Cutting on Perforated Materials

We have a Growth Series 4x4 table and we are trying to cut an image out of 16 gauge stainless perforated material that has 1/8" holes. The torch head will drop down, make contact, start the cutting and stop when it reaches a hole. Any suggestions or tips on how to cut on this type of material?

Happy Holidays!

Bentup

 

I copied this post from Jim on a different site


When you switch to the expanded metal mode on a Hypertherm system... line with two dashes.. The system senses the loss of current flow through the metal and switches back to pilot arc current at high speed to maintain the arc. As soon as the torch approaches the metal again, the current rapidly ramps up again.

It takes a bit of experimentation to make this work...to get the speed right so that the arc cuts all the way through the material when it has to restart. I have had good luck cutting perforated steel up to about 5/16" thick with myPowermax45. (perforated steel has a lot of holes punched in it....the arc often has to cut across the holes). Expanded metal is generally quite a bit thinner gauge and seems to work pretty well. For mechanized cutting shut off the height control....or the torch would be diving on all of the holes!

Make sure for normal cutting that your plasma is in the cutting mode. Normal cutting with the switch in the expanded metal position will cause shorter nozzle life, and may also affect cut quality.

Jim Colt Hypertherm