Plasma Cutter

Make: Miller

Model: Spectrum 875

Ace: Needed (Makerhub@georgefox.edu).

Location: Welding Shop

Description

The plasma cutter is a handy tool when fabricating. This machine will cut up to 7/8" mild steel at 10 inches/minute and can roughly sever up to 1-1/4" plate. The pierce capacity is 7/16" so you will need to edge start any thicker material. The torch is hand controlled so you can cut out many types of designs. You can also use material as a guide to cut straight lines or various shapes.

Here is an example of this piece of equipment being used.

Documentation

Terminology

• Duty Cycle- This is a percentage of a 10 minute cycle that the machine can be running without overheating at 104 degrees F. Running at 60 amps our machine has a duty cycle of 40%. This allows for 4 minutes of cutting and 6 minutes cooling.
• Edge Start-
• Pierce-
• Gouge-

User Manual

Training

Operation

Controls:

Material Settings:

Demonstration

For the demonstration you will need to show that you can safely setup and operate the plasma cutter. You will need to mark a piece of scrap material and cut along the line using a guide or free hand.

General Procedure

1. Place fume hood over the area you will be welding.
2. Make sure power and air is connected.
3. Turn plasma cutter on
4. Attach ground clamp
5. Measure thickness of material being cut and refer to chart for current setting on machine
6. Set the current on the plasma cutter
7. Place the drag shield on the edge of the base metal, or hold ⅛ inch off the surface. Direct the arc straight down.
8. Raise the trigger lock and press the trigger, this will engage the pilot arc
9. Once the cutting starts, begin to slowly move the torch across the metal
10. Adjust your speed so the sparks go thru the metal and out the bottom of the cut
11. At the end of the cut, angle the torch slightly towards the final edge or pause briefly before releasing the trigger
12. Turn off machine
13. Turn off air
14. Disconnect ground clamp

Safety

1. Only cut steel and aluminum.
2. Never cut any coated materials
3. Don't attempt to cut with the compressed air off
4. Make sure the vent hood is on and placed near your working area.

Certification

Foxtale Course

Troubleshooting

• If the temperature status light turns on most likely you have exceeded the duty cycle of the machine. You will need to wait 15 minutes for the machine to cool down.

Maintenance

General maintenance

Insert text

Specific Maintenance Tasks

Maintenance Procedure	Frequency	Done By
Sample	Sample	Sample