I have made my first cuts this weekend on my new crossfire table. My first two cuts were with 14 gauge galvanized steel. For my first cuts, everything looked pretty good, minimal dross.
I then switched over to 16 gauge steel that happens to be powder coated on both sides. I have a mountain of this material… First cut was not pretty on the back side. I pulled a file from fireshare just for something different and quick to cut.
All cuts were using the 1.1mm tip on an Everlast 52i. I have 0.9mm tips on order from mechanic. Used the Everlast cut chart here in the forums for reference.
1st cut: 14 gauge galvanized, 30 amps, 55 psi, 79ipm ( I made the program months ago before I had my table, 79 was just test number that I forgot to change)
4th cut: 16 gauge powder coated, 30 amps, 50 psi. Update cut file in sheetcam, 140ipm on larger profiles, 100 ipm on stars plus lead-in. Also raised water level in table, and moved the ground clamp to the material (ground powder off of corner for clean contact)
My 4th cut looks better, but the dross that is there is very hard and does not scrape off. When I grind it, it’s just like grinding the original steel in droopy form. Is the powder coat messing with me? Or will this partially be resolved with the new tips on this thinner material?
i suggest you go faster…much faster. try some 10 inch long straight cuts on the material giving your problems. run several straight cuts side by side and increasing ipm on each cut. you will find the sweet spot. im guessing its going to be up there around 180ipm. i am not looking at a cut chart and i generally use 40 amps on my everlast 52i but i imagine that is pretty close. on a side note make sure your not breathing any of the fumes coming off of that stuff your cutting. Galvanized is poisonous and i dont imagine vaporized powder coat is too terribly health either. good luck! edit…i just noticed your air pressure as well. i generally have good luck cutting everything with my machine set to 75psi static and about 73 while cutting.
I agree with @DnKFab on this. Galvanized metal is very poisonous when cutting and welding you need to use a respirator and have ventilation. Also power coat get really hard when it gets hot and cools so the doss will also be hard.
Sounds like I’m on the low side of every variable! I’m working on a drawing with a series of lines, I plan to do multiple speeds, then multiple speeds with varying amperage and psi. Once I get some cuts I’ll share some pictures. Thanks for the advice!
I’ve been wearing a respirator while cutting, and the table sets next to the overhead door which I keep open while cutting. Thank you and @mechanic416 for the advice! I read a few posts on galvanized before I started cutting, lots of good info on here.
I find it easier to accomplish that fine tuning with variable inputs to simply do straight line cuts directly from the fusion software. wherever i want to start i set all axis to zero then program straight line path for 10 inches. from then on i just return to zero after each cut. jog sideways a small amount then set axis to zero, make whatever variable i want to change then run it again. its helpful to have sharpi handy to annotate each cut as to what your particular settings are.
I just finished up exactly what you suggested. I made 6 - 10 inch lines and added a couple turns to see the dross result on corners. I used sheetcam and set each line for a different speed. In total I made 6 sets of 6 lines. The first three sets were at my original Amperage and PSI with varying speeds. Then the next three sets were the same speed variations per line, but increasing the amperage and PSI. Without posting insane amounts of pictures, I’ll post the 6th set. It was the highest amperage and air pressure, highest speed got the best result. I basically ended up where you thought!
I did some light grinding on the 180ipm dross, came clean pretty easy. It’s not perfectly clean inside the cut, but maybe that is the powder coat causing an issue. I did install a new tip for these tests. I may run some more sample cuts and dial it in around my best result which was 180ipm, 70psi, and 40 amps.
Congratulations! Looking good. A general rule I personally go by is excess dross on bottom….too much heat either from too slow of travel speed or too many amps. Excess dross on the top too fast too low of air pressure or too low of amperage. On 16 gauge steel im getting this kerf with virtually no dross and using 52i everlast with standard size consumables. 1mm.
The final adjustment I made was to use a set nominal voltage instead of smart voltage on the height control.
I made a couple more actual design cuts and they turned out pretty well. The dross comes off as easy as the blue powder coat. Which is going to be tedious… but free material.
I think I’ll grind off the blue on the bottom side for the next cut and see if the powder has been affecting dross now that I have decent parameters.
I have a similar situation but different material, so I thought I’d keep this going rather than a new thread.
I have been cutting 16g, 14g, 10g, 11g, 1/8"… All pretty successful, using same size tip (1.1). I haven’t tried the 0.9 tips from Mechanic yet as I’ve been having good results. Outside of 16g, I get very little dross and a wire wheel knocks it off easily.
I recently tried my thickest material, 3/16". Using available cut charts, suggested settings are 45A, 60 PSI, and 62.99 IPM. I did a line cut test using 60, 61, 62, 62.99, 64, 65 IPM. I can tell a major difference between speeds in these cuts. On top, 62.99 looks pretty good, on the bottom everything looks bad.
Looking for input on where to go from here… adjust amperage and air pressure around the 62.99?
