Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Oxy-Fuel Piercing - How much to tilt from 90 degrees?

Hi Bob,

Before going to the hassle and expense of setting up a fourth axis, try
a couple of alternative piercing strategies:
Wiggle or zigzag pierce. Keep the torch moving back and forth over a
small area. Any blowback will come out behind the direction of movement.
This is popular with waterjet cutters which have similar problems with
blowback.
Ramp pierce. Similar to the wiggle pierce but lower the torch from
preheat height to cut height while slowly moving along the lead in.
Again any ejected material will come out behind the direction of movement.

Both of the above strategies allow you to pierce at any angle while a
tilting torch has to pierce at the same angle as the torch tilt unless
you can tilt in both axes.

Les


jacoby01 wrote:

> Does anyone have experience with a tilting head oxy-fuel CNC setup?
>
> I'm designing a head for my Harris 98-6 machine torch (oxy-propane).
> It is a high speed cutting torch (20 ipm through 1/4" steel) and I'd
> like to design a tilt feature into the head mount so that slag
> doesn't clog the 6290-VCC tip when I pierce. According to the
> pictures that Harris publishes, the quality of the cut is incredible,
> but you've got to keep the tip clean during piercing.
>
> Most likely I will build in both rotation - up to 45 degrees from
> vertical and torch height control (the THC is mostly for the plasma,
> but if I cant the oxy-fuel torch over to 45 degrees from vertical I
> would most likely have to lower the torch in the same macro).
>
> Most of my cutting will be done in 1/4" to 1/2", but I have
> aspirations to cut up to 4" on some projects.
>
> So the questions:
>
> 1) Does anyone have experience with this kind of setup and any
> recommendations / suggestions as a result?
>
> 2) How much should I tilt the torch from vertical so as to not to
> contaminate the tip?
>
> thanks in advance for any suggestions.
>
> Bob in Florida
>