Beveling.....

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Had a local steel supplier send down 2 sheets of 3/4" AR400. They wanted 3 sides of each plate beveled, 3/8" x 45 deg. I asked who cut the plates to begin with, I was told they did the cutting and then I was informed that the steel supplier has a huge burning set up. Confused yet? I was. So I asked to stupid question...... "If they have a burning set up why are they sending these plates here to be beveled?"Reply, "Because they don't know how!"OK..... whatever. Let me tell you this, there wasn't a square edge on these plates and they cut the 90's on all 4 sides. It was 4 hrs before the job was done. I had to spend so much time setting squaring up the edges....Any way the point of this thread is to show the difference between their cut and mine. Yes, I used a preheat as I always do when beveling. In the pics none of the cuts have been cleaned up, mine or theirs.Their cuthttp://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/P1010013.jpgMinehttp://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/p1010009.jpghttp://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r...g/P1010012.jpgThanks for looking_________________Chris
Reply:Any steel I buy looks like "theirs"DavidReal world weldin.  When I grow up I want to be a tig weldor.
Reply:Nice cuts! You da' man! John -  fabricator extraordinaire, car nut!-  bleeding Miller blue! http://www.weldfabzone.com
Reply:deleted by me_________________Chris
Reply:deleted by mesorry for the double post ........ oooops!_________________Chris
Reply:Originally Posted by lorenzoTheir cutMine
Reply:Is that plasma cut, or oxy/acet? I have a plasma cutter, and my cuts never come out that nice. Please tell me what im doing wrong!Miller Syncrowave 200Hobart Handler 140Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster 38E-Z Tube BenderPlasma Cam DHC2
Reply:Originally Posted by QuciferIs that plasma cut, or oxy/acet? I have a plasma cutter, and my cuts never come out that nice. Please tell me what im doing wrong!
Reply:Their square cut is normal commercial grade quality.  It looks to me that they were running extra preheat and or maybe large tips to increase production.  Lorenzo's cuts are perfect with no melting on the top edge.  I know it is hard to accept but I freaked when I saw what was allowed in a flame cut for structural steel.  It was something like 1/8th notches and irregularities.  With burning tables available in even small shops the quality of flame cuts has improved by a large measure.  I find it hard that the original outfit could not bevel the plates.  It might be that they are not set up for it and it is not cost effective to go to manual mode.  In some cases custom cutting shops set up for one thickness of plate and cut nested material for days before moving on to another thickness. saving set up time.  The other reason may be that Lorenzo's shop is working WAY too cheap.  He needs a raise and an extra can of dog food at lunch time :')))
Reply:Originally Posted by lotechmanTheir square cut is normal commercial grade quality.  It looks to me that they were running extra preheat and or maybe large tips to increase production.  Lorenzo's cuts are perfect with no melting on the top edge.  I know it is hard to accept but I freaked when I saw what was allowed in a flame cut for structural steel.  It was something like 1/8th notches and irregularities.  With burning tables available in even small shops the quality of flame cuts has improved by a large measure.  I find it hard that the original outfit could not bevel the plates.  It might be that they are not set up for it and it is not cost effective to go to manual mode.  In some cases custom cutting shops set up for one thickness of plate and cut nested material for days before moving on to another thickness. saving set up time.  The other reason may be that Lorenzo's shop is working WAY too cheap.  He needs a raise and an extra can of dog food at lunch time :')))
Reply:Originally Posted by lorenzoNow no one has to click on the links.... thanks GMC
Reply:The steel shops in my area are just as bad, the only square cut that comes out of their shop are the factory ends. I've mostly given up on ordering precut peices unless it's a non-critically square component.Freelance Fabber91 GMC 3500 Portable welding truckLincoln Weldanpower 8000 gas welderMiller CST 250 Smaw/Gtaw inverterMillermatic 210 gmaw line welderHyperterm plasma
Reply:Even easier, since you use photobucket, in the thumbnail view, there are 3 text boxes under each uploaded picture.  One contains the URL Link, one an HTML Tag, and the bottom one says IMG Code.  Click this last box and it will copy the link to the picture and the IMG code so all you need to do is paste it in to the post.
Reply:great looking cuts. you make O/A look easy. I am totally sold on the preheat. Those cuts don't look like they need any clean up and ready for use. NIce work.Miller DVI2Lincoln Precision Tig 225Thermodynamics Cutmaster 38Everything else needed.
