CNCzone.com-The Largest Machinist Community on the net!



Home Page Mark Forums Read Today's Posts My Replies Classifieds Reviews Photo Gallery Web Links Share Files Advertise With Us Ad List
Go Back   CNCzone.com-The Largest Machinist Community on the net! > MetalWorking Machines > CNC Plasma and Waterjet Machines > Hypertherm Plasma


Hypertherm Plasma Discuss hypertherm plasma machines here.


This forum is sponsored by:

Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #1   Ban this user!
Old 01-24-2011, 08:44 PM
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: usa
Posts: 378
magma-joe is on a distinguished road
Cutting expanded metal / Hypertherm

This question is for Jim Colt or others who might have experience at cutting expanded metal.

I have a customer who manufactures a product that has circular 2' diameter expanded metal cut outs. I would like to get his business and cut them with my CNC air plasma. He is using 11 gage (twisted style) expanded metal.

My Hypertherm has a switch for cutting expanded metal but I have never tried it. What thicknesses can be cut? How about the maximum hole size in the expanded metal? Can the Twisted variety of expanded metal be cut as well? Should you run with the torch height control on or off? If the THC is on, how would you determine correct arc volts?

Thanks for any help!

Magma-joe

Last edited by magma-joe; 01-25-2011 at 07:08 AM.
Reply With Quote

  #2   Ban this user!
Old 01-25-2011, 07:05 AM
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: USA
Posts: 1,586
jimcolt is on a distinguished road

When you switch to the expanded metal mode on a Hypertherm system....the system senses the loss of current flow through the metal and switches back to pilot arc current at high speed to maintain the arc. As soon as the torch approaches the metal again, the current rapidly ramps up again.

It takes a bit of experimentation to make this work...to get the speed right so that the arc cuts all the way through the material when it has to restart. I have had good luck cutting perforated steel up to about 5/16" thick with my Powermax45. (perforated steel has a lot of holes punched in it....the arc often has to cut accross the holes). Expanded metal is generally quite a bit thinner gauge and seems to work pretty well. For hand cutting...simply drag the torch and hold the trigger. For mechanized cutting shut off the height control....or the torch would be diving on all of the holes!

Make sure for normal cutting that your plasma is in the cutting mode. Normal cutting with the switch in the expanded metal position will cause shorter nozzle life, and may also affect cut quality.

Jim Colt Hypertherm


Originally Posted by magma-joe View Post
My Hypertherm has a switch for cutting expanded metal but I have never tried it. What thicknesses can be cut? How about the maximum hole size in the expanded metal? THC on or off?

Thanks for any info.

Magma-joe
Reply With Quote

  #3   Ban this user!
Old 01-27-2011, 08:37 PM
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: usa
Posts: 378
magma-joe is on a distinguished road

Thanks for the info Jim, I will give it a try.

Magma-joe
Reply With Quote

  #4   Ban this user!
Old 01-30-2011, 09:09 AM
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Canada
Posts: 268
Edwardo is on a distinguished road

Hi Magma-Joe

I only used this feature once to cut the sheet of expanded metal i have under my slats in half, unfortunately it was along time ago and i dont remember all the details except switching the 1250 to that feature and turning off the height control then playing with the speed, i used 40 amp fine cut and it took a few tries to get it going but once going it worked ok with only missing a few places in a 8 foot run that it didnt cut all the way through the metal. I would be cautious running with the torch height off though as the expanded metal warps alot but once you know your tool path you may be able to set some weights on the sheet to hold it down or use the cheap plastic electrical ties and cinch the sheet down to the slats...just saying

EDD
Reply With Quote

  #5   Ban this user!
Old 01-30-2011, 05:52 PM
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: usa
Posts: 378
magma-joe is on a distinguished road

Thanks for the info Edwardo. Weighting down the expanded metal when cutting is a great idea. Once I get the new Powermax 85 I'm going to give it a whirl.

Magma-joe
Reply With Quote

Sponsored Links
Reply




Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Cutting 11 ga stainless with Hypertherm PowerMax 1250 J-Gro Hypertherm Plasma 3 06-29-2010 07:05 PM
Need Help!- HYPERTHERM 1650 100AMP CUTTING suzukirmz CNC Plasma and Waterjet Machines 2 10-13-2009 09:23 PM
cutting expanded metal KjZitur DynaTorch 3 04-21-2008 03:41 PM
engraving not cutting with hypertherm akylas CNC Plasma and Waterjet Machines 1 12-21-2006 05:20 PM
Cutting metal signIT DIY-CNC Router Table Machines 2 02-19-2005 11:14 PM




All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:54 AM.





Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2012, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO
Template-Modifications by TMS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361