Cutting Thin Material

[Kody]

I have a growth 4x4 with a powermax 65 and have a customer that wants parts cut out of 0.02 aluminum. Was wondering if anyone has done that before and could give me some input on it. Thanks

 

[bigjoe]

Put some expanded metal underneath, so when torch comes down it won't push and deform the the metal When ohmic sensing . Depending on part size of course . I just cut some .030 alum. @ 25 amps , 125 ipm

 

[LECS-Chad]

Use the FC consumables. You will probably need to drop the amps to about 30 ish. Run a line speed test to verify

 

[Larry Cameron]

I have a growth 4x4 with a powermax 65 and have a customer that wants parts cut out of 0.02 aluminum. Was wondering if anyone has done that before and could give me some input on it. Thanks

I have cut hundreds of butterflies from .02" copper and it works just great, just have to set my pierce height a bit higher to allow for flex. Using 2x4 POWERMAX 45 with 30amp consumables set at 20 amp , 130ipm

Larry Cameron
RusticMetalArt

 

[Ray Avelino]

Hi, Im new here. Im cutting 1.0 mm - .08mm thk stainless steel and I cant seem to find a good AMP and speed combination. Im using flexcut 125 with 45A nozzle with my TM 4800. I first start out with the recommended setting in FC125. But its too much for 1.0mm SS. I'd like to know what your settings for cutting stainless steel are?

Just now, I cut 1.2mm stainless steel at 35A with F50 and minimal dross, pretty ok result but dont you think 50ipm is a bit slow? My FC125 cant go lower than 30A. suggestions?

SOmetimes the cutting just stops - the flexcut says "shorted pilot - check consumable" when Im cutting thin mild steel and stainless steel. But then when I check the consumables, there's no major damage. And after I test cut again, it works. Is this normal for thin sheets?

I think Im gonna try the expanded wire underneath the thin SS sheets.

I hope there is a comprehensive guide on cutting thin sheets. Thanks

 

[LECS-Chad]

SS is a little bit of a trick to get to cut "nice". Being it is a harder surface the settings will never really make "sense" with how they work. For your super thin sheets of SS you are doing the correct thing in dropping the amperage and the feed rates. With that plasma machine FlexCut 125 you can use Nitrogen instead of Compressed air and your SS results will come out WAY better. Just make sure you have a high pressure regulator.

As for the "Shorted Torch" error that you are getting. First: Put your work clamp direct to the material as the issue you are having is a ground issue and the torch is not able to get a good spark to start. Two: Verify your electrode. Three: Clean air.

 

[Ray Avelino]

Thanks for the input. Ill play at the range of settings for now. Maybe ill increase air psi to 70 too. Getting a lot of nitrogen is a bit of a problem here in my area. If i can do it ill report here the result.

Im just concerned coz ill be cutting 20+ sheets 4x8 at a time and id like to make it faster. The less dross the better.

Work clamp: check, the moment i did this, the incidents lessened by around 50%
Electrode: check. (no major damage too)
Clean air: check. I have a separate regulator and filter.