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Fabricators and machinists alike know how difficult cutting thick metal stock can be. Even the heaviest-duty grinders and torches can make a proper mess out of heavy stock. Plasma cutters, however, specialize in cost-effectively making short orders of heavy steel stock.
Where arc welding processes like plasma arc welding (PAW) are the high-temperature champions of metal joining, the 25,000°C temperatures that are typically reached by plasma cutters can slice through metal stock as thick as 80mm with near surgical precision. Plasma cutters aren’t just incomparably efficient though, they’re also incredibly affordable; which makes them the perfect choice for any industry that needs superior quality throughput, along with greater control over their processing costs.
Powerful Plasma Cutting Tables Take Metal Fabrication to the Next Level
It’s a fact: regardless of the size of your business, if metal forming and fabrication are among your critical processes, then you know streamlining those processes is a fundamental part of your business’s sustainability. This is especially true, however, when the time and resources being committed simply to cutting metal stock are too high.
A premium quality CNC plasma table cutter, or combination plasma/oxy table can give your business the leverage it needs to perform cleaner and faster cuts on metal stock than would be possible with any other standard cutting equipment. The benefits of a plasma table are indisputable; and if you’re wondering how quickly you could expect to break even on investing in a plasma cutter, you only have to fully understand the process to recognize the advantages.
Instead of various types of handheld cutters that rely on heat or friction, a CNC plasma cutting table uses ionized gas to penetrate metal. When forced through a nozzle and electrically charged, the gas forms an arc with the working metal, and adjusting the amperage of the charge determines whether the arc simply etches the metal stock or pierces all the way through it.
Heavy-duty CNC plasma cutting machines and tables are able to take full advantage of this adjustability and are able to focus it toward a range of benefits that include:
- Incredible precision. When combined with CNC’s 0.2mm accuracy, the ability to adjust a plasma torch’s cutting height and width (kerf) makes performing precise cuts, including precise forms and shapes, consistent and effortless.
- Superior speed. Together with the natural convenience that a cutting table offers, a high-end CNC plasma cutting machine can carve through even the thickest steel stock at an impressive 8,000 mm/minute, up to a maximum cutting speed of 12,000 mm/minute.
- Incomparable safety. Unlike dangerous open-environment cutting, CNC cutting tables are equipped with anti-spark, and hazardous fume extraction systems that are designed to reduce worker exposure to super-heated metals, as well as the release of metal contaminants and coatings.
Ideally, with their ability to cut through any type of ferrous or non-ferrous metal quicker, more accurately, and more affordably than can be done manually, CNC plasma cutters do more than just allow businesses to fine-tune their production processes. They offer a level of standardization, as well as cost and quality control that allows you to take on infinitely more complex fabrication jobs, making growing your business a lot easier.
Programmable Features that Give You the Edge on Precision Cutting
Make no mistake: regardless of whether you’re a small company that’s in the business of manufacturing security doors and frames, or a major manufacturer of custom steel panels and fittings for the automotive or shipbuilding industries, with such a wide range of affordable CNC plasma cutting table machines on the market, you can’t afford to ignore their ability to reshape your entire fabrication process. And with average cutting and etching table dimensions (X, Y bed) residing respectively at 1500mm x 3000mm and 1306mm x 3000mm, a modern, non-contact ignition CNC plasma cutter offers a slew of heavy-duty, computer-aided advantages that include:
- Combined CNC plasma, and oxy-cutting capabilities;
- THC (torch height control) with 100mm Z-travel;
- Optimized track speeds for fine contour, and tight radius cutting;
- Geometry and Machine (GM) language CNC cutter hardware controls; and,
- IPC computer control with Network Remote Technology.
By combining the versatility and cost-effectiveness of a real-time CNC-programmable cutter with the convenience of a heavy-duty downdraft cutting table, you can expect an instant increase in productivity while simultaneously lowering your material and production costs. CNC control also makes an even more extensive choice of add-on options possible, giving you the opportunity to purchase a plasma cutting table for sale that’s just as safe as it is efficient.
Plasma Table Add-ons Help Keep Workplaces Safe From Toxic Metalwork Releases
No matter what type of fabrication work your business does, safety is paramount. Add-ons allow businesses to tap into the automated advantages that plasma cutting tables have, which ultimately also include enhanced workshop safety.
The release of toxic materials like chromium, lead, and cadmium is especially prevalent during metalworking processes like welding and plasma cutting. Proactive risk management practices dictate implementing the steps to ensuring employee safety; that’s why businesses are smart to buy CNC plasma cutter add-ons to significantly reduce the effects of these hazards, including:
- Air dryer, and eliminate filtration systems that are designed to remove contaminants from compressed air systems that can be detrimental to the cutter;
- Micron purity filtration systems that are crucial components in plasma cutting dust collection; and,
- Plasma fume extractor systems, together with the table’s downdraft, are engineered to remove harmful smoke and fumes from the air.
Ideally, reducing the risk of airborne contaminants that can be harmful to employees and equipment has to be a priority, and modern CNC plasma cutters for sale make it easy to achieve all your business’s production goals without compromising on safety.
The Final Word
At the end of the day, businesses that are heavily involved with metal fabrication don’t have to feel that their options are limited when it comes to cutting and shaping their base stock. Handheld grinders and oxy torches, along with the hazards that go with them, aren’t the only alternatives available; and one alternative in particular allows businesses to work quicker, more precisely, and ultimately safer and more cost-effectively.
A premium quality CNC plasma table cutter or combination plasma/oxy table can give you all the advantages you need to streamline your cutting and fabricating processes. They’re a safe, affordable investment in plant equipment that can help your business grow.
