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ASK JIM | ||||
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CUTTING EXPANDED METAL WITH PLASMA  Q. My Hypertherm system has a switch for cutting expanded metal, but I have never tried it. What thicknesses can be cut? Can I cut holes? Should my torch height control be on or off? If the THC is on, how do I determine the correct arc volts? A. 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 back up. It takes a bit of experimentation to make this work, no matter what type of metal you are cutting, because you need to get the speed right so that the arc cuts all the way through the material when it has to restart For hand cutting, simply drag the torch and hold the trigger. For mechanized cutting, you definitely want to shut off the height control or the torch will dive on all of the holes! As far as thickness, it really depends on the system you are using. I personally 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 so the arc is often cutting across holes.) Finally, when you are finished cutting the expanded metal, be sure to switch your machine back to the normal cutting mode. If you forget and keep cutting while in the expanded metal position, your nozzles won’t last as long and it could also affect cut quality. Hypertherm's Jim Colt is an avid fabricator who has worked with plasma cutting systems for more than 30 years. He is the author of many articles and white papers on plasma cutting and a frequent speaker at key industry conferences. If you have a question you'd like Jim to answer please send it to askjim@hypertherm.com. JOIN JIM ON LINKED IN. JIM IS NOW MODERATING A NEW LINKED IN GROUP ON METAL CUTTING. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP! |
