Cutting Holes using TorchMate2

[ballmg]

We are have trouble cutting small holes when using our TorchMate 2 / Cutmater 101. The holes have a taper from the top to the bottom like a funnel. Any ideas on what I can do to improve our cuts. These holes are bolt holes on an exhaust flange. We are having to go back and drill out some of the flanges to get the bolts to fit. Any help would be greatly appreciated...

[Torchhead]

Slow the feedrate by 50 to 75%. Plasma is not a precision cutting process for small holes in thicker material. Depending on the thickness of the material and the diameter of the hole you may never get acceptable holes. If they need to be closer tolerance you may want to "peck" a center hole with the plasma and setup and drill the actual hole. Bigger plasmas will cut thicker material with less bevel. High Def plasmas do a better job but come with a HEFTY price tag.

TOM CAUDLE
www.CandCNC.com

[ballmg]

Thanks for the info. We are cutting 3/8" thick metal with this setup. The hole sizes range from 5/16" to 1/2". I will tell them to slow down the speed and I will let you know the outcome.. Thanks again...

[Mike@Torchmate]

As Tom said a slower feedrate for the holes will likely produce a much more round circle. What amperage and speed are you cutting this material at?

[ballmg]

My operator has gone home for the day, but from what I can tell the program feedrate is set at 45. Right beside that it reads 84%. The cutmaster is set at 60. As far as the automatic torch height voltage goes I will have to find out that later. Thanks for all the information....

[Kmanco]

I have been dealing with this same problem with my projects also.One thing that helps is to break path and cut the holes female counter clockwise and slow about 30 ipm and use a spiral or arc start on the hole,If you cut on a water table the edge of the hole will be rock hard from the water and you need a carbide die bit or reamer to dress it up.Also your amperage should match your tip number-60 amps for a 60 tip.I have been increasing my hole sizes slightly to compensate for the bevel...kman

[Med-Pac]

When we cut anything thicker than .25 on our machine, slow the machine way down. On .375 material I run 10-15 ipm, click the THC to manual for the holes. Control the travel height with the pierce height. After your center features are done, pause the program and turn the machine back to auto on the THC for the perimeter. Might take a little longer, but you get good parts without redrilling.