Another new guy from WA

[R Counts]

Just thought I'd post a minor update. So far I have cut both my motor mounting brackets, both exhaust flanges, and also made a few cuts on the square tubing for my exhaust manifolds. I'm getting steadier with my cuts as I get more practice.

A couple of techniques I'd found that help are 1) use my free hand to help steady and guide the torch, and 2) when following a paint-pen line drawn on a piece of steel it helps to tilt the torch so that the plasma jet is pointed in the direction I want to cut. Kind of "push" cutting rather than actual "drag" cutting. This allows me to see both the line and exactly where the jet is cutting a lot better - helping me to stay more precisely on the line.

Is there any disadvantage to this "push" cutting technique? It isn't going to cause me to wear out tips faster or anything like that, is it?

[performance]

No, actually, a straight down position is preferred. But it works well on thin sheets of metal and for cuts where you are having problems with slag fouling the cut behind the torch. Keep a good standoff and you will be okay.

[R Counts]

No, actually, a straight down position is preferred. But it works well on thin sheets of metal and for cuts where you are having problems with slag fouling the cut behind the torch. Keep a good standoff and you will be okay.

After reading this I went back and double-checked my manual that came with the SuperCut50. It specifically says to hold the torch "at a slight angle". Now I don't know what their definition of "slight" is, but to me anything up to about 10 or 15 degrees fits my definition, so that's what I've been doing.

Even if straight up and down is the preferred postion, angling the head a little backwards - away from the direction I'm cutting - sure makes following a line a lot easier. If there isn't a real problem doing it this way (which was my original question) I think I'll stick with it...