CNC Plasma Consumable Life: When to Replace Your Electrode and Nozzle One of the easiest ways to waste money CNC plasma cutting is replacing consumables too frequently. One of the easiest ways to ruin otherwise good parts is waiting too long to replace them. The challenge is figuring out when your consumables are actually worn […]
CNC Plasma Kerf Compensation: Why Your Parts Are the Wrong Size Have you ever designed a part in CAD, cut it on your CNC plasma table, and discovered that the finished part was slightly smaller than it should have been? Or maybe you’re cutting a hole for a bolt, only to discover that the bolt […]
CNC Plasma Dross: What Causes It and How to Fix It If you’ve spent any time CNC plasma cutting, you’ve probably dealt with dross. It’s that unwanted buildup of metal along the bottom edge of your parts that leaves you reaching for a grinder when the cutting is finished. A little dross might not seem […]
Why CNC Plasma Air Pressure Matters More Than You Think You can have your amperage, cutting speed, and torch height perfectly dialed in and still get terrible results if your compressed air supply isn’t doing its job. One of the most overlooked variables in CNC plasma cutting is air pressure. More specifically, it’s the difference […]
How Amperage, Cut Speed, and Tip Size Work Together in CNC Plasma Cutting A plasma cutter has a lot of settings, but three of the most important are closely connected: Amperage Cutting speed Tip size The mistake is treating them as three independent settings. They are a system. If you change amperage without considering the […]
Pierce Height vs Cut Height: Why CNC Plasma Uses Two Different Heights One of the easiest CNC plasma settings to misunderstand is torch height. The torch does not stay at one fixed distance above the material throughout the entire cutting process. Instead, a typical plasma cut uses two important heights: Pierce height Cut height They […]
How the Floating Z-Axis Sets Torch Height on a CNC Plasma Table Before a CNC plasma cutter can make a good cut, it needs to know exactly where the surface of the material is. That sounds simple until you consider that sheet metal is rarely perfectly flat. Material can be: Warped Bowed Sitting unevenly on […]
Why a Magnetic Breakaway Torch Mount Matters on a CNC Plasma Table Even with a properly set up CNC plasma table, eventually something is going to go wrong. A cut part tips up. A piece of warped material catches the torch. Slag builds up. A remnant moves. The torch travels across something that is no […]
Why Torch Lead Routing Matters on a CNC Plasma Table The torch lead is easy to overlook when setting up a CNC plasma table. It is flexible, so it may seem like you can simply route it wherever it fits and start cutting. But that heavy cable is constantly pulling on the torch as the […]
Why CNC Plasma Torch Squareness Matters for Cut Quality A CNC plasma torch needs to be perpendicular to the cutting surface in both directions. Even a small amount of tilt can affect: Edge bevel Hole quality Dimensional accuracy Part consistency Cut appearance A rigid torch holder keeps the torch from moving, but the holder cannot […]
Beck’s Toolbox
Knives
DIY Build Kits
Digital Downloads
Machine Accessories
Fabricating Materials