Welding Tips and Tricks

Hey fellas

I have a Cutmaster 42 coming and I wanted to get some plasma noob advice.

I've used one one time for about 10 minutes two years ago. Any pointers or so forth any one wants to offer would be much appreciated.

Bullet points are fine, not imposing on any of you guys to write me a novel or anything.

I got a Motor Gaurd inline dryer / submicron filter and a flowmeter to keep me at 75 psi. I know the drying / filtration thing always seems to be an issue in everything I've read on here, I'll report on how this filter works, or doesn't. I have wet air, that much I know for sure.

Thanks

Congratulations!

It sounds like the filtration you've chosen will make a big difference. Minor moisture will reduce consumable life, but major moisture will give you performance issues.

My summary on plasma cutting is to use more air than you think you need, and less power than you think you need. Practice will tell you how fast to move on a cut to not "blow back" and leave bridges.

At lower power levels, you can often drag the tip directly on the metal, against a fence, to make a very precise cut requiring very little clean-up. I've not looked at the CutMaster 42 specifically, but it may have a "drag" tip available that allows you to make contact cuts at full power, which will help with precise cuts.

Our Thermal-Dynamics 85s at work will allow me to cut 16 ga. with a machine-like precision and minimal cleanup.

Steve S

*On straight cuts, use a guide whether it be a ruler, straight edge, piece of angle iron, etc.. It will save you frustration.
*Use a bright color paint marker. I prefer paint markers to soap stone or sharpie because when it gets hot it just turns white, it doesn't disappear or wipe away.
*Practice. Practice free handing different shapes, designs don't just stick with straight lines.
*Check your contact tip often
*Keep a small wire brush handy. I like to use it to remove any blow back from the nozzle, trust me you will have that.
*BUY A TIG FINGER! I wore mine out going over cut after cut but it is worth it. It slides easy so if you do have to free hand a straight cut it will slide and protect your hand.
*If you do not have a designated cutting table, buy some angle iron to lay on top of a table it will protect the top from the worst of the heat but it is best to get a good cutting table or build your own.

If you need any more advice just let me know, you can private message me and I will help, I put in hours everyday on a plasma cutter.

Pay attention to what is under the metal, never clamp your ground clamp on the piece you are cutting off, especially if you have multiple cuts to make. Watch where you drape your torch. The other day I draped it over my shoulder and leaned forward to look at what I cut, when I did I accidentally pushed the button on the torch with the tip against my stomach, I now have a big hole in my jacket, t shirt, and a burn mark on my belly. Not fun.

Thanks guys. Good info.

If I struggle picking things up I may just take you up on that offer mcoe.

Any time, I wouldn't make the offer if I wasn't ready to back it. I am not an expert but I have a lot of torch time.

Hooked everything up last night and this morning, and she's DOA.

It was a purple Thermal arc when I ordered it, a yellow Tweco when I paid for it and a green Victor when I got it home.
The price was as quoted, and the specs on the Victor actually exceeded those of the T/A. So no gripe there, just an observation.

It does seem that the companies under the Victor namesake are buying and selling themselves quite a lot lately though.

Customer service was quick, professional and actually sounded like they were here in the States. Take it back, swap it out, no fuss no muss. From a CS standpoint they've done everything right so far.

But I hate DOA machines.

Replacement coming next week, we'll see what happens.

newschoppafowah wrote:Hooked everything up last night and this morning, and she's DOA.

It was a purple Thermal arc when I ordered it, a yellow Tweco when I paid for it and a green Victor when I got it home.
The price was as quoted, and the specs on the Victor actually exceeded those of the T/A. So no gripe there, just an observation.

It does seem that the companies under the Victor namesake are buying and selling themselves quite a lot lately though.

Customer service was quick, professional and actually sounded like they were here in the States. Take it back, swap it out, no fuss no muss. From a CS standpoint they've done everything right so far.

But I hate DOA machines.

Replacement coming next week, we'll see what happens.

For curiosity, define "dead on arrival"
-Jonathan

Described Led code to tech support, tech support asked for serial number, I gave it, tech support said "yep" and told me to take it back to where I bought it and blah blah blah.

My tech support experience indicates there's more to the story that I don't know, but I don't need to. They warranty their stuff and they're good to deal with, so line problems (should they exist, even though I'm sure they don't) aren't my problem.

Got the new one two days ago, it's a dream come true. Love everything about it. Victor / etc. came through with great customer service and all is well there.

Had to change electrode and tip today, after what I consider to be not a lot of cutting, but the electrode showed swirling and the tip was eroded with that silver color that you see, both, as I understand it, signs of moisture.

This perplexes me, on account of the not so cheap filtration system I went with, hoping to avoid frequent consumable changeouts.

I would ask any of you fellas with any plasma experience about consumable life.

(I haven't done any numbskull tricks such as touching the tip to the work, maintaining a lot of standoff height, etc)

As I said, I didn't cut much before experiencing the arc dropout / AC light, which was solved by changing consumables. Those consumables, again, seemed damaged by moisture. Checked the M-723 element, it was not saturated. I'm thinking more filters / driers, etc. inline, provided they'd be cheaper in the long run than frequent consumable replacement.

Any anecdotal experience on thicknesses cut vs. consumable life vs. filtration systems etc. would be much appreciated.

Were there just swirl marks on the electrode or did it start sputtering and stop cutting? I have a bad moisture problem but I usually run an electrode till the end erodes away and it stops cutting.

Electrode still has all of its shape, just darkened, and swirl marks. It looks like I could hit it with some sandcloth and use it again, I just changed it out to keep on rolling. Tip looks pretty silvery and eroded at the orifice.

The unit started not lighting up, then it would, then it wouldn't, then it gave the blinking AC light LED readout for incorrect torch configuration. New consumables solved the problems, but man, if I'm going to change them out this frequently, I need to buy in bulk.