I am not necessarily looking for advice more so to maybe help others. I upgraded to a hypertherm 65 a couple years ago because I was starting to cut a lot of thicker metal.
When I first upgraded not wanting to hit a duty cycle I began cutting 1/4 plate at 45 amps and around 50 ipm with voltage set around 137 on the thc. Started getting brave cranked it up to 65 amps and 90 ipm can’t remember right off the voltage.
To the point I cut a repair plate for a fuel tank our repair shop is working on ( glad I am not the welder there 
they know what to do to do it safe). Anyway I cut this plate out at 45 amps so I didn’t have to open a new box of consumables. What do you all think you will get the best cuts with? We have seen several threads about taper or bevel lately. I cut this out and had a 3 degree taper on all 4 sides. I will share a few pictures they are not great because I didn’t think to record it until it was already loaded in the truck.
With the excellent experience here other than time can we get a better cut at a lower amp or at full throttle?
I will now have to do some 65 amp cuts and update this thread later.
I know the picture quality is lacking just think a discussion might help someone new or a seasoned burner
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Now, I don’t have a Hyperthrem. I have an Everlast 82i. They are not in the same ballpark. I can cut 1/2 - 5/8 A36 plate for about 10 minutes @ 60 amps before hitting the dreaded DUTY CYCLE. I have cut 1 inch and 3/4 @ 82 amps. The duty cycle time limit is about 5 minutes. The risk of trashing a piece of costly metal always tightens up my butt. I make sure whatever I’m cutting material that thick is in that time window. When it gets close, I light up a cigar and start puffing. Ha Ha.
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With your machine say cutting 1/4 is there a difference in the cut quality cutting at say 45 amps and slower or say 65 amps and faster.
I guess that was the main question are people pushing their machines to the max when a idle is fine.
Not sure if people remember a thread I started a while back. I had nested 165 parts on the pro table near the end of the cut the skeleton was a couple inches off the table.
I was over impressed with this cut I am thinking less heat these less the material may move better edge quality. But the cutting faster at higher amps could put less heat as well.
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@Bigdaddy2166 You can add an automatic timed pause after each cut to allow you have a little more buffer on hitting your duty cycle limit. I’m sure you knew that already as an old hand around here, but other new guys might not be as aware. Then it’s more about deciding how long to set the pause for and making sure no individual cut lasts long enough to hit your duty cycle limit.
If there was a program with a bunch of small holes and a long perimeter cut, you could program a 1 second pause between cuts, and then manually go in and find the start of your outer profile and adjust that one pause length to be whatever you need to give your machine time to cool before cutting it out, without forcing you to stand by the machine and pause and restart it manually.
@Phillipw As far as cut quality/bevel VS amps, I suspect proper cut conditions would show minimal difference, with maybe a slight edge to the higher amperage machine if the table is smooth and precise enough to handle the higher feed rates you might hit on thin materials. On thicker material the feed rate is low enough it probably doesn’t matter and it’s all about the cut conditions and condition of the consumables. I’ve spent more hours running lasers than plasma cutters, so maybe there’s a detail I’m missing, but my money is on higher amps being better most of the time as long as your table and cut conditions are up for it.
I’d love to see some results one way or the other if someone wants to run some tests (or if they already have). There may be other unconsidered reasons why more or less power may be preferred, such as improved consumable life, reduced warping, etc.
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Time permits me to in the next bit I will definitely update this thread with some 65 amp cuts.
I loaded a piece of 1/4 inch on the table I don’t want to unload it so I will burn it up. I make these 2x4 washers 1000 at a time I will do some of them at 45 amp and 65 amp for a good comparison.
Maybe some other will share their experiences as well.
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I have tried the pause feature. My experience is that I have to give the machine 10~15 minutes between cuts to satisfy my “Warm and cozy feeling”. Just gun-shy, I guess.
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I don’t know that I could say I ever had zero bevel until I cut a piece of 1/2 inch plate. I generally am cutting at the full 45 amps with my Hypertherm 45XP. I know I have shown these photos several times, but there was zero bevel and the only thing that it explains it to me is that the machine was moving at a speed that caused zero vibration and everything was synchronized. These plates had zero bevel all the way around, enough that they could be stacked on edge.
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This is some 1/2 ar400 I did once. Bevel does always seem to be less on thicker material.
My idea is bevel isn’t a bad thing and zero bevel isn’t something one can do consistently. After all they are plasma cut not machined.
Nice work @ChelanJim.
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I can’t take credit for it. It was just luck I think. I have not tried to reproduce it so I cannot say how it will cut the next time.
But why?
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Sorry, guys, but those bevels on 1/2 plate don’t get better than those pictures. I was just saying. Worry about something else.
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Personal I think speed has a lot to do with it maybe gives the flame more time to level out? Then the base material won’t warp as much? Just guessing
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True to that!! Let’s fix the country
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God knows we need it. I took a mental health day from work today. God knows I need it. I’ll be blowing up this forum today.
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I think that is right. It has to be. So you are answering your own question, maybe. Pick an amperage that does sufficient cutting, where the speed can be optimal: too slow and it burns away too much material, too fast and you get incomplete clearing of the unwanted material.
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The reason I started the thread was to get others opinion on what they thought and their experiences. For the work I do 99 percent of my cut satisfy me.
I haven’t cut much 1/2", but my Primeweld Cut 60 doesn’t look anywhere near that clean or square on 1/2" plate.
The Everlast kicks butt on 1/2 plate.
60 amps @ 21 ipm, 1.2 pierce delay.
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I’m starting to wonder if my Primeweld has some issue, or if the cut charts are just off by miles on 1/2" steel… My machine will cut it at 60A, but it’s not even in the same realm as that for cut quality.
Edited to add, I just looked up recommended cut conditions and your Everlast numbers are very similar to Primeweld manual suggested numbers.
It may also depend on how much time you send on setup. Doing machine work you know set up is 90 percent well in repair machine work it is. I always cutting thick material I make sure the material is square x and y to the torch.
When I set up my machine I leveled the torch not squared it to the slates. I will shim my material to make it level.
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What benefit are you thinking you get by leveling the torch to the world and then having to do the same for your materials, VS leveling your table so your slats are level, squaring your torch to the slats, and then not having to shim things anymore?
Maybe I’m missing something, but I think you’re creating a lot of extra work for yourself.
