Working on a project that requires me to use 1/4" 6061 aluminum. Ive never had great luck cutting aluminum in the past, but trying to get the quality better. Ive also recently been having issues cutting thicker steel as well.
As far as settings I tried a variety all at 45 amps, and cut speeds ranging from 50 ipm up to 100 ipm, also trying different air pressure.
All results were pretty much the same, but had better luck with slower speeds and cutting with THC off.
As seen below, I experienced tapered cuts even with verifying the torch was square to the work piece, holes out of round and when going around corners it tapered towards the middle of the piece.
Unsure which direction to go with fine tuning my settings and getting better quailty cuts. Later today im going to try new consumables. With pretty much any thicker material over 1/8" the THC is very inconsistent and notice it bobbing during cuts, which results in a jagged cut edge.
Any help is appreciated, even if its cut settings that have worked for you!
Did you ever get anything figured out on your 1/4-in thick aluminum to get a better cut quality? I did some research. I’ve got to cut some quarter inch as well. An AI search said it should be around 38” per minute, cut speed and a full 1-second delay. I’m going to practice pretty soon. I’m going to just start off cutting some smaller pieces and see how it comes out.
The pictures shown above represent the edge quality that is typical with plasma cutting aluminum.
The odd shaped holes are an issue that is not specific to cutting aluminum. Probably a table motion related issue like slipping couplers or a loose Z axis causing the torch to wobble.
Agree with water jet and Laser. Not really planning to cut much if any aluminum but was wondering about an answer if there was one. It would make the equipment more versatile if there was a solution. More into steel and stainless.
I cut 5/16 aluminum recently on CFP and had some quality issues, and noticed the air pressure was dropping down to 70 or even below during torch firing. After adjusting to higher pressure (~78+ psi) during torch firing, the quality improved.
