There are many exceptional tools that are put to use every day inside a modern machinist’s workshop or industrial fabrication studio. Large and small drills, saws, lathes, and riveters are just a few of the essential pieces of equipment that get used every day. One of the most important of all industrial fabrication tools is the plasma table.
What exactly is a plasma table? This is a special kind of cutting device intended to quickly and precisely cