Hey guys! I have had ZERO problems with my machine so far! But im looking for some help! Cutting 18g cold rolled right now as it is cheap and i am on a learning curve, but it is warping alot from the heat, anything i can do to limit that? Can i spray the steel with water while its cutting?
I have had the same problem. With 18 gauge. I think it was made worse by the ambient temp in my shop being 45 degrees. I held down the sheet with some rebar pokers I made and it helped a bit but I couldn’t keep up. Also, cleanup afterward was a little tougher. Based on all that I decided to stick with 16 but I have some 18 left over still.
I’ll probably keep some around if I have a project that needs a big simple backing plate, but I won’t use it for anything with detail again. Besides, the power max 45’s kerf is smallest on 16 gauge with fine cuts.
Keep your table filled up with water and maybe preheat the sheet?
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I guess ill just use up this 18g on first runs of files and get 16g next time
Is hot rolled better? From what i have read in thin sheet gauge steel it is a little more resilient
Make sure that the water level in the water table is set appropriately, water should be about 3/4" below the top of the slats.
Yes, you can use a spray bottle or water pistol to wet the cut on the topside as you see warpage, which should slow the warp. Try not to directly spray the cutting arc or the plasma torch.
Do you have a CrossFire PRO with THC?
AH! I see said the blind man when he picked up his hammer and saw! I was cutting 10ga and first 3 panels came out pretty good. The 4th panel warped a bit. The panels are 21"x31" and have 140 cutouts each. The water had dropped to just below the slat supports. Thank you aksel. I will check this tomorrow.
I do have the THC and …it…is…AWESOME! No problems while cutting just the end result
Moved onto 16g and it is much better both cut and warpage thanks!
I cut 18ga and 22 ga on the Crossfire. On the thinner stock I found that I had to run with the water a little higher than recommended, I also had to do a a bit of playing with the power (AMPS) to get the cuts clean enough but with less warpage. It was little tweaks on each cut till I found something that worked well. Sometimes it was 1A and 3-5 Ipm changes that did it.
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