Best Marker for Freehand Plasma Cutting

[CNC Dan]

I must have missed something here. You use wood as a guide for the plasma cutter??

Sure. If you need them to last a long time, glue some spacers on the bottom to hold the template off of the metal a little, and glue some aluminum foil to the edges.

You can also make a bushing that is the same outside diameter as your nozzle, with a hole in the center to allow a pencil point through. Use the bushing to trace a line arround the template, showing where the cut will be.

 

[ovrszd]

Sure. If you need them to last a long time, glue some spacers on the bottom to hold the template off of the metal a little, and glue some aluminum foil to the edges.

You can also make a bushing that is the same outside diameter as your nozzle, with a hole in the center to allow a pencil point through. Use the bushing to trace a line arround the template, showing where the cut will be.

Oh, yeah, I get that. For templates that you will use over and over? Yeah, I see that.

 

[woodlandfarms]

A little worried about the melt factor but what about something like this from the architecture world

Save On Discount Staedtler Flexible Curves With Inch & Metric Graduations & More Curves at Utrecht

 

[Scrambler82]

I must have missed something here. You use wood as a guide for the plasma cutter??

You read it correctly.
My older HyperTherm 900 has a torch head diameter of 1.25".
That keeps the wood away from the cutting area by at least 1/2 that distance.
A Plasma Cutters has a more directed heating area, not like a Gas Torch, and if you are moving along the heat that reaches the wood is minimal.

I know wood and flame don't mix but if the flame isn't held there very long the wood will not ignite.

 

[rmully]

You read it correctly.
My older HyperTherm 900 has a torch head diameter of 1.25".
That keeps the wood away from the cutting area by at least 1/2 that distance.
A Plasma Cutters has a more directed heating area, not like a Gas Torch, and if you are moving along the heat that reaches the wood is minimal.

I know wood and flame don't mix but if the flame isn't held there very long the wood will not ignite.

I have a lot of wood templates and they last....I use 3/8 inch birch plywood. If i want them to last a long time (like circles) I coat them with sodium silicate which you can get at a pottery store. You have to allow for the offset of the torch head guide e.g. a 3" circle the template needs to be 4" in my case. Sure makes it easy to cut a hole and keep it clean.

 

[ovrszd]

You read it correctly.
My older HyperTherm 900 has a torch head diameter of 1.25".
That keeps the wood away from the cutting area by at least 1/2 that distance.
A Plasma Cutters has a more directed heating area, not like a Gas Torch, and if you are moving along the heat that reaches the wood is minimal.

I know wood and flame don't mix but if the flame isn't held there very long the wood will not ignite.

Oh yeah, I totally get it now. Just never had thought of that before.

I always say, "the only thing wrong with a Plasma Cutter is I didn't invent it". Rarely use my gas torch.

 

[Scrambler82]

Oh yeah, I totally get it now. Just never had thought of that before.

I always say, "the only thing wrong with a Plasma Cutter is I didn't invent it". Rarely use my gas torch.

I was going to say if you hadn't used one then you will not know but you have used one so IF. You need a clean hole, cut a piece of wood sized for othe hole and the offset of the cutting head (1/2 the diameter) and either clamp it to the piece or drill a center hole and bolt it on, then cut away.
Practice a little on scrap first to make sure you can hold the torch against the piece while running it around the outside or inside and have at it.
A circle can use either an outside or inside templet.

I use an aluminum bar for most straight cuts and clamp it on but the circles and patterns need a templet.

I have tried free handing the torch on some lines but for me it takes a l ot of clean up without the templet.

Anyway... It was a thought for an easy templet, rmully... thanks for the backup, sometimes you just need it on this sight.