Originally Posted by Normsthename  Hi
1) I want to mainly cut 1.6mm 316 grade Stainless steel, will the cut be clean? Any example pictures anybody? |
The biggest problem will be discoloration and warping. Stainless warps faster than mild steel. You can get pretty good cuts especially if you use the Fine Cut consummables and have everything set right. Clean cuts are a function of several variables:
1. Clean , dry air
2. Correct feedrate
3. new consummables
4. Control of the .040 cut gap (tip to material distance)
Several commercial shops that cut a lot of SS report that having the material sitting on the surface of water (constant level water tray) ends the discoloration and a lot of the wraping and bad cut problems.
2) What would be the smallest diameter hole I could cut in 1.6mm 316 grade Stainless steel. |
Well, depnds on how round and how clean you wan the cut. Anything less than and 12mm in dia will cause some problems. You need to slow the cut speed down by a large percentage on holes smaller than about 35mm.
3) What size Plasma cutter would be the best for me, it would be nice if it had the capacity to cut thicker materaials  |
Any of the 60A units (Hypertherm 1000 has the Fine Cut option) would do that easily and let you cut up to 1/4" without a lot of side flare.
4) I read somewhere about an interface card that uses the Z Axis to control the height & cut on the plasma, any details? |
If you use MACH3 as the motion control software and our MP1000-THC it uses the Z axis as the THC "lifter" and gives you full Digital Torch Height Control with toolpath integration. You can switch back and forth between plasma and router (or oxy-acet) just by loading a different software profile.
See
http://www.CandCNC.com/THCCompareChart.com for features of a good THC
tomCAUDLE
www.CandCNC.com
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