How Does a Plasma Cutter Work? Working Principle and Uses

Plasma cutting which is a thermal cutting method, is widely used to cut or engrave on materials such as metals. This is one of the fastest cutting methods available that assures high-quality and precise cuts without causing any deterioration on the material. Although being a popular metal cutting technique, most of us are unaware of plasma cutting. Are you interested to know more about this metal cutting technique? This post is intended to provide you detailed information about plasma cutting machine. Stay tuned.

What is Plasma?

To understand how a plasma cutter works, it’s important to know what plasma is. There are three fundamental forms of matter – solid, liquid, and gas. But, there is a fourth one as well, which is plasma. In daily lives, plasma can encounter in several products such as fluorescent lamps, televisions, and of course plasma cutters. Plasma is often called as an ionized gas because it can be generated by heating a natural gas to extreme temperatures or subjecting it to an electromagnetic field where the ionized gas element becomes electrically conductive. As a result, plasma cutters can pass through metals such as brass, aluminum, steel, and copper with no resistance.

Working Principle:

A Plasma Cutting Machine operates by using ionized gas (plasma) to cut through conductive materials. It involves a power supply, gas flow, plasma generation, a plasma torch, and the cutting process. The intense heat of the plasma melts the material, while the gas stream blows away the molten metal, creating the cut. Advanced systems may include CNC control for automated precision. This technology is widely used in industries like fabrication and metalworking for fast and accurate cutting.

How Does a Plasma Cutting Machine Work?

A Plasma Cutting Machine operates by using ionized gas (plasma) to cut through conductive materials. It involves a power supply, gas flow, plasma generation, a plasma torch, and the cutting process. The intense heat of the plasma melts the material, while the gas stream blows away the molten metal, creating the cut. Advanced systems may include CNC control for automated precision. This technology is widely used in industries like fabrication and metalworking for fast and accurate cutting.

Plasma cutting is one effective method to cut thin and thick materials. Owing to high speed and precision of cuts, this method is widely used in automotive repair and restoration, industrial construction, manufacturing, salvage and scrapping.

How to Use Plasma Cutting Machine Effectively?

So far, the previous section covered the working of plasma cutters. Now, let’s focus on how to make the best use of the tool.

1. Field Uses: There are a variety of sheet metal plasma cutters available in a wide range from inexpensive to high-end branded models. Most of them are performance-driven, and can exactly match your need. For field use, you will need a machine with approximately fifteen to twenty leads. So, you can fulfil your needs and still able to save on air and electricity.
2. Shop Uses: You can easily find sheet metal plasma cutters in shops. They can be used with computer numerical control (CNC) machines, and you’ll be amazed by the results. You can transform a raw sheet of steel into some incredibly designed work pieces. With plasma cutters, you can produce accurate cuts repeatedly; manually, it can be mundane and prone to errors.
3. Other Uses: Other usages of this tool vary based on different projects. This may include art installations, apartment renovations, and beyond. Additionally, sheet metal plasma cutter also makes your repair task easy by cutting a small piece of metal without taking you to the shop.

To get the expected quality and precise cut, it is important to choose the right plasma cutting machine from an industry-leading supplier like Woodward Fab. Browse the high quality Plasma Cutting Machine PL320, Cut up to 5/16″ Mild Steel. The company is a leading provider of sheet metal fabrication tools and equipment.

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