Plasma Cutter Severance Test (Video)

[Lanse]

Morning everyone!!

So, I've had this plasma cutter since I bought it new in the summer of 2011, and let me tell you, I love it. Its been very good to me, never had any problems with it, cuts great, etc...

But, I've always wondered how thick it can REALLY cut, and I decided I'd do a severance test with it when I bought it, and now a year and a half later, Im actually doing it :P

I had some plate laying around in increments of 1/8" all the way up to 1 1/2" steel... I didnt think I'd need the 1.5" because Hypertherm says the plasma is recommended to cut 1/2" plate and the maximum severance is supposedly 1", but I was wrong. The picture is of a cut on 1 1/4" plate, this thing packs some impressive power...

Anyway, the video tells the story better than I can. Hope y'all like it, it was pretty fun to make :)

Have a nice week, everyone!!

Annnnd, because some people feel the need to second guess everything I do, lets go back to the vise project for a minute. YES, it was cast iron. Maybe it was really good cast, and I defiantly got lucky, but still. It had a very pourus texture, if you look at the photo of the break. It was a duller color than regular steel when I ground it. And, if you watch the video, you'll see as I'm grinding the bevel on it that it produced very few sparks. It also ground quickly because it felt kind of "soft" and ran like crap when I welded it... So, I believe it WAS cast iron. I'm gonna grind those ugly welds down, wire wheel and paint it as soon as I can. Thanks for the compliments, everyone else. BTW, Schools still going great

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[IaGary]

Lanse did you up the air pressure on the thicker metals?

Just wondering if that would help.

Gary
 

[jon f mn]

Lanse, I don't think anyone intended to second guess you, there was just some discussion and differences of opinion about what it was made of. I did some research on it and it appears that depending on what type of vise it is we could all be right. Yours does fall into the catagory of cast iron, so you were correct. Here is a link that pretty much spells it out.
Untitled URL Link

 

[jon f mn]

Very interesting video. I would not have guessed it would cut that much. The guy I worked with had one similar but older and a little smaller. Said it would cut 1/2 and pierce 3/4. But it would struggle at that. Mine is a Thermal Dynamics and is supposed to cut 1" and pierce 1 1/4. It will do it, but is slow. Was that tip what is called a stand off tip? On mine they do it with the cone, it's a bit larger but the tips last longer than the tips like yours for my machine. How many cuts like that, or inches of cut, do you think you would get at that thickness out of a set of consumables? Sorry for all the questions.