Metal cutting - oxyfuel cutting, plasma cutting, machining, grinding, and other preparatory work.
jimcolt
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  • Joined:
    Fri Apr 24, 2015 12:11 pm
  • Location:
    New Hampshire, USA

To add to the good suggestions so far:

-The torch you have was made by Hypertherm. It is designed for drag cutting.....so run at full amperage and drag the nozzle right on the material for best cut quality. If you are holding a standoff while hand cutting....expect more heat input and more dross.
- If you have rusty material.....leave the rust on it and put the rustiest side on the bottom. Dross will be less as it cannot grip the loose rust as easily as a clean, dry surface. If the material is clean....spray some mig welding anti-spatter spray on the bottom side....similar to rust it makes the dross not stick.
-Cut speed.....easy on a cnc machine. Finding the DFZ (dross free zone) is critical. Keep cutting faster until dross goes away....this takes practice when cutting by hand. Dragging the torch makes this easier though!

Best regards, Jim Colt Hypertherm
sru_tx
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  • Joined:
    Fri Oct 23, 2015 8:53 pm
  • Location:
    Houston, TX

Thanks Jim. Dragging w/o the standoff will make things a lot easier as there will be a better view of the working area and less stuff to get hung up on. The only reason I made a standoff fitting for the torch was a line in the user's manual stating that a standoff of 1/16-1/8 would improve cutting speed and tip life. I will go back to dragging.
Figuring out what I want to be when I grow up.

Better to be a "Learn it all" than a "Know it all"
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