BukitCase
Elite Member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2012
- Messages
- 2,749
- Location
- Albany OR
- Tractor
- Case 580B, Long 460, Allis-Chalmers 160
Dragon, good luck on your first "real" cuts; the only thing I might like better about MY PM45 is if they'd come out with the XP version BEFORE I bought Still, it hasn't let me down YET, heaviest thing I've cut so far is 3/4 plate...
You may have already come up with a plan for your curved cuts, but if not here's what I do - use a straight strip of 1/4" plywood or masonite for a guide, typically 2" wide and just a bit longer than the cut - use maybe 4 large flat washers for spacers between the guide and the blade - you'll need to measure from the FAR side of the tip orifice to the part of the torch you'll use against the guide so you'll know where to place the guide -
Then clamp one end of the guide to the blade with a washer UNDER the guide (recessed enough NOT to "bump" the torch) - then more washers under the guide maybe every 4-5" as you pull on the other end of the guide, keeping enough tension on the guide so they don't fall out (convex side of the blade UP will make this easier, WITHOUT the torch lead dictating what angle your torch is at) - clamp the other end while pulling as much tension on it as you can -
IF you do this right, your guide probably won't even be singed (especially with the washers under so there's less heat transfer to the guide) - check your manual's cut speed chart and do a couple "dry runs" - you want your travel speed just a LITTLE bit slower than the chart for minimum HAZ (so you don't hafta make ANOTHER guide
Another thing I sometimes do - convert cut speed # to inches per SECOND, then mark the guide in SECONDS (60 ipm = 1" per SECOND) that way, in the DRY run I can practice counting (one thousand one, etc) - the torch should pass a marker every second, or you're going too fast or too slow - I know, sounds **** but it works...
Cutting edge - if its holes are equidistant, I would REMOVE it for TWO reasons - the obvious: it'll just be in the way of a clean cut, and (2) usually ONE 12" piece of cutting edge might be a more useful "resource" for another project than TWO 6" pieces...
Or, you could just FREEHAND it, and call those wavy edges an ARTISTIC FEATURE .. Steve
You may have already come up with a plan for your curved cuts, but if not here's what I do - use a straight strip of 1/4" plywood or masonite for a guide, typically 2" wide and just a bit longer than the cut - use maybe 4 large flat washers for spacers between the guide and the blade - you'll need to measure from the FAR side of the tip orifice to the part of the torch you'll use against the guide so you'll know where to place the guide -
Then clamp one end of the guide to the blade with a washer UNDER the guide (recessed enough NOT to "bump" the torch) - then more washers under the guide maybe every 4-5" as you pull on the other end of the guide, keeping enough tension on the guide so they don't fall out (convex side of the blade UP will make this easier, WITHOUT the torch lead dictating what angle your torch is at) - clamp the other end while pulling as much tension on it as you can -
IF you do this right, your guide probably won't even be singed (especially with the washers under so there's less heat transfer to the guide) - check your manual's cut speed chart and do a couple "dry runs" - you want your travel speed just a LITTLE bit slower than the chart for minimum HAZ (so you don't hafta make ANOTHER guide
Another thing I sometimes do - convert cut speed # to inches per SECOND, then mark the guide in SECONDS (60 ipm = 1" per SECOND) that way, in the DRY run I can practice counting (one thousand one, etc) - the torch should pass a marker every second, or you're going too fast or too slow - I know, sounds **** but it works...
Cutting edge - if its holes are equidistant, I would REMOVE it for TWO reasons - the obvious: it'll just be in the way of a clean cut, and (2) usually ONE 12" piece of cutting edge might be a more useful "resource" for another project than TWO 6" pieces...
Or, you could just FREEHAND it, and call those wavy edges an ARTISTIC FEATURE .. Steve