Being fourth doesn’t necessarily mean you’re being left behind, as is the case with plasma. Also known as the fourth state of matter, it’s essentially an electrically charged ionised gas made up of positively charged ions and negatively charged electrons. This makes plasma cutting one of the most versatile solutions for cutting through metal and many other materials.
Plasma cutting can provide smooth, precise cuts in a short amount of time. It works well for a wide range of metal fabrication tasks that need accuracy and speed. This is especially the case with CNC plasma cutters.
Types of CNC Plasma Cutters
Gantry
Commonly found in industrial manufacturing facilities, gantry CNC plasma cutting machines are heavy-duty units made for large-scale applications. They work much like today’s photo printers, where a head with a torch moves along a rail that spans horizontally across the workpiece. Gantry CNC cutters are highly efficient and offer a long service life while producing fast and accurate cuts. They can handle a wide range of workpieces, regardless of size and complexity.
Table
As their name suggests, plasma table cutters have a flat surface on which the workpiece goes when it needs to be cut. The said piece of metal is fixed on the surface, and then a head with a torch on it moves around to make the cuts or cutouts. This makes a table CNC plasma cutter similar to a gantry cutter. However, the addition of a table makes it less versatile because you can’t just cut any size workpiece on it.
Portable
The mobile design of a portable plasma cutter makes it more similar to a gantry cutter but even more versatile. Since you can place the cutter on any flat surface and it will do its job, you are not limited to where you can make your cuts or what size workpieces you can make them on. However, because of their mobile nature, portable cutters aren’t as capable in terms of speed and power, or as stable as any of the above two.
Tube Cutter
Specifically made to cut tubes, tube cutters are quite quick at doing so, but they are the most limited solution in this case. The only drawback of tube cutters is also their strength, as they are specialised for one type of work. They can cut rectangular, round, and square tubes with ease, but this is where their application ends. Tube plasma cutters cannot be used to process flat plate material.
Dual Purpose
CNC plasma cutting machines that can cut both pipes and plates are known as dual-purpose cutters. That’s because they come with different attachments that allow the machine to be used in two different ways. While this makes dual-purpose machines more complex, they’re not that difficult to get the hang of, and they are also quite quick for their level of complexity.
What Matters in a CNC Plasma Cutter
2D vs 3D
The main difference between 2D and 3D plasma cutters is that the former has an axis along which the head can move. With 2D cutters, the head moves only on one axis, while with 3D cutters, it moves on both the X and Y axes. This makes the latter more versatile and capable, and the former less complex and more affordable.
Table Size
If you consider plasma table cutters the best for your needs, then you should take into account the size of the table. That’s because it determines the size of the workpieces you’ll be able to work on and whether or not the cutter will fit in your garage, shop or facility. Larger tables make for more comprehensive cutters, but also ones that require more space.
Cutting Speed
The speed at which CNC plasma cutting machines can go through the material determines how much time you’ll spend on each cut and on each workpiece. The faster the cutting speed, the better, but this can generate a significant amount of heat, which usually results in a shorter duty cycle. Also, the same speed isn’t present at different material thicknesses.
Material Thickness
Talking about material thickness, you should know the average thickness of the workpieces you intend to cut regularly. The thicker they are, the more powerful your plasma cutter should be, and the faster it should be able to make those cuts. This will significantly reduce downtime and give you a better duty cycle for the type of work you do regularly.
Software
The software is just as important as the torch, table and head of a CNC plasma cutter, as it’s the brain that controls how the machine is set up and how cutting commands are sent. Nowadays, it usually boils down to two pieces of software, but some cutters still use more specialised software depending on the system.
Power
When it comes to power, you should consider both voltage and amperage. The higher the former is, the higher the latter is as well, which can be problematic. High amperage can damage circuits, meaning the cutter needs stronger protection to handle the load.
