Hypertherm Powermax 45 Dross

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I get a lot of dross when I cut. I have my air adjusted correctly. any suggestions
Reply:Originally Posted by txrplsI get a lot of dross when I cut. I have my air adjusted correctly. any suggestions
Reply:Yes lots of dross usually moving to slow.Lincoln, ESAB, Thermal Dynamics, Victor, Miller, Dewalt, Makita, Kalamzoo.  Hand tools, power tools, welding and cutting tools.
Reply:Originally Posted by John Twhat size material are you cutting?How are your consumables?usually I've found excessive dross is from moving too slow.
Reply:Ok, so I changed out the consumables and that made a difference. I want to cut slow as this is a weird irregular cut. How do you cut slow with this machine?
Reply:Well, I figured it out, just cut slow and knocked of the dross with a chipping hammer.
Reply:It’s a combination of cut amps and travel speed. Get the combination correct and you get relatively clean cuts.JasonLincoln Idealarc 250 stick/tigThermal Dynamics Cutmaster 52Miller Bobcat 250Torchmate CNC tableThermal Arc Hefty 2Ironworkers Local 720
Reply:One setting. WFO and pull accordingly. See the spray angle ? Too slow is straight downLast edited by Bonzoo; 12-16-2019 at 09:51 AM.
Reply:Dross is caused by: 1. Cutting too slow, 2. Cutting with torch too high off material.  If the part is detailed and you need to move slow.....turn the amperage knob down unil you are comfortable (that is what the Amp setting is there for). With experience, just like with welding processes, you will find a sweet spot that works for you. You will find that low speed dross is very easy to knock of with chisel (buy a concrete chisel at the local hardware). Finding the ideal speed by machine cutting is easy, by hand it is hard to find the sweet spot between low speed dross and high speed dross. If the height is right (correct height with shielded hand cutting parts on a Hypertherm is dragging) and the speed is right, and the retaining cap is perpendicular to the material....you will see the sparks (that exit the bottom)  actually lead the torch by about 10-15 degrees when using an air plasma on steel (on stainless and aluminum the sparks should trail by 15 to 30 degrees).  The manual has some good info on cutting technique.....check it out!   Jim Colt
Reply:Thanks, Jim. I finally got it figured out.