Just cut some 1/4” aluminum pieces for the first time. I can already tell I hate it, lol. The cuts aren’t great and it seems to make a mess of the table. With the little research I did, it seems air shielded plasma is not a great option for aluminum. That said, is this about as good as can be expected? Machine is an Everlast 82i, at 45amp, 54ipm, 60psi, and 1.0 nozzle.
I tested some 1/2” aluminum at 60amp, 27ipm, 75psi, and 1.2 nozzle and had about the same results.
I will tag a friend who has cut LOTS of aluminum…see what he says…
Ohhh… @TinWhisperer …what do you say about Aluminum settings?
Thanks! Looking at other posts and those cuts, I feel like this is pretty normal for aluminum.
@Bigdaddy2166 cuts allot of aluminum and uses the 82i. He has also experimented with using different gasses.
I know this is nothing like your 1//4 inch but I recently cut out 125 pieces of 14 gauge aluminum with Hypertherm 45XP, 30 Amps, 150 IPM. The top surface was all superb but the edge was very rough and varying degrees of bottom dross from none to moderate. I am guessing the warp of the sheet is to blame for the variation in dross.
I agree with you: It is very, very messy indeed. I had fine aluminum dust over the entire torch and the rails. The dust accumulated to the point the it was affecting the travel of the gantry so I was needing to wipe the rails down after each section of cutting. Each series of piece (about 25 pieces or 5 minutes of cutting), I would wipe down the top and sides of the rails. Otherwise the you would see the gantry “jumping” around during the travel.
