same time, so I measured the angles first and then took the pictures of the scale on the protractor. I measured a few sample parts that I had laying around - one 11 ga. and one 16 ga. The protractor will get you close, depending on ones eyesight. If I needed accurate measurements of these angles - I would set it up on my optical comparator. I can only get repeatable readings within a few degrees trying to do it by hand for these thin parts.

The parts shown below were cut on my Plasmacam DHC2 with a Hypertherm Powermax 85 using FineCut consumables at book specs. I really don't pay much attention to bevel, as that is just par for the course with plasma (as opposed to laser). I am more concerned with the functionality of the parts. I like a nice looking edge finish, which can sometimes be "hit or miss" depending on circumstances.

David

11 ga. part

16 ga. part

[acourtjester]

Ok you have seen that the THC voltage is not tracking correctly, so the thing to do is create a new chart of the cut voltages for each metal thickness.
Run cut operations and verify a straight cut at the correct cut heights with the THC off and observe the THC voltage, enter that into your chart. Now you will have the voltage for each metal thickness that works on your system. You cannot change the electronics but you can compensate for them manually, to get the results you want.

[adbuch]

I think Tom might be suggesting that you experiment with your cut height. I believe that you have already confirmed that you are cutting at the correct "book" height. You might also consider taking a look at the off cuts (drops) to see how the taper compares with your actual part. As Jim Colt has said, Hypertherm goes to great lengths to ensure that the values in their mechanized cut charts are accurate for the consumables and materials - but perhaps you have particular circumstances altering the results.
David

[weldguy]

I would first off determine what height gets you the squarest cut. You mention .060 is producing a 20 degree taper and if that taper is consistent around the entire perimeter of the part simply reduce cutting height by .010" and try again to see if taper is reduced.

Once you find the cutting height that is working best for your on this thickness of material you can now introduce the THC system and find the voltage value that will achieve the cut height your want. Document this voltage and begin creating your own cut charts as Tom suggested.