How A Plasma Cutter Works - Torchmate

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    Torchmate 4000 Series

    Torchmate 4000 Series Plasma Table - 4x4, 5x5, 4x8, and 5x10 CNC Plasma Cutting Tables

    These industry leading plasma tables are the premier option in their class. These unitized systems are designed and built by Lincoln Electric and include everything you need to start cutting. Fully assembled, Torchmate tables come ready to run to get you started cutting quickly! Make the right choice by adding automation to your shop with a brand new Lincoln Electric® machine today.

    Check out the latest versions of our CNC tables including an all new 5x5 plasma table! New features and enhancements are included!

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    Education Packages

    The Torchmate 4400 (4x4) and 4505 (5x5) are ideal for all educational environments.

    We include a Master license of our CAD design software with every educational purchase, and unlimited student licenses! This allows you to easily teach to as many students as needed.

    We also offer a complete curriculum to allow you add this new machine to your program immediately.

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    Torchmate 5100

    The Lincoln Electric® Torchmate® 5100 is our flagship industrial CNC plasma cutting table. This machine is built for all day production and is capable of running any of our HD plasma cutters.

    The machine is built with the most rugged components to our highest specifications for unmatched reliability and consistency.

    The machine is also configurable with a bevel head, giving you the ability to create parts that are ready to weld right off the table.

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    Torchmate X

    The Torchmate X Table is our light industrial CNC plasma cutting machine. This machine has been refreshed with a new unitized design and touchscreen interface for all 5x10 models. This machine is also available in an extra large size of 6x14, with our standard control system.

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    Plasma Cutters

    Lincoln Electric offers a range of plasma cutters for your machine.

    Our air plasma units are the FlexCut® 80 and FlexCut 125.

    We also offer High Definition plasma cutters with our line of FineLine® Plasma Cutting Systems. These units are designed to maximize cut quality and are capable of cutting thicker material with extremely low amounts of dross.

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• Laser Cutting
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    Linc-Cut™ 1530S 6kW and 12kW Shuttle Systems

    The Linc-Cut™ 1530S fiber laser cutting cell offers you the highest cut quality for your sheet metal fabrication needs, with an emphasis on production throughput. With two material beds, one inside the machine cell processing while the other is outside for unloading or loading of a new sheet. With a mechanical lift shuttle bed, the height in of the bed in relation to the cutting head inside the machine cell is the same regardless of which bed is inside.

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    Fiber Laser Cutting System

    Our Laser Cutting machine, the Lincoln Electric Linc-Cut™ CNC Fiber Laser cutting system is a unitized fiber laser cutting cell offering you premium cut quality at high cutting speeds for your sheet metal fabrication needs. Discover how a laser cutting system can boost your productivity, enhance your cut quality, and improve operational efficiency.

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• Pipe Cutting
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    MasterPipe Compact Profiler

    The MasterPipe Compact Profiler is an excellent machine for light duty pipe profiling.

    This machine is built for pipe in 1-8 inches in diameter.*

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    Vernon Tool MPM

    The Vernon Tool MPM is a robust and proven pipe profiling solution that has been known to last 50+ years in the field. The build and design of this industrial CNC pipe cutting machine will be sure to stand the test of time in some of the harshest cutting environments on the planet. Whether your pipe cutting application requires oxy-fuel or high definition plasma cutting, you can rely on the Vernon Tool MPM to consistently provide high quality beveled cuts. Machines are available in 4 and 5 axis configurations, with expandable machine beds and conveyor lengths to fit your business’s unique layout.

    Learn MoreVernon Tool MPM
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You are here: Home » Training » Torchmate CAD/CAM How a plasma cutter works

 Plasma cutters work by sending an electric arc through a gas that is passing through a constricted opening.  The gas can be shop air, nitrogen, argon, oxygen. etc. This elevates the temperature of the gas to the point that it enters a 4th state of matter.  We all are familiar with the first three: i.e., solid, liquid, and gas.   Scientists call this additional state plasma.  As the metal being cut is part of the circuit, the electrical conductivity of the plasma causes the arc to transfer to the work.

The restricted opening (nozzle) the gas passes through causes it to squeeze by at a high speed, like air passing through a venturi in a carburetor.  This high speed gas cuts through the molten metal.  The gas is also directed around the perimeter of the cutting area to shield the cut.

In many of today's better plasma cutters, a pilot arc between the electrode and nozzle is used to ionize the gas and initially generate the plasma prior to the arc transfer.

Other methods that have been used are touching the torch tip to the work to create a spark, and the use of a high-frequency starting circuit (like a spark plug).   Neither of these latter two methods is compatible with CNC (automated) cutting.

 

 

  This photo shows the swirl ring which is above the electrode and causes the plasma to turn rapidly as it passes.

While these parts are all referred to as consumables, it is the electrode and nozzle that wear and require periodic replacement.

CNC (computer numerically controlled) plasma cutters fully automate the shape production process.  Early CNC machines used a tape with small holes punched through to provide instructions to a primitive (by today's standards) computer.

Today's CNC units use either expensive limited production computers made specifically for running burning machines, or personal computers adapted to run the machines.  Both provide the same cut quality and production speed. In CNC cutting, you arrange your shapes on the computer screen and cut them automatically, without having to touch the material. CNC software lets you program pauses for piercing, scale up or down in seconds, set acceleration and deceleration at corners, and other functions not possible with electric eye units.

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