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Dang plasma cutter glued my steel art together.

I was figuring Id make some xmas presents of some neat steel art.. I bght 1/16" mild steel and cut four blanks and clamped themn together. Well after i cut out the shapes the dang pieces are now welded together..Im gonna hafta get the dang grinder and grind the edges to make em come apart.

Im using a very old plasma cutter,16 yrs old, and thght it wld do alright..Shoot.

Well i ordrerd a new Hypertherm 600. Shld be here nest week.

Maybe I need to place spacers betwen the blanks.

Any ideas of this problems sports fans??

BR

Reply to
Blueraven
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You could try a little oil on the plates and see if that keeps them from welding.

Steve

Blueraven wrote:

Reply to
Steve Smith

Never thought of stacking - I have a CNC table so I expand sideways.

Plasma always produces melted metal slag on the edge. Since it is so hot you can see.

Normally the junk is attached by a thin layer and a blob of various thickness under. Try different speed of cut and different currents.

You will never get away from it - but you can limit the amount.

Martin Martin Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH, NRA Life NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

Blueraven wrote:

Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

I tried welding splatter preventer - Plasma is so hot it vaporizes it. No matter what happens the edges will be melted together but maybe just a little. The bottom one has the blob.

Sometimes I was able to take a lineman pliers and twist it off - looking at the bottom and gripping from the bottom face to the outside. If you can start a spot then it might just twist off.

Never a free lunch - I got a 1" belt sander and a BOSS from Delta they help a lot.

Martin Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH, NRA Life NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

Steve Smith wrote:

Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

hello

What I have done in the past was to stand the stacked plates on edge, one plate off the edge of the work bench. Give a good tap with a hammer and the sheets should seperate easily.

The sheets are being held together with a thin layer of oxidized metal that will break relatively easy compared to a actual weld. Stack cutting with a gap is not going to help with the quality of cut for the lower sheets.

The addition of 1-2% hydrogen to the cutting gas can reduce or eliminate the oxide layer on the kerf, I know this works with stainless but have never tried it with mild steel; not an option if your only running compressed air. Don't remove the water trap from your airline to get some hydrogen; your plasma cutter would not be too impressed.

John

Reply to
John Noon

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