14 gage mild steel

[bwshop]

Hi Guys
This is my first post . I need some help to get better Quality cut on my fine detail Art on 14 gage mild steel . I am using a PM1000 Finecut consumables 30Arc current at 60 IPM . I am gettig a whide karf and a lot of dross under the bottom . Could some of you guys tell me your setting who got the same plasma cutter machine .And could some of you guys post pictures of your fine detail art the bottom side before cleaning it up it will be apprecatied
Thank you bwshop

[jimcolt]

You are getting a wide kerf and dross because you are cutting the 14 gauge steel way too slow. Open up your Powermax operators manual to the mechanized cutting charts...and specifically to the FineCut pages.

Use the 220404 deflector shield...and make sure the rest of the parts are in good shape.

Amperage: 40 aMPS
pierce height: .12 inches
Cut height: .08 inches
Cut speed: 135 inches per minute

Of particular importance is the cut height and cut speed. Cutting too slow and at too high of a standoff will produce dross, warpage and a very wide kerf.


Jim Colt Hypertherm

Hi Guys
This is my first post . I need some help to get better Quality cut on my fine detail Art on 14 gage mild steel . I am using a PM1000 Finecut consumables 30Arc current at 60 IPM . I am gettig a whide karf and a lot of dross under the bottom . Could some of you guys tell me your setting who got the same plasma cutter machine .And could some of you guys post pictures of your fine detail art the bottom side before cleaning it up it will be apprecatied
Thank you bwshop

[bwshop]

Thanks for the reply Jim
Should it not work if I lower the AMPS and cut with less speed . The reason is I got a heavy gantry at 135 ipm is pretty fast for my machine . If I can heep it under 100 ipm I seem to be alright
Thanks again will gave it a shot anyway bwshop

[jimcolt]

Plasma dross is always eliminated with speed. If you reduce the amperage....as in operating a 45 amp nozzle at 30 amps...you may be able to find a narrow dross free speed zone at a lower speed....no guarantees...and it will take some experimenting. To cut thin gauge materials you need speeds of 250 to 350 ipm, some entry level cnc machines can cut at that speed....some cannot.

Jim Colt

Thanks for the reply Jim
Should it not work if I lower the AMPS and cut with less speed . The reason is I got a heavy gantry at 135 ipm is pretty fast for my machine . If I can heep it under 100 ipm I seem to be alright
Thanks again will gave it a shot anyway bwshop

[sodfarmer]

I have the same problem as you with the gantry weight. I tried to design a machine that could do plasma as well as router. Lesson learned, if I did it again I would make the machine specifacally for plasma. I have a 1000 also, I use finecut consumables on 14 ga. I run the amps @ 35 and feed rate @ 100. It doesn't eliminate the dross, but the dross I get comes off easy.

[bwshop]

Will gave that a shot also
Thank you bwshop