Tormach Plasma CNC Settings and Capabilities

I (DocWomp) took a day to assess the CNC plasma and below is my take. All tests were conducted on 20GA mild steel sheet with Fine Cut consumables, 32A and 1401PM feed (slightly modified from book values). Details and pictures for each of these tests are in the comments, but here's the TL;DR:

• Good repeatability. Reliable torch ignition. Accurate positioning. Responsive controller.
• Outside features look pretty great. Even the 0.25" saw tooth came out half descent with sharp outside corners Long thin features (12" x 0.1") are possible if considerations are met
• Hole work is a mixed bag. The larger the rounder with a considerable drop in quality under 0.25" Best to spot with a Pierce and drill them manually.
• Inside corners are just awful. The machine hard stops, creating a wave along the receiving line and blowing out the inside corners leaving a rectangle looking like a dog bone. Recommend min 0.05" inside fillets (more on future mitigation strategy plans below).
• No active Torch Height Control. Right now long cuts in thin sheet will wrap the material and the torch will scrape into it. There's simply no avoiding this atm. Might be able to figure something out in the future. The probe does a good job for large collections of small features.

Recommendations:

• All inside cutouts min 0.25" or larger
• Min inside corner radii 0.05"
• Min spacing between outside contours 0.5"
• Z zero at ~1" if thin material might wrap
• Min material thickness >0.15" between inside contours
• Min 0.1" thin features if long lead in and no sharp inside corners
• Min 0.15" lead in arc radius
• Loop outside corners with min 0.15" arc radius