When your cutting speed is too slow, the plasma arc becomes like an hungry animal, looking for more metal to keep itself alive.

Boost current, being careful not to exceed 95% of your nozzles AMP rating.

Replace worn cutting tip, especially if the orifice shows signs of wear.

Higher speeds causes the CNC plasma arc to fall behind the torch, leaving hard globs of uncut metal on the bottom of the plate and requiring tenacious cleanup. High-speed dross occurs, as its name implies, is when the cutting speed is too high.

RELATED: What To Check Before Replacing Your Consumables 2. Decrease the speed of your cut incrementally until dross in minimized.Incorrect torch height (or standoff) will also result in top dross accumulation. Cutting the piece too fast can also introduce top dross. This can be caused by using worn consumables including cutting tips that have outlasted their usefulness. In top dross, spatter appears on the top edge of both pieces of the plate. RELATED: Top 3 Plasma Table Maintenance Tips Types of Dross and Their Solutions 1. While dross and slag are inevitable in the CNC plasma cutting process, there are several ways to reduce them. The term “dross” is often used interchangeably with the words “slag,” and “spatter.” Whichever you choose to call it, excessive buildup of hardened metal on your cut can lead to costly downtime needed for post-cut cleanup. “Dross” refers to the unwanted accumulation of waste and foreign matter resulting from molten metal created during the plasma cut. In Climbing cutting, the torch goes first goes counter-clockwise on inside cuts, then clockwise on outside cuts and as shown in the figure above, giving the best cut quality.Reducing Dross in CNC Plasma Cuts What is Dross and Slag? This is why we always specify “Climbing” for plasma cutting. the Climbing side, with a reduced bevel on the Climbing side. In its rotation, the plasma arc also resembles the rotary cutter of a milling machine in that the quality of the cut is different for the Conventional side vs. The terminology is the much same as for the milling machine’s rotary cutter: As the arc cuts through the metal, one side of the plasma arc is rotating into the direction of travel (Conventional) and one side of the plasma arc is rotating away from the direction of travel (Climbing). The swirl ring imparts a clockwise rotation, and this makes the swirling plasma more stable and effective at cutting. One of the components in your plasma cutter’s consumable stack is a “ swirl ring.” It typically has small angled holes in it, which add a rotation to the high-pressure gas that becomes plasma.

Climbing vs Conventional cutting have an effect on speed and quality in milling. When the cutter rotates the other way, starting at the top and cutting downward, with the cutter rotating in the same direction that the workpiece moves, this is called Climbing cutting. If, during milling, the chip is started in the bottom of the cut and cut upward, with the cutter rotating into the movement of the work, we call this Conventional cutting. When the rotating cutter is turned, the workpiece (material to be milled) is brought forward against the cutter so that a little chip of the material is shaved from the workpiece with every rotation. Progress in machine design was rapid and much has been learned about the processes of cutting metal with rotating tools. While your plasma cutter uses a rapidly moving jet of high-energy, electrified plasma to cut metal, it bears some resemblance to the milling machines with their rotating cutters, both pre- and post-CNC.įirst developed in the early 1800s, milling machines evolved to speed the filing of metal into finished shapes, which was laboriously done by hand. The concept springs from the world of mechanical machining and how milling machines cut metal with rotary cutters. You may have seen settings in your CNC Plasma Cutting design software, like Torchmate CAD-CAM, that specify Conventional or Climbing cutting, and wondered about the terminology’s meaning, and why we always select Climbing.

Torchmate cutting aluminum