Update on my Star Lab

[Fastyankee]

Still Fighting issues with reliability and cut quality.

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[weldguy]

Bummer. Looks like the torch is turning off before the hole is completed. Do you get an error on the 45XP when this happens?

[Fastyankee]

Bummer. Looks like the torch is turning off before the hole is completed. Do you get an error on the 45XP when this happens?

No codes it crashes.

[BTA Plasma]

Hitting the slag pile from pierce used to be a big problem with thicker material and a cut height of .060". Then when the powermax 105/125 came out they had a much higher cut height. Using a Powermax 45XP on 1/2" material takes some babysitting for sure. Prepierce is a big part of that and you can do that in sheetcam. You can also use wiggle pierce from the tool settings to eject material without creating a slag pile. It does make more sparks.

[adbuch]

Still Fighting issues with reliability and cut quality.
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It's a real shame that you are still having these problems with your StarLabs table. I thought they sorted this out for you a few months back after the last discussion here. Trying to pierce 1/2" material with the 45xp is right at the Hypertherm spec limit. I agree that predrilling you pierce points would be the recommended way to go due to the limits of the 45xp.

For cutting small circles in thick material, I would recommend slowing down your cut speed and turning off your thc to prevent the torch from diving into the material on those tight curves.

So pre-drill, slow down cut speed, and turn off thc.

David

[djreiswig]

I'd use the ramp pierce in SheetCam and set it to pierce in the center of the smaller circles. Also, slow down to get less angularity.

[BTA Plasma]

We are inching closer to happiness I think. We were able to pierce only, wait to remove the slag pile then cut the hole through code. I hope this helps out. It is the way to pierce thick material and accurately cut a hole without fear of slag pile.

[adbuch]

We are inching closer to happiness I think. We were able to pierce only, wait to remove the slag pile then cut the hole through code. I hope this helps out. It is the way to pierce thick material and accurately cut a hole without fear of slag pile.

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[tnbndr]

Have you looked at this post?

https://plasmaspider.com/viewtopic.php?t=30527

[BTA Plasma]

Recent lab results from hypertherm state that 25% cut speed yields the best hole. But I can tell you from 20+years of CNC plasma cutting the holes need to be cut slow and no rule fits all scenarios. Everything about a 1/2" hole in 1/2" is wrong. That is a 1:1 ratio reserved for hi-def. BUT we can compromise a bit but some taper. But Hypertherm has a max pierce thickness and that is a non production rating IMO. The reason for this is the pierce can destroy the shield. And if metal gets in the shield cut quality suffers. Lots of consideration cutting small holes at pierce max. But it can do it. We set his up with a pause between pierce and hole cut.

[cutnweld]

I see absolutely no way to make a nice 1/2" hole in 1/2" thick material with 45 amps and zero taper. I don't care what brand of plasma table you are using. Been cutting mostly thicker materials for 8-9 years. Read a lot of info by Jim Colt etc. Aint gonna happen unless you go Hy Def. You may or may not notice that hypertherm does not list 1/2" in the cut charts for 45 amps. Yup it will do it, but not in a small hole

[AREA]

I agree. I wouldn't attempt to try and cut 1/2" steel with a 45 amp plasma and expect good cuts and consistency especially on smaller profiles.

[SeanP]

I used to struggle like mad with 12mm on my powermax 45, the XP45 is better but you do have to keep parts in good nick.
A spray of wd40 on the sheet helps a lot to reduce the slag pile, be sure to have lead in start at the centre on small holes, less than 15mm is going to be tricky, slow down feed 60% on those sizes.
Another thing I find helps on mine is to increase the air pressure on the plasma unit to 4.9bar rather than use auto, even using finecut it cuts better as well.
1.35sec pierce delay is what I use, book says 1 sec but that doesn't seem enough to me.
I have been using Thermocut parts recently, very pleased with them, cutting all day and most days with plenty sheets of 12mm.

[cutnweld]

yes well, I have cut a fair bit of 1/2" at 45 amps as well. Very satisfactory results. No Holes though. I have also cut a fair bit of 1.5" and 1.75" and even a little 2" at 85 amps, there is a night and day difference between a nice straight cut with some gentle arcs, or a small hole. Remember the arc is bending, the smaller the hole the more noticeable it becomes. I do not have a starlab machine. But I get a kick out of a post a bit up that says it is a shame the OP is having these problems. Go ahead, load up some 1/2" on your plasma cam and make some 1/2" holes at 45 amps, one pass, factory settings and crank out some holes that are ready to tap without any post operations

[adbuch]

Go ahead, load up some 1/2" on your plasma cam and make some 1/2" holes at 45 amps, one pass, factory settings and crank out some holes that are ready to tap without any post operations

I'm not sure if your are being facetious here - or serious about the "plasma cam". Some of his holes looked pretty good after he got his table and cutter dialed in. But I'm not sure how long the tap would last running threads into those plasma cut holes.

David