Reply:Originally Posted by Alberta FabricatorThe steel shops in my area are just as bad, the only square cut that comes out of their shop are the factory ends. I've mostly given up on ordering precut peices unless it's a non-critically square component.
Reply:Nice job Chris..Good equipment and a little talent goes along way!  ...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:If it was cut originally on a table, how the heck did they get it outa square??  Good work as allways.  Makes me wish I had a buddy with a table around..Various GrindersVictor Journeyman torch200cf Acet. 250cf oxygenLincoln 175 plus/alpha2 gunLincoln v205t tigLincoln 350mpEsab 650 plasmaWhen you can get up in the morning, Its a good day.Live each day like its your last.
Reply:Originally Posted by DoolittleIf it was cut originally on a table, how the heck did they get it outa square??  Good work as allways.  Makes me wish I had a buddy with a table around..
Reply:Nice cuts.  I make my cuts like that freehand, they usually come out a little smoother than yours though.  LOL    Yeah right.  those are probably the smoothest I've ever seen.  NICEDewayneDixieland WeldingMM350PLincoln 100Some torchesOther misc. tools
Reply:In my first year of apprenticeship, I had a several month long and intimate association with the plate cutting machine or profile as known in Oz.These days they are electronically guided, in comparison with our machines which ran magnetically around a steel template.We also had to make the steel templates.In photo one it appears that the cut may have been an oxy propane fuel cutter instead of oxy acetylene.Another variation could be That a Hi speed nozzle was used. Hi speed nozzles don,t give a premium finish .The flame settings were set incorrectly as oxidizing of the cut surface is plainly visible.The travel speed setting is verging on being too quick. 10% tolerance of vertical was regarded as the limit.The flame was set too low against the plate surface. The 45 degree cuts in the other photosshow correct setting in flame and travel speed.With the reference to cutting edges - vertical cut edge not square to plate- It happens if the operator loading the plate on to the table surface does check the  plate surface  for level each way. The support cones can build up a layer of slag not noticed initially and this can throw the edges out of vertical despite the torch head being set for that.Grahame
Reply:Lorenzo, How about some pics of your set up & some better info on the tip or tips your using & your gas adjustments? That is a lot to ask I know. But I come here to learn. Those bevels where pretty.I can O/A weld decent enough but my hand at cutting sucks.
Reply:We have OA Track Cutters on School. Simply a cutting torch on a 4 wheel car set on tracks. Has Fwd, Rev, speed control, angles, etc. Does a real nice job cutting as long as you know how to set it up right.....I've seen guys turning blue in the face trying to chip off slag. I do have a question about preheat though.I don't find much difference in preheating and just cutting straight through....But we use 1/4 steel and less.Did you preheat due to the thickness of the steel and to get a cleaner cut ?
Reply:Originally Posted by RIVERRATLorenzo, How about some pics of your set up & some better info on the tip or tips your using & your gas adjustments? That is a lot to ask I know. But I come here to learn. Those bevels where pretty.I can O/A weld decent enough but my hand at cutting sucks.
Reply:Originally Posted by Newfie#2We have OA Track Cutters on School. Simply a cutting torch on a 4 wheel car set on tracks. Has Fwd, Rev, speed control, angles, etc. Does a real nice job cutting as long as you know how to set it up right.....I've seen guys turning blue in the face trying to chip off slag. I do have a question about preheat though.I don't find much difference in preheating and just cutting straight through....But we use 1/4 steel and less.Did you preheat due to the thickness of the steel and to get a cleaner cut ?
Reply:Originally Posted by GrahameIn my first year of apprenticeship, I had a several month long and intimate association with the plate cutting machine or profile as known in Oz.These days they are electronically guided, in comparison with our machines which ran magnetically around a steel template.We also had to make the steel templates.In photo one it appears that the cut may have been an oxy propane fuel cutter instead of oxy acetylene.Another variation could be That a Hi speed nozzle was used. Hi speed nozzles don,t give a premium finish .The flame settings were set incorrectly as oxidizing of the cut surface is plainly visible.The travel speed setting is verging on being too quick. 10% tolerance of vertical was regarded as the limit.The flame was set too low against the plate surface. The 45 degree cuts in the other photosshow correct setting in flame and travel speed.With the reference to cutting edges - vertical cut edge not square to plate- It happens if the operator loading the plate on to the table surface does check the  plate surface  for level each way. The support cones can build up a layer of slag not noticed initially and this can throw the edges out of vertical despite the torch head being set for that.Grahame