[MAS]

I need some help guys. A lot of times I have to make thick base plates that my plasma cutter won't pierce.
So I have to edge start and set a jog speed at the travel speed for the plate thickness I want to cut, start the torch and jog making just straight cuts.
I would like to jog the torch down to 1/8" above the plate then turn on the plasma then use my pendant to jog and cut out a square for example.
When I try this with the AVHC in manual operation the torch wont fire and that torch going up and down at the speed of sound makes me nervous edge starting, I'm always worried its going to get hung up on the edge of the plate. What I did the other day was position the torch, jog it down to 1/8" above the plate, switch off the AVHC unit, then I plugged in my Hypertherm on/off pendant to control the torch then cut the piece.
Is there a easier way to do this without disconnecting the AVHC unit?
Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

[treynolds]

Have you thought of pre-drilling the material for a pierce start rather than an edge start?

[NathanAtSplash]

How thick are you talking about? I have had no problems piercing up to 3/4" mild steel with very little problems.

[modelaratrod]

I've had luck starting the pierce right on the edge, I line it up with the laser cross hair and run the AVHC in auto and just draw a line in cad a little longer than the piece I'm ripping, the torch will go out when it moves off the end of the plate.