Post up some settings!
-
thebuilder
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2018 10:26 pm
Post up some settings!
Ive had my table for going on 6 months and have used it for a bit and i'm still finding it difficult to get the settings prime for what i'm cutting. Can everyone that's posting pics of their work post up the settings of the tablet, amperage and tip size? Maybe i'm overthinking it but sometimes I can get some really nice cuts but just not consistently. Just wondering what everyone else's experience has been with cutting different thincknesses/detail work. I'm sure the table is way more capable than the operator (me) in my situation. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Re: Post up some settings!
For consistent cuts you have to control all the variables.
- Inspect your tips before every cut, set up a change-out schedule once you have a feel for how long they stay within tolerance for you
- Make sure your air is dry. Drain your tank often. Put some blue indicating desiccant beads in your water separator (NOT the one on the cutter, you should have one in addition to the one on the cutter). If the beads turn pink quickly, you've got too much water in your lines.
- Keep an eye on torch height -- torch height control is great, but it's not perfect. Crouch at the edge of the table and Watch how tall the plasma arc is (with appropriate shades. if it's getting taller and shorter, your torch height control might be getting confused by what you're cutting. This happens to me a lot for cuts with a lot of thin details that get retraced. If the torch is going over an area that's red hot or is tracing close to an edge, the torch tends to drop.
- Watch the sheet for flex as the torch comes down to find the metal surface. If the sheet gets pushed down a little bit by the torch when it's finding the metal surface, this can confuse the z-height finder and the torch will end up dragging across the surface of the sheet
- Play with different feed rates and watch your dross. Dross is a great indicator for whether or not the feed rate is right. Start slow and keep going faster until you have just a little bit of dross.
- Inspect your tips before every cut, set up a change-out schedule once you have a feel for how long they stay within tolerance for you
- Make sure your air is dry. Drain your tank often. Put some blue indicating desiccant beads in your water separator (NOT the one on the cutter, you should have one in addition to the one on the cutter). If the beads turn pink quickly, you've got too much water in your lines.
- Keep an eye on torch height -- torch height control is great, but it's not perfect. Crouch at the edge of the table and Watch how tall the plasma arc is (with appropriate shades. if it's getting taller and shorter, your torch height control might be getting confused by what you're cutting. This happens to me a lot for cuts with a lot of thin details that get retraced. If the torch is going over an area that's red hot or is tracing close to an edge, the torch tends to drop.
- Watch the sheet for flex as the torch comes down to find the metal surface. If the sheet gets pushed down a little bit by the torch when it's finding the metal surface, this can confuse the z-height finder and the torch will end up dragging across the surface of the sheet
- Play with different feed rates and watch your dross. Dross is a great indicator for whether or not the feed rate is right. Start slow and keep going faster until you have just a little bit of dross.