What To Look For In CNC Plasma Cutting?
A CNC Plasma Cutter is a Computer Numerical Controlled cutter which as the name suggests is controlled using a computer making the plasma cutting process automatic. This comes with a set of tools and software to cut minute designs and is very effective when it comes to thin metal sheets. As the computer controls the movement of the torch head, this becomes possible to achieve the greatest accuracy, otherwise impossible for human hands.
The major components of a CNC Plasma Cutting system include a plasma cutter, a computer, a specialized CNC table, its related software programs and other consumable parts. Without anyone of these, the whole operation is not possible. When getting a plasma cutter, it is important that you get a mechanized version. If you get the manual version, it will not allow you to connect to the CNC system.
The special CNC plasma table is considered as the arm of the whole operation which allows the torch to move freely above the metal surface at the desired speed and direction that is fed into the computer. The motor used are generally a servo or a stepper. If the design is with less intricacy a stepper motor is enough. But if it is for a more complicated design, a servo is preferred as it has abundance free movement possibilities.
The software that is used on the computer can be split into 2 categories. The designing and controlling software in which, the former takes care of the design aspect while the latter takes care of the transmitting signal from the computer to the cutting table and then to the plasma cutter.
The CAD and the CAM are the two widely used softwares for plasma cutting. These programs should be installed in the computer that is going to be used for the operation.
• CAD (Computer Aided Design) enables to create designs in a 3D model and is very effective when it comes to complicated designs. Even before the work starts, it gives a feel of the end product with the artwork displayed on the computer screen.
• CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing) is a software that is programmed specifically to convert the said design digitally into CNC code. To implement this however, the DNC software (Direct Numerical Code) is required. This is the main software that controls the operation of the CNC machine equipments.
Most plasma system retailers offers the complete package from start to finish, so there is no need for you to search every store for each components. Just ask them what you need, the type of job you’re planning to work on and ask them if they can recommend a suitable package according to your budget.
With the introduction of CNC method, metal cutting has not only become easier, the cutting quality has increased while the cutting time is reduced and you can create almost any designs you want. But guess what, that’s not all because with the help of computers, the whole operation can now be fully automatic. All you need to do is tell the computer what you want and the system will take care of the rest.
