Fine cut kerf width on 16ga is about .035. Slightly bigger on 14Ga. I cut 10Ga and up to 1/4" with a 40A tip and it has about .043. My 60A tip gives about .056 on 10g and .065 on 1/4"
What height and tip volts are you using on the 500? I used to get smaller than
.125 kerf width with new tips. I found a source of really cheap tips and I changed them every 25 to 50 pierces. I had to use good grounding techniques but my 500 ran with a PC and THC electronics about 6 ft away.
The 500 is truely a wretched machine for CNC cutting but I cut miles of decorative steel with mine. Once I got a Hypertherm1000 I could not believe how much better and faster it cut! I think working and making the 500 work made me a much better plasma "Dude" than if I had just started out with the best first. |