3/4" Aluminum

[GunmetalFab]

I have a job to quote that is to be cut from 3/4" aluminum. 90 rings that are 6" on the O.D. and 4 1/4" on the I.D. with a quantity of 3 (.301 inch holes) per piece. My game plan would be to scribe crosshairs for holes and then drill once cut. My question has to do with programming torchmate software to scrie then cut each piece. If anyone has info on this it would be greatly appreciated.

[plain ol Bill]

Wow - going to take a big plasma cutter to do this job . I would not do the job without a big hi-def machine that uses nitrogen or other cutting gases, not compressed air.

[Gamelord]

What I would do is set the cut path on the holes at .10 under and then just drill them out as needed. Question would be how accurate would the holes need to be? If they are precision fit with minimal tolerance, you may want to have them milled or machined. If they just need to be close (.10"- .15" tolerance) then a drill press would probably be fine. If the tolerance is not that important, you may be able to just plasma the holes and not drill. I would make one prototype and see if it is acceptable first before cutting the entire project.

[jimcolt]

While you can get away with piercing 1" aluminum with a 100 amp or larger air plasma system.....expect relatively short consumable parts life due to the aluminum blowback....this short parts life will affect cut edge angularity ans well as edge roughness. Normally 1" aluminum would be done on an industrial plasma system with at least 200 amps of cutting power for best results.

Jim

[GunmetalFab]

Thank you very much for the feedback. I run a 1650 with 100 amp consumables. Definately understand the consumable life factor and the angularity issue, thanks. I guess I thought the Hypertherm 1650 would cut the rings decent because manufacturer has 1" in the cut chart. Still wondering about the question i had in regards to the scribe and plasma being programmed to take place one after the other for each part? Also wondering if anyone can share experience with cutting 1" on a 1650. Thank you guys, i really appreciate the input.

[jimcolt]

If you look at the Powermax1650 cut charts.....you will see that the pierce capacity is 3/4". Thicker cutting is listed, however it is recommended that an edge start is used.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

Thank you very much for the feedback. I run a 1650 with 100 amp consumables. Definately understand the consumable life factor and the angularity issue, thanks. I guess I thought the Hypertherm 1650 would cut the rings decent because manufacturer has 1" in the cut chart. Still wondering about the question i had in regards to the scribe and plasma being programmed to take place one after the other for each part? Also wondering if anyone can share experience with cutting 1" on a 1650. Thank you guys, i really appreciate the input.

[GunmetalFab]

Okay, Thanks Jim. I appreciate your help in determining I am unable to do the job with the set-up I have. Time to get quotes from local machine shops. Thanks again.

[plain ol Bill]

I missed your post asking about a scriber and plasma working together. Where is it and I will try to help - I do it w/ my setup.