HPR130XD Cut quality on Stainless

[bsc724]

What kind of cut quality could I expect from the HPR130XD on 11-18 ga stainless sheet? We are looking to upgrade our cut table and need a good quality cut and a cut on carbon steel that can be welded. We currently sub out a lot of our cutting to a Waterjet system but want to start doing all cuts in house.

[jimcolt]

The 130xd uses F5 (95%nitrogen, 5% hydrogen) as the plasma gas and nitrogen as the shiled gas to cut stainless in the thickness range between 24 ga and 3/16". This gas mixture provides a clean, dross free, weldable edge on Stainless, althought there is a bit of a taper on the edge...typical with any plasma cut on stainless. The edged is very shiney, very smooth.

For cutting carbon steel the HPR130xd uses oxygen as the plasma gas and compressed air as the shield, producing a very clean square edge with minimal hardness from 24 gauge to 3/4", the 130 amp system can pier ce and cut up to 1" on steel as well.

Cut quality is dependant on the plasma system and process used, but also relies on good motion control ability as well as a good height control with accurate pierce height as well as real time cut height. Putting one of these high definition class plasma systems on a machine that has less than exceptional acceleration and following error, or has mechanical flex or backlash, will not dramatically improve cutting capability over a lesser plasma system.

What type of cutting machine and torch height control system are you currently using?

The HPR130xd (and the 260xd and 400xd) also have some newly released hole cutting capability called "TrueHole" that allows (when coupled with an approved, licensed cnc control, MTC Pronest 2010 CAM software, and a good quality THC and cutting machine) very high quality holes that rival drilled holes...virtually no taper, no ding or divot. This TrueHole technology was the result of a 3 year engineering project in Hypertherm's labs that uses the CAM nesting software to take full control of all of the cutting machine components, automatically setting parameters for each plate thickness, hole diameter and process level, as well as automatically adjusting lead in, lead out, and plasma and THC timing issues to dramatically improve plasma cut holes on plate from gauge to 1" thick.

Link to True Hole info: https://www.hypertherm.com/library/f.../SB_870820.pdf

Jim

[Mongkol]

Jim,
I am interested in the 45 hypertherm. Is it possible to cut stainless steel with high quality with this one? I am thinking to use pure nitrogen to be plasma gas.

Mongkol

[jimcolt]

The 45 is no comparison to a high definition class plasma like the HPR130xd....it cuts slower, with nowhere near the quality, has shorter consumable life.....however the 45 is about about 15 x less expensive to buy ($2000 for the 45 vs $35,000 for the HPR!). However the 45 produces good quality cuts on stainless. The nitrogen will cut a bit slower, but with a bit less oxidation on the edge as compared to air. There will still be some oxidation as the Powermax is a single gas torch.....does not hav both a plasma gas and a secondary shielding gas, also doe not have the level of energy density that can be provided with a dual gas, liquid cooled torch.

I do quite a bit of stainless with my 45....here is a pic of a 3/16" part that I cut periodically. The second pic is various parts as cut with an HPR system.

If you look closely at the pic on the left cut with the 45 you will see a brownish oxide layer on the stainless....now look at the pic on the right....the third piece from the left is 1/4" stainless as cut with the HPR130.....shiny, clean, metalurgically pure edge.

Jim

[bsc724]

Jim,
Thank you for the info. We are looking at new systems and want to make sure we get one that is capable. I have seen some that offer the 130 plasma. Do you have any suggestions on an OEM that uses this system.

[jimcolt]

You can find all of the authorised Hypertherm OEM's at this link https://www.hypertherm.com/Xnet/hypr/locator/oem.jsp
Look for the precision machine icon....as not all OEM's are authorized to handle our HPRxd systems....they must go through factory training.

Jim

Jim,
Thank you for the info. We are looking at new systems and want to make sure we get one that is capable. I have seen some that offer the 130 plasma. Do you have any suggestions on an OEM that uses this system.