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| Oct 17 2012, 10:23 PM EDT (current) | brandon_a_boyer | 406 words deleted, 1 photo deleted |
| Feb 10 2012, 11:07 AM EST | brandon_a_boyer | 30 words added |
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Plasma Arc Cutting (PAC)
What is Plasma Cutting?In a nutshell plasma cutting is a process that uses a high temperature arc of plasma to rapidly liquify a metal so that a stream of pressurized gas can cut through it.A Plasma Cutter can effectively and cleanly cut nearly any conductive solid, cleanly and quickly. However Plasma cutters are limited in the material thickness that they can cut, practically speaking the thickest material that can be cut is approximately 2" of mild steel. Beyond that you are better off using oxy-fuel cutting.What types of Plasma Cutting are there?There are several different types of plasma cutting available, I'll talk a little about the different types, and then go into which ones would be the most useful for our purposes.Dual Flow Plasma - Uses separate Shielding and Plasma gases to create a stable arc and increase electrode life.Air Cutting - Uses a stream of compressed air to both cool the electrode and as a cutting gas. Simple, no bottled gases required. Poor electrode life.Water Injection - Uses water instead of a shielding gas to improve cut appearance and nozzle life.Oxygen Cutting - Uses a stream of very pure oxygen to assist cutting via thermionic reaction.Underwater Cutting. Uses a specialized torch to cut under water, either through necessity or to reduce noise and air pollution in a shop.High-density / High-definition. Uses special electronics and torch design to compete with laser cutting on an industrial level.So which ones matter to me when the zombies come?Honestly Air cutting is probably your best bet. Hauling around a bunch of consumables is substantially easier than hauling around several tanks of shielding gas. And with the advent of halfnium electrodes you'll get good consumable life assuming you handle the torch properly.How does plasma cutting work?Plasma cutting uses an electric arc and a tightly focused stream of gas to great a high temperature stream of plasma. The arc is so hot (numbers range from 4000 to 7000 degrees Celsius) that it instantly melts the base metal, allowing the material to be pushed away by the gas pressure. Because of the super high temperatures involved this process works with almost any conductive materialsHow to Plasma Cut:Typically I hate linking guides to other websites, but Miller Electric has a guide that has a fantastic description of plasma cutting.Miller Electric Plasma Cutting.
What is Plasma Cutting?In a nutshell plasma cutting is a process that uses a high temperature arc of plasma to rapidly liquify a metal so that a stream of pressurized gas can cut through it.A Plasma Cutter can effectively and cleanly cut nearly any conductive solid, cleanly and quickly. However Plasma cutters are limited in the material thickness that they can cut, practically speaking the thickest material that can be cut is approximately 2" of mild steel. Beyond that you are better off using oxy-fuel cutting.What types of Plasma Cutting are there?There are several different types of plasma cutting available, I'll talk a little about the different types, and then go into which ones would be the most useful for our purposes.Dual Flow Plasma - Uses separate Shielding and Plasma gases to create a stable arc and increase electrode life.Air Cutting - Uses a stream of compressed air to both cool the electrode and as a cutting gas. Simple, no bottled gases required. Poor electrode life.Water Injection - Uses water instead of a shielding gas to improve cut appearance and nozzle life.Oxygen Cutting - Uses a stream of very pure oxygen to assist cutting via thermionic reaction.Underwater Cutting. Uses a specialized torch to cut under water, either through necessity or to reduce noise and air pollution in a shop.High-density / High-definition. Uses special electronics and torch design to compete with laser cutting on an industrial level.So which ones matter to me when the zombies come?Honestly Air cutting is probably your best bet. Hauling around a bunch of consumables is substantially easier than hauling around several tanks of shielding gas. And with the advent of halfnium electrodes you'll get good consumable life assuming you handle the torch properly.How does plasma cutting work?Plasma cutting uses an electric arc and a tightly focused stream of gas to great a high temperature stream of plasma. The arc is so hot (numbers range from 4000 to 7000 degrees Celsius) that it instantly melts the base metal, allowing the material to be pushed away by the gas pressure. Because of the super high temperatures involved this process works with almost any conductive materialsHow to Plasma Cut:Typically I hate linking guides to other websites, but Miller Electric has a guide that has a fantastic description of plasma cutting.Miller Electric Plasma Cutting.
