Tl;dr - Can i use my Everlast 52i to write on my parts? Even if it’s just to pockmark them with a part number or a serial or something?
Hey, fellas. I’m new to the world of CNC metalworking, but can lean on a few years of experience with wood cutting CNCs. I feel fluent in most things about the software and hardware involved with this new CNC plasma cutter i’ve ordered, but the plasma part is utterly mysterious to me. I’ve used handheld plasma torches, but i know this will be a completely different experience. I saw a video of someone using a scribing attachment on their Langmuir CNC, which (of course) couldn’t use the torch height modulation, so it could only really reliably scribe near where it was touched off, as it had no idea whether the material varied along Z elsewhere. I also saw a video of a very expensive plasma which could simply write into material by cutting out a shallow channel, but i can’t find any information on whether the Everlast i’ve bought can do that.
Help a newbie out, please, i can’t seem to google my way around this question? Is this a common function of plasma cutters? Is this something that can be coded around?
So, I think what you are talking about is usually called “marking.” I don’t think it is officially a feature of your machine. The machines that do it use special nozzles and argon for a cutting/shield gas. I tried it with my PrimeWeld with regular air and just couldn’t control depth and width or shape of the groove well enough to be useful. For actual gouging, which removes a lot more material, I doubt there’s a way to do that usefully with CNC. The splash back would trash your consumables immediately. Somebody else can correct my details, but that is my understanding.
I’ve seen some etching add-ons that look interesting. Search around for "air scribe" and you may find a few interesting posts. Most are pneumatic and have a carbide type tip. One is designed to fit on the tip of your torch - name escapes me. I did see a somewhat unsuccessful attempt at putting an electric dremel engraver on the carriage and zip tying it in place. Don’t think it went too well, but was an interesting attempt.