[rubberdown]

I am tired of making prototypes for myself on a manual milling machine or waiting for my laser shop to get prototypes finished so it is finally time for me to order a 4x4 CNC Plasma table.
Pretty sure its going to be an Arclight 4800 with the Hypertherm 65 Plasma. Just ironing out a few more details as its a lot of doe and its a long ways from Oregon to Niagara Falls Canada LOL.

With all my research and all the youtube videos I have seen, I have not found anyone showing or talking about what the underside of the cut parts looks like, I mean, is there a lot of slag? Is the edge finish pretty nice as far as a finished part that could be lightly sand blasted and powder coated? Or does it look like a flame cut or hand held torch cut part done my someone that just does it by hand with no consistent speed or control? I know that when I have used my hand held plasma, its not a very smooth or nice finish at all, and I KNOW this is all me, not the machine or the process of cutting steel. Do the parts require disk grinding/sanding after cutting or is the technology so good now that this is something I dont even need to worry about?

In case it matters, most of the stuff I will be cutting ranges from 1/8" to 1/4" thick mild steel and the occasional 1/8" to 1/4" thick aluminum, but thats the bulk of it.

Thanks.

[Mike 1948]

I would figure you will have to hit the underside(maybe the top also) with a flap disk. Especially the aluminum. They can be clean(kind of) but not to the point where you could cut then powder coat.
Just my opinion

Mike

[plain ol Bill]

If you follow Hypertherms cut charts (which are VERY close) you can expect very good cut quality with a minimum of dross on the back side. What dross you will find can be brushed off easily using a knotted wire brush on the end of a 4" grinder. All in all you have made a good choice of equipment!

[BarnFab]

I know thread is a bit old but thought I would comment. 95% off the stuff I cut gets used without any further clean up unless I am Tig welding it. The amount of dross you get is very minimal if at all once you have it dialed in. If you go with an Arclight you will get a very good tool set in SheetCam which will be spot on most of the time and allow you to cut most materials without any changes. The water table with mean most dross falls off without issue.

I cut a lot of aluminum and make fuel tanks with it and the only clean up is prior to tig with a rag and some cleaner.

Anyway I am sure you will be happy if you go with a CNC Plasma and choosing to go with a company like ArcLight CNC will ensure that if you do have any issues they will be dealt with quickly and their training both on line and in person is some of the best out there.