ShopSabre Sidekick 10 Acorn Retrofit

[Joey]

Those inside holes do look sharp! Did you cut the hook with THC on?

[ShawnM]

Those inside holes do look sharp! Did you cut the hook with THC on?

Yes, with THC on. The THC delay is 1 second for this profile, 45A - steel - .1875 thick. The small holes cut in under 1 second so there wasn't time for the THC to turn on for those but it was on for the perimeter cut and the voltage appeared to be rock solid at the setting in the profile manager, I think it was 130 or 135, cant remember but it didn't bounce more than a volt either way. The torch barely moved in the Z axis at all from what I could see.

I'm hoping that the re-tuning of the Clearpath and lowering it's internal PID (RAS) settings did the trick. Keith is going to remote in tomorrow and he wants me to re-run the calibration test so he can see the graph.

[cnckeith]

leave the RAS setting at 40 for the X and Y motors.

[cnckeith]

I just installed the latest beta, R13277, and ran the calibration. So far so good.

With my Clearpath motor on the Z axis I lowered the RAS setting from the default 40ms to 9.8ms to not fight with the THC PID and re-tuned the motor. Not sure if I need to do this with the X and Y motors or not. < leave the X and Y axes at 40ms>

The bug that would not allow me to import my "drive type" is fixed. Saved a lot of setup time by doing this. Manually setup all other parameters. <great thanks for reporting back>

Still a keyboard issue with the page up and page down for the Z axis. When I press either page up or page down the Z does not move and the message in the message window says "please select an axis". < Joey, please try to reproduce this and report back>

If I open a large PDF file and set it to a full page and press page up or page down it works just fine, the PDF advances or backs up one page. Am I the only one with this issue? Why does the page up and page down work as it should in other programs? Why does CNC12 ask me to select an axis? Oh, and it goes into incremental mode at the same time.

If I turn off keyboard jogging with ALT-J and press the page up or down I get the message "press ALT-J to enable keyboard jogging". < that is normal>

The X and Y axis work just fine from the keyboard. I'm gonna try another keyboard tomorrow.

do you see same action in CNC12 Router?

[ShawnM]

I have not installed the beta on my router, only the plasma. Right now I cannot install a beta on my router as I'm in the middle of two sign jobs and need the router to just work. I tested another keyboard and got the same results. What command(s) in CNC12 prompt you to "please select an axis? This is the first time I'm seeing this message?

There is no keyboard remapping program on the PC and the page up and page down moved the Z axis in WinCNC. This is just a weird issue and I wonder if any other beta users are seeing the same.

[jcoldon]

i saw them holes and corners underside hear little dross info below.
Check the cut height with a live cut in dry run stop at cut height. if you use the any other method, it be off i made a video proving that it in my pic folder . This is not a new thing i seen this on lots of controllers. That why i always say check with live cut adjust offset as necessary.
my key bord jog works just fine. it probly windows problem in your setup every Bata the keypad works fine maybe try another usb port

DROSS
Dross is re-solidified oxidized molten metal that is not fully ejected from the kerf during cutting. It is the most common cut quality problem of plasma cutting. Dross may form as a thick bubbly accumulation along the bottom edge of the plate (low speed dross), a small hard bead of uncut material (high speed dross) or a light coating along the top surface of the plate (top spatter).

FORMATION
Dross formation is dependent on many process variables including torch travel speed, standoff distance, amperage, voltage and consumable condition. It is also affected by material variables such as thickness and type of material, grade, chemical composition, surface condition, flatness, and even temperature changes in the material as it is cut. However, the three most critical variables to consider in dross formation are cutting speed, amperage, and standoff distance.


LOW SPEED DROSS
If the cutting speed is too slow, the plasma jet begins to look for more material to cut. The arc column grows in diameter, widening the kerf to a point where the high velocity portion of the plasma jet no longer ejects the molten material from the cut. As a result, this molten material begins to accumulate along the bottom edge of the plate in a thick globular form. This is called low-speed dross. At extremely low speeds the arc extinguishes because there is not enough metal to sustain a transferred arc. Increasing the amperage or decreasing the standoff (while keeping material thickness and speed constant) have a similar effect on the cut as slowing down the cut speed. Both of these changes cause more energy from the plasma jet to contact a given area of the material in a given period of time. Excessive amperage or low standoff can also cause low-speed dross. (Some low speed dross in the corners of a plasma cut is normal since velocity does not remain constant through a sharp turn.)


To eliminate low speed dross:

Increase the cut speed in 5 ipm increments

Increase the standoff in 1/16 increments or 5 volt increments

Decrease the amperage in 10 amp increments

If none of these measures improve the cut, consider a smaller nozzle size


HIGH SPEED DROSS
If the cutting speed is too fast, the arc begins to lag back in the kerf leaving a small hard bead of uncut material or rollover dross along the bottom of the plate. This high-speed dross is more tenacious and usually requires extensive machining to remove. At extremely high speeds the arc becomes unstable and begins oscillating up and down in the kerf causing a rooster tail of sparks and molten material. At these speeds the arc may fail to penetrate the metal or extinguish. High standoff or low amperage (for a given material thickness and cutting speed) can also cause high speed dross since both of these changes cause a reduction in the energy of the plasma jet.

To eliminate high speed dross:

Check the nozzle first for signs of wear (gouging, oversize or elliptical orifice)

Decrease the cutting speed in 5 ipm increments

Decrease the standoff in 1/16 increments or 5 volts increments

Increase the amperage (do not exceed 95% of the nozzle orifice rating)


TOP SPATTER DROSS
Top spatter is an accumulation of re-solidified metal that sprays along the top of the cut piece. It is usually very easy to remove. A worn nozzle, excessive cutting speed, or a high standoff is usually the cause. It is caused by the swirling flow of the plasma jet, which at a certain angle of attack flings molten material out in front of the kerf rather than down through it.

To eliminate top spatter dross:

Check the nozzle for signs of wear

Decrease the cutting speed in 5 ipm increments

Decrease the standoff in 1/16 increments or 5 volt increment.....

These are simple tips that will help your cut quality ... And of course every machine set up is just a little different than the next..
But even so the solutions are the same for dross....

[cnckeith]

thanks Jeff,
is this dross advice from PlasmaSpider? or a Jeff original?:-))

[ShawnM]

thanks Jeff,
is this dross advice from PlasmaSpider? or a Jeff original?:-))

It was cut and pasted direct from PlasmaSpider.

[cnckeith]

thanks.. great site..lots of good info there!

[jcoldon]

dross advice it all come from hypertherm easier to cut past it then sit he for 30 min type my version