Cut Steel Like Butter With a Hot Knife! 🌀
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With the power of a sun, this has to be one of the most fun tools to use! Here I have to cut 8 or 10 sheets of 1/4 inch thick steel. I could get them cut with a shearing machine, but that's pretty expensive and would take a few hours to go out and get it done. Or I could use this awesome plasma cutter! All it needs is electricity and compressed air to run, and I can easily cut steel that is 1/2 inch thick. It can probably do more, but not as well.
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Get the piece setup and clamped under my guide. On the vice grips on the right you can see a clamp. That puts the piece of metal I want to cut into the electrical circuit which will form when I turn the plasma torch on.
Seems setup right. Ready to start!
It works best when you do not touch the metal that you're cutting. It still works if you do, but by melting, it ruins the tips of the torch easily, and you stick to, and stutter as you move across the surface.
Sometimes the connection fails across the spark gap for one reason or another, so you just press the trigger again and restart.
After just about 1 minute, and after going over a few spots, it's almost done!
Now to just clean off the melted slag and sharp edges a bit with a scraper and a grinder.
And done. Not too shabby and saves some $$$'s!
Ever tried one of these things?!
(Plasma along magnetic field lines on the sun.)
never tried it, but it’s good to know handy men!
My brother is really good with it, me, not so much... But it's still fun-ish^^
Nope never tried one. When I had to cut, I had to use what I had on hand, a stick welder... Of course it was just me making junk for use on the farm so it didnt have to be pretty.
Woah, that must have stuck and stuttered like crazy, no?
Just horrible, but I was doing thinner stuff usually.
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I'm not god in handcraft, never did something like that, but looks awsome. Looks like a laser saber in Star Wars!
It is pretty long too!
@inphiknit
nice post .... practical knowledge ...
Thanks^^