Stacking aluminum to cut........

[Steve]

One of my hobbies is metal detecting and I wanted to make a sand scoop made out of aluminum. So I went to the local metal store and bought some 3/32 aluminum. Thinking I could cut my plasma cutting in half, I decided to stack the aluminum plate and then just cut it in half the cuts. Big mistake!

I found that the Powerplasma 50 is an awesome aluminum cutter. Cuts plate aluminum like a hot knife through butter. But if you stack aluminum and try cutting, the space between the plates will cause an eddy in the plasma that makes a real mess.

I also tried it on steel......some 1/8 inch thick stuff.....same problem.....lots of dross and not a very good cut.

Now that I have a Powerplasma 50 and the Powertig 250EX, I can build some neat things. The sand scoop was one that I always wanted to do. But there is a learning curve. I am pretty good at using the plasma cutter and this had me at a loss to figure out. So I called a friend who owns a fabrication shop. He told me that stacking is not a good idea...his business has plasma, waterjet and laser cutting and they never stack anything with any of those processes.

So the moral of the story is.....don't stack material to save on cutting or make it look the same. It does not work well and will leave you with a mess!

[zoama]

Some job are best done on a band saw. Generic 4x6 models can be had under $200.

[performance]

Clamp the metal together if you are going to cut it. It'll cut neatly then.

[Steve]

I found out what the problem is. I'm using anti skid aluminum plate with the raised areas and even though it was clamped together, there must have been enough space to cause it not to work right.

I did the same thing with anti skid steep plate and the same thing. Never cut that stuff before and so it was a learning experience.