Profile cutting tools

JT, thanks so much for your input here--I'm in shopping mode now. Really appreciate your experience.

Regards--Don
 
kuraki said:
10 TPI for cutting profiles will be a mistake. That's .100" between teeth. The rule of thumb in bandsaw cutting is 3 teeth engaged with the work. You would only engage 3 teeth simultaneously when cutting .300" or greater material. 14 TPI can work but even that is a bit coarse and will mostly have 2 teeth engaged. 20 TPI is pretty ideal.

If 14 is working for you without losing teeth, I would stick with that. A 10 TPI blade in thin steel is going to knock teeth off quickly, and once it starts on a band it propagates quickly.
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+1 on this! :thumbup:
 
Someone, but I don't remember who for sure so I won't guess at a name, told me a couple of years ago that you could plasma cut S30V and, by inference, S35VN, with good results. He also said that M390 could not be cut with plasma. By my inference, Elmax could also not be cut by plasma. He did not tell me exactly why these mat'ls could not be cut by plasma. Does anyone know or does anyone know someone at Uddholm who can tell me? Has anyone done any testing?
Tim
 
Stainless is a tad harder to cut but a plasma will cut anything that conducts electricity. I cut 1/4" 304 stainless and it did not have as nice of a finish as the a36 but worked just fine.
 
JTknives said:
I'm with him ^ ;)

I just tested the edge with my hardness tester. I worked my way as close as I dare go with my diamond penatrator.
First test is about .180 away from the edge to establish a base line of 43rc. Next closest one is .050 and was also 43rc. Then went closer at .035 just inside the dark area and it dropped to 40rc. I then moved even closer at around .020 and it was also 40rc. That's as close as I dare go to the edge as I don't want to mess up my Wilson penetrator. I think people see the dark oxidized area around the cut and think that area is hard. It's not it's just an area that warmed up and not even hot enough to really affect anything except to temper down the hardness of this pre hardened 15n20.

Photo%20Feb%2023%2C%2012%2031%2011.jpg
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Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!
 
I can not think of a good reason plasma will not cut the steels mentioned.
 
I got my 30 for $900 from Praxair. They don't sell very well too industry outside surgical people who need a portable unit. So I got a deal. I would call weld supply shots and see before paying that much.
 
Oh I did not see that has its own compressor. That's cool. No wonder it's so much more.
 
I considered getting the air version but the cut speed is quite reduced as well as thickness. It's nice that the compressor is built in but for me it was not worth it because I have a compressor and wanted the cut capacity. I also would not buy off eBay if I was getting a new hypertherm. I think but I could be wrong that in order to get there wainty you have to buy from an outhrized dealer. I paid like $1200 for mine and that was from a dealer and it comes with "free" consumables. I dont think the air version is worth it unless you really need the portability. It's also a moving component that can wear out and break down. Don't know if that's common or not but would suck to have the built in compressor go down.
 
kuraki said:
I got my 30 for $900 from Praxair. They don't sell very well too industry outside surgical people who need a portable unit. So I got a deal. I would call weld supply shots and see before paying that much.
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Is yours the powermax 30xp or just the 30. I know thy use to have just a 30 and it was a tad cheeper and the XP is there new model.
 
Thanks JT, I have a good compressor so I don't need the included air, I will look again for the standard 30 XP
 
Mine is just a 30. I got it when the XP came out that's probably why such a good deal.
 
Kuraki, My old hand is way too shaky to freehand with plasma. JT must have nerves of steel. However if I can hold it against a template it cuts like crazy. I use it for a lot of stuff on the farm. Whatever it is, the plasma will cut it and make a pretty clean cut. It's another tool like my Woodmizer sawmill. Wish I had purchased them 30 years ago.

JTknives said:
That's funny right there, made my day.
I have thought about building a pentagraph that holds the torch and I can trace the template with a little probe. Would make cutting much smoother to trace templates.
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Fish30114 said:
JT, take a look at this one and see if these two items are what I should get: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K58EC4W/ref=s9_acsd_al_bw_c_x_2_w

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product...wc_img_huc_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER
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I'm having the wife look at my receipt to tell me where I got mine and how much I paid.
Ok it's Harris welding supply and my total was $1210.00 thy have free shipping. It came fast and I was more then happy. Here is a link to what I got.
http://www.harrisweldingsupplies.com/Hypertherm-Powermax-30-XP-Plasma-Cutter-088079-with-Case.aspx

My air dryer is simaler to that but mine is just the dryer not the regulator. The plasma cutter does have a built in air dryer and you will notice a small wet spot under the plasma. It emptys its self through a small tube.

I'm really surprised plasma cutters are not more popular with knife makers. Especially people that make Damascus, it's a god sent for that.

Here is the consumables you need to. The kit comes with this and one set of fine cut. I dont much care for the fine cut consumables and just get these standard. Might consider getting an extra pack as shipping is free with the plasma.
http://www.harrisweldingsupplies.co...p-standard-electrodes-and-nozzles-428243.aspx
 
Hell JT, I really appreciate the links--I just ordered both of those items from them--I'll be looking forward to seeing how I can do with it!
 
Not really, but there is if you want to run it 100% all the time. My compressor is small, one of the kind you wheel around and does like 5-7cfm or so thy say. I have the compressor set at its max pressure of like 150 or such. The plasma has a regulator built in. I never have to wait for the compressor even with all the 15n20 I cut.
 
Skyman, thanks for the follow up--if you'd of been a little quicker, it would have saved me a few $....at any rate I've got one ordered from Harris Welding Supplies, where JT got his. I am looking forward to cutting some steel with this unit. Fella's, do you need to really wear a welding hood for cutting with Plasma, or are the simple glasses they are including with this purchase be sufficient?

Thanks---Don
 
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