- Thread starter AdrianH
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Hood
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LOL16mm show off.
I don't usually do very thin stuff, steel is normally in the 10-25mm range, stainless has been thinner, 2-20mm range and Alu 3-20mm so far.
Well a parcel arrived today from CPC a few cables for CCTV, fine and what should have been a few MOV's.
But instead of getting some of these type of things:-
I got two of these:
LDR's anyone or Light Dependent Resisters?
Love it when a plan comes together.
Adrian
But instead of getting some of these type of things:-
I got two of these:
LDR's anyone or Light Dependent Resisters?
Love it when a plan comes together.
Adrian
WorkshopChris
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LDR's anyone or Light Dependent Resisters?
Love it when a plan comes together.
Lets just hope you get the new components sent out ok.
Hopefully it was just a missed picking location.
But it not unknown for stock to be put in a incorrect location and you end up getting another parcel of LDR's.
Then it's the fun of trying to speak to someone who can deviate from the script in front of them and get someone to physically go to the warehouse and find the correct parts.
gerrymoore
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I've made a little video of the floating head in action but the site doesn't recognise an mpg file? Anyone know what format the video should be - or do I upload it to youtube and put in a link?
daleyd
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I think uploading to you tube and linking is the easiest option Gerry.
gerrymoore
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Thanks guys - here's the link
apologies for the shaky cam etc. as in a bit of a hurry trying to sort out my car problems.
Hood
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Ok so if you have any slope at all in your material, whether that be from warpage or dross on the slats, then the arc will either get longer or the torch will touch down on the material.
Touching down would kill my nozzle in a split second. If I used the drag consumables then it would likely be ok for a while but I would be concerned about it snagging on things such as pierce dross or previously cut sections.
The difference may be you are using thinnish material and the pierce dross does not build up much but cutting 16mm stuff, especially stainless and there can be quite a large pileup of dross at the pierce.
Touching down would kill my nozzle in a split second. If I used the drag consumables then it would likely be ok for a while but I would be concerned about it snagging on things such as pierce dross or previously cut sections.
The difference may be you are using thinnish material and the pierce dross does not build up much but cutting 16mm stuff, especially stainless and there can be quite a large pileup of dross at the pierce.
gerrymoore
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All I can say is it works well for me..obviously you're working with completely different thicknesses and plasma torch.
Hood
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And that is what it all boils down to, if it works for you then it is perfect. Always good to see how others do things and what works for them.
As I said previously I really should have taken more time and care to get things level but as I was always going to use a THC then it didn't really matter too much and I was needing to get it up and running before the Cheetah Catamarans, I was about to fit out, arrived so time was short.
Well I have to report, the correct parts turned up yesterday, so I set about trying to sort out the repair, used some tinned copper wire to replace tracks and placed the cap and MOV in the hole.
re-fitted the air coil.
and put it all back together again.
I must admit that yesterday all I did was apply power and be glad it did not go pop again.
Today I gave it a good test, back on the CNC. I have spent hours drawing up a project and here is the outcome.
It all slots together so the head can face either way.
The obligatory cup for scale.
Cheers
Adrian
re-fitted the air coil.
and put it all back together again.
I must admit that yesterday all I did was apply power and be glad it did not go pop again.
Today I gave it a good test, back on the CNC. I have spent hours drawing up a project and here is the outcome.
It all slots together so the head can face either way.
The obligatory cup for scale.
Cheers
Adrian
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Thanks, I also have a new board just in case it goes again and I can't fix it.
Reading your's and @gerrymoore comments on here has me thinking, I do have problems with THC and the water table, basically I am getting to much water back on top and on the torch, so I need to fit a sort of shield or deflector to keep the water down. Most of the splash back is from adjacent holes in the metal, so I need some form of flexable disk above the nozzle, I need a think about some form of ptfe or heat safe material for it.
It would b easier to run small cuts without THC now such as the holes and heart shapes in the tail pieces above, but when I do the outside cut could do with switching THC on as that is when I am more likely to get distortion. There was a post on Plasmaspider about it a day or so ago, I must have a read and try to learn how it is done.
