CUTTING STEEL TREAD PLATE

[pdjcutandfab]

I have a Torchmate 3 with a Thermal Dynamic's Cutmaster A120 Plasma Cutter and i'm trying to cut a profile into some 14ga Steel Tread Plate. The overall size of the sheet is 16" high x 42" long. I'm having some trouble cutting the tread plate (I have the treads down on the table). The machine starts to go thru the cutting sequence but seems to "short out" part way thru (then it re-lights and continues on). I've attached some pictures that hopefully show what is happening. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Pat @ PDJ Cutting and Fabricating

[jimcolt]

I do aluminum treadplate quite often using my Hypertherm Powermax45 on a PlasmaCam machine. I put the tread bumps up.....and the torch height control follows the top contour very accurately....you see the torch rise and lower for each bump, maintaining a constant .060" torch to work distance.

Do you have a torch height control on your Torchmate? If so, flip the plate over (bumps up)......use the smallest nozzle orifice from T-D, and relatively low power (35 to 40 amps) at about 75 to 90 ipm. If it is switchable.....shut off the continuous pilot (auto restart function)...on the Hypertherm you can switch this function off.

Attached is a pic of aluminum treadplate cut with bumps up.