[DEEDEE]

Hi all,
Was wondering if any of you guys could give any advice on which plasma cutter i could buy to add to cnc table, the cutter will be used for mostly 3mm mild steel cutting, and some 5mm, if cost of the cutter is not taken into consideration, and the quality of the cut is more important, is it just a case of the more money that is spent, the better the machine,

what i would like, would be a machine that would cut 3mm mild steel parts, with no slag left after, and as good an edge quality as possible, i had been thinking of co2 laser, but the price does give you a little kick on the ass, i am prepared to spend the dollars on a very good plasma or hy def plasma, if there is a machine out there that could give me near laser quality on the 3mm, also any guidelines for cutting speed with any machines you guys could tell me of would be very much appreciated.

Thanks all in advance for any replys

Good Luc
DEE

[NC Cams]

What about a water jet???

The American Chopper guys seem to like their "flowjet" and a jet should easily cut 3mm steel. No slag for sure with this puppy.

[DEEDEE]

hi nc cams,

I like the waterjets, they would leave a good cut, and they run at allot lower price compared to laser, or cnc punch, but they are very slow, the flowjet guys said they would cut 3mm mild steel at 800mm a minute, although the cutting heads can be doubled up to make the machine faster, and they could cut upto 100mm in a wide range of materials, its still worth considering them, but are still allot of money, and by the time i bought a waterjet and added more heads to make it faster, it would be nearing the price of a punch or a lower market laser.

I still like the thought of a good plasma, surely there bound to be a good plasma cutter that could manage 3mil plate well.

Thanx for your input nc
Regards
DEE

[NC Cams]

Keep this in mind:

If you cut mild steel, the high temp of laser or plasma pretty much fries the steel locally. THis causes edge decarburization which can lead to premature cracking in cyclically stressed parts.

The black fried zone is a give away to decarb.

A water jet can't/won't decarb but it may not cut the fine line of a laser.

Lazer cutting decarb caused premature cracking of heat shields used in automotive exhaust application (1.5 to 2mm material). Production stamped parts were unphased by the vibration as the edges were sheared and rolled.

Point is: You can't just look at cost when you start using hitech cutting systems, especially if you may cut parts of alloy steel and/or those subject to vibratory fatigue.

[rmacguiver]

the real problem with a plasma cutter is the tapered cut, 3.5 to 5 degree taper from top to bottom. not noticeable on sheet steel but o damn! look at that on 3mm steel plate.there are hi def plasma cutters that minimize this natural tendancy(somewhat), but the folks on this site take their measuring real serious.... you could cut then grind up to the top edge on the outside. the decision on this is yours alone to make. only you will be affected either + or- by the choice. measure many times $cut once$

[accuratemike]

I use a torch & 00 tip for .125" & .250" steel quite a bit. Can't help with the decarburization, but the edge is straight. The parts I have been making lately are for an R/C car (pretty small), the torch works very well. Much cheaper too. I have less money in my torch table (complete) than a decent plasma machine. MIKE