Adrian
Reading your's and @gerrymoore comments on here has me thinking, I do have problems with THC and the water table, basically I am getting to much water back on top and on the torch, so I need to fit a sort of shield or deflector to keep the water down. Most of the splash back is from adjacent holes in the metal, so I need some form of flexable disk above the nozzle, I need a think about some form of ptfe or heat safe material for it.
It would b easier to run small cuts without THC now such as the holes and heart shapes in the tail pieces above, but when I do the outside cut could do with switching THC on as that is when I am more likely to get distortion. There was a post on Plasmaspider about it a day or so ago, I must have a read and try to learn how it is done.
Adrian
The water was spraying on the torch at one point. It did stop the Mach 3 from moving as the arc volts must have gone out of spec. I still do not fully under some of the actions of Mach 3 but it will come in time as even with THC on if the plasma goes out it does keep moving for a few mm and I never manage to get it back to the last cut point!
But it's fun, You can tell this is a hobby set-up my 16 gauge steel is getting surface rust.
Adrian
. It did stop the Mach 3 from moving as the arc volts must have gone out of spec. I still do not fully under some of the actions of Mach 3 but it will come in time as even with THC on if the plasma goes out it does keep moving for a few mm and I never manage to get it back to the last cut point!But it's fun, You can tell this is a hobby set-up my 16 gauge steel is getting surface rust.
Adrian
I really must get the water spray deflected away from the torch and Z axis as it caused me issues with the zero sensor switch tonight, had to start the cut in a few places because of it. But it is still working even after the last repair, travel speed is a bit faster now up to 2,200 mm/min.
This was my cut test piece tonight.
I must stop using that door as a cutting board
My interpretation of the Tree of Life.
Done in 1.5mm, should do it in thicker steel as even with the water spraying around it could lift with the heat to over 10mm in places.
It was fun trying to keep it flat dodging the torch.
Adrian
This was my cut test piece tonight.
I must stop using that door as a cutting board
My interpretation of the Tree of Life.
Done in 1.5mm, should do it in thicker steel as even with the water spraying around it could lift with the heat to over 10mm in places.
It was fun trying to keep it flat dodging the torch.
Adrian
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gerrymoore
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Well done...that's a very difficult piece.
I don't have any THC or water spray and I work in mostly 1.5mm and never really suffer with the steel deforming...perhaps you have the amps too high..I use 20 amps on 1.5mm....and could probably get by with lower. Another method is to cut small bits in different places so the steel doesn't get too hot in one place. If you use sheetcam you can use different 'layers' to move the torch around the work.
Do you get 'hard' dross on,say, the ends of the leaves...whenever I do this intricate type of work I get hard 'knobs' of dross when the torch has changed direction quickly on an edge.......it's a pita to get off without damaging the job.
I don't have any THC or water spray and I work in mostly 1.5mm and never really suffer with the steel deforming...perhaps you have the amps too high..I use 20 amps on 1.5mm....and could probably get by with lower. Another method is to cut small bits in different places so the steel doesn't get too hot in one place. If you use sheetcam you can use different 'layers' to move the torch around the work.
Do you get 'hard' dross on,say, the ends of the leaves...whenever I do this intricate type of work I get hard 'knobs' of dross when the torch has changed direction quickly on an edge.......it's a pita to get off without damaging the job.
I was using 28 Amps and that was as I had the cutting speed at 2.2 metres a minute. I could probably take it down to 25Amps but need to do further testing. Finding that as it goes faster there is less dross on the back of the piece and it is easier to remove.
It is a change from the 900mm min I would normally cut at.
Adrian
It is a change from the 900mm min I would normally cut at.
Adrian
I managed to cut one without any errors tonight, so seem to have the Z probe switch sorted and anchored finally.
Tip ups were an issue as I could not just lift them out of the way. But you may manage to see the differences between this and the first picture, 450mm diameter.
Adrian
Tip ups were an issue as I could not just lift them out of the way. But you may manage to see the differences between this and the first picture, 450mm diameter.
Adrian
