Ordered a Power Plasma 50

jake98 · Dec 7, 2011

Haywire said:
This is my herky jerky cut on a 3/4" bar. Getting a smooth cut is going to take some practice and a roller guide in place of the wire standoff. Every little twitch and hesitation is transferred to a ridge on the cut.

I'll make a guess before the pros speak up, I think you went too slow. Or not enough air pressure.

deereman75 · Dec 7, 2011

Now I have never used a plasma cutter, but from what I have seen online, it looks like your going too slow.

Shield Arc · Dec 7, 2011

I was thinking too fast. Too slow and it would weld its self back together. But it's been so long since I used my plasma I could be wrong.

deereman75 · Dec 7, 2011

Shield Arc said:
I was thinking too fast. Too slow and it would weld its self back together. But it's been so long since I used my plasma I could be wrong.

After hearing you say that, I looked at it again, it seems I didnt see it right at first, it does look too fast. The swarf lines look to be at too much of an angle, if it was too slow, they would be straight up and down.

Shield Arc · Dec 7, 2011

Guess I was wrong, need to get that thing out and see if it even works. :laughing:
Miller - How To Select And Operate A Hand-Held Plasma Cutter

Shield Arc · Dec 7, 2011

I don't have any good pictures of plasma cuts by hand, this is about as good as I have. The plasma cut is the slot in the back ground, the circle cut was with an O/A torch.

The picture with the tri square was on the CNC machine.

yomax4 · Dec 7, 2011

I would say you are getting what you get cutting 3/4 with that 50 amp unit. It was cut a little slow according to the dross but because of the slant of the cut lines, It looks like you couldn't rally go any faster. I would say you are at capacity. Some fancier brands will have a little more refined torches and consumables and can make that cut a little nicer. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ripping on your machine. Thats a good cut for the price you paid. Like you said, You can improve it with a cutting guide, Standoff or more practice.

Mark @ Everlast · Dec 9, 2011

That unit has about a 1/4" more before it bottoms out. That is the maximum quality cut we rate it for though. Better/different results can be gained by changing air pressure (though more is not always better) The standoff too should be adjusted down to about 1/16" if possible. Otherwise you are sacrificing cutting thickness.

Here's a video of our british canadian guy cutting 1 1/8 with it. It's slow yes.... very slow, but...[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ8nqYRgwx0]EVERLAST PLASMA CUTTER POWERPLASMA 50 CUT 1-1/8" - YouTube[/ame]

The cut you have is a little slow, but the tell tale signs of it reaching max limit are beginning to appear, but on that unit it still has more to go.

Mark @ Everlast · Dec 9, 2011

Looking at it closer, it looks like you started a little rough, maybe a little impatient but about half way through the cut you found your rhythm and the dross disappears.