Does this look acceptable? (Parkside plasma cut)

[Craig-S]

so after faffing and giving up due to having a small compressor, Machinemart entered the inbox with a sale. So off I pop to pick one up. These are the results running the torch along a bit of angle, would you say this is fine or could be better? I have an el cheapo filter coming today, im not sure if will help much though, there is a trap thing on the back of the plasma cutter.

1.5mm steel, new consumables and re-attached the stand off ring thing

Back of cut

Front of cut

full length

 

[finyuk2005]

Looks fine for stainless, its never really quite as nice looking as mild steel

 

[tom2207]

better than a hack saw , a quick rub and it will be perfect .

 

[Craig-S]

better than a hack saw , a quick rub and it will be perfect .

will see if the filter thing helps, its really for just cutting non-straight lines as the metal circ saw is far better albeit much noisier

Looks fine for stainless, its never really quite as nice looking as mild steel

tis mild steel

 

[GRW]

I've never had much luck with my Lidl pilot arc plasma (not used it a lot as a consequence. Not sure if it's not working right or I've got the air wrong or using it wrong - but I've never got a cut as neat as that with mine

 

[Craig-S]

I've never had much luck with my Lidl pilot arc plasma (not used it a lot as a consequence. Not sure if it's not working right or I've got the air wrong or using it wrong - but I've never got a cut as neat as that with mine

to be honest its better going from a 10l compressor to 100l, but i wouldnt say night and day, just a bit less dross. i dare say if i gave it more beans and more air it might be better, but who knows, i just dont really know what to expect from this cheap cutter

 

[GRW]

to be honest its better going from a 10l compressor to 100l, but i wouldnt say night and day, just a bit less dross. i dare say if i gave it more beans and more air it might be better, but who knows, i just dont really know what to expect from this cheap cutter

Looks good to me - I'd be happy with that .
I ran mine off a 100L compressor btw

 

[BrokenBiker]

looks fine to me. they look slightly cleaner cuts than i get with mine, although ive only used it to rouch cut box section down to managable lengths and some practice cuts on 1mm steel.

quick go with a file and they will be good enough to weld

 

[Puglet1]

will see if the filter thing helps, its really for just cutting non-straight lines as the metal circ saw is far better albeit much noisier


tis mild steel

It looks good to me
To make things easier, don’t use the angle iron as a straight edge when cutting your non straight edges.

 

[Craig-S]

It looks good to me
To make things easier, don’t use the angle iron as a straight edge when cutting your non straight edges.

nah ill use box section for curves

 

[badabec]

I always turn mine up to 11, cuts fine.

 

[BrokenBiker]

I always turn mine up to 11, cuts fine.

ive found leaving mine maxed out will produce the same cut quality on 1mm as it does on 5mm, just travel speed that varies

 

[Erie Fred]

The air filtration won't change cut quality much if any, rather it helps with consumable life.

 

[Misterg]

Looks roughly what I get.

I don't use the stand-off (makes it easier to run a straight line with the nozzle against a piece of flat bar). The dross usually pings off if I slide an old wood chisel into it.

 

[Craig-S]

Looks roughly what I get.

I don't use the stand-off (makes it easier to run a straight line with the nozzle against a piece of flat bar). The dross usually pings off if I slide an old wood chisel into it.

I have been using it without the stand off , just thought I'd mix it up and see if I had better results with it or not

 

[Erie Fred]

The stand off is usually for thicker materials, the instruction manual shop explain.

BTW you did have it turned all the way up (amperage) ?
And the air at the proper pressure ? Not just the minimum.

 

[Craig-S]

The stand off is usually for thicker materials, the instruction manual shop explain.

BTW you did have it turned all the way up (amperage) ?
And the air at the proper pressure ? Not just the minimum.

I have the amps to max, the air pressure at 4.5bar. I could always up it. not sure if the manual survived or not but i dont rember it having settings for different materials/thicknesses. and the stand-off is coming off if its not needed

 

[BrokenBiker]

I have the amps to max, the air pressure at 4.5bar. I could always up it. not sure if the manual survived or not but i dont rember it having settings for different materials/thicknesses. and the stand-off is coming off if its not needed

the air is set at 4.5 for everything. you can alter the amps if you want to, but i leave it set at max.

plasma cutting is never going to give you a perfectly clean edge unless your technique is perfect

 

[dave h 2]

It will cut as straight as your angle iron, transferring every little bump and stop faithfully into the cut, I use 3mm wood lath smoooooth. just don't sneeze and if you drag at the right speed the wood hardly gets singed.

 

[BrokenBiker]

It will cut as straight as your angle iron, transferring every little bump and stop faithfully into the cut, I use 3mm wood lath smoooooth. just don't sneeze and if you drag at the right speed the wood hardly gets singed.

ive been using a strip of extruded ally flat bar, 5mm thick. nice flat straight edge, light weight and doesnt burn