carcentric
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| posted on 25/4/04 at 06:39 AM |
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Plasma cutting at home
I recently bought a Firepower FP-18 plasma cutter for sheet metal and tubing walls up to 1/8" thick. It runs on 110-120v and has a built in air
compressor.
My question is about cutting rusty parts. Do I need to remove ALL rust before using the cutter (e.g,, with a grinder), just the LOOSE rust (e.g., a
few licks with a wire brush), or none of the rust?
My concern is that rust will plug the little orifice of the cutter. On the other hand, I don't want to do work that's unnecessary.
M D "Doc" Nugent
http://www.carcentric.com
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JohnN
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| posted on 25/4/04 at 07:54 AM |
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First of all, i don't think rust will plug the orifice, the plasma comes out under pressure and at 20,000 degC+.
I've cut rusty metal, but not tried heavy scaled rust and it worked OK. I know paint isn't a problem either.
On the basis of my first paragraph, try it out on a piece of rusty scrap, I bet it will work OK.
John
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Alan B
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| posted on 25/4/04 at 02:33 PM |
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Yes, John's right.
The more rust you remove the better life you'll get out of consumables (possibly) but it's more of a compromise really...remove the bad
loose stuff then cut away...
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