This is for work, so the budget is pretty much Nil. the plate is about 26x20, so it soaks up a lot of heat. I think the nearly empty fuel bottle may have been part of the problem heating the plate, though. I was using a #2 tip, which is the biggest we had, but I'm going to pick up a #3 tomorrow.

We have a 60a thermal dynamics at work... it will sever 1" if you move damn slow, but it certainly won't pierce it. (and sadly, until that one craps out... a new machine is not in the cards.)


(I didn't realize I never posted this response...)


So, what worked in the end was drilling a 1/4" pilot hole and the #3 tip. I pre-heated the first hole with the rosebud and by the time it was hot, the whole plate was hot, so I have no idea if I could've omitted the preheat all together.

Cleaning up the hole I made partially through on the first day was a PITA... I ended up cutting the 1/2" plate off the underside with the plasma and enlarging the hole with the torch. even after I drilled a pilot, the slag still wouldn't flow downward, it just bubbled up.

Interestingly enough, there was almost no issues going through 2 plates with oxyacetylene once it was pierced. I mean... it wasn't the cleanest hole you've ever seen, but I'm not the best torch cutter you've ever seen either


Anyway, thanks for the tips. I'll post a pic of the crane truck when we get it finished. the body and crane are all painted, but I've got to paint the boom cylinder (was being rebuilt) and get a few leafs put in the crane side, it's sitting about 3" low.