plasma cutter ok to use?

[daviscustom]

Any problems that are caused by profiling with a plasma cutter? Do you need to anneal prior to working the metal? Guessing it would mostly cause issues with air hardening steels but haven't tried it.

Never mind....just did a search...not a well received idea.

 

[Rick Baum]

I'm not sure what other problems might be caused by using a plasma cutter but hardening air-hardening steels will most likely be one. I'm basing my judgment on experience on cutting S30V with a laser-cutter. Not only did it harden the perimeter of the blank but it created some crazy carbides that became visible as tiny "shiny" spots when sanded/ground with fine belts. I'd guess that a good anneal would take care of the problem, or you could save up for a water-jet cutter

Rick

 

[Michael Lovett]

A plasma cutter would be much-much worse than a laser cutter. Which doesnt work wel for air hardening steels at all. Send them out to a water jet service. It's not very expensive. But if you aren't doing large production runs, there is an older system that works just fine. It's called a band saw.

Mike
Maker
The Loveless Connection Knives

 

[SteelSlaver]

I would think you would be ok if you made the blanks about an 1/8" over all the way around and then ground that off. The high heat from a plasma is localized unless you hang around a spot. But, that kind of defeats the whole idea.
I have had excellent luck with the blanks I had cut with a water jet and highly recommend it if your looking to make some of the same pattern.

 

[daviscustom]

"It's called a band saw."

Don't have access to a decent metal cutting band saw so I was kicking other ideas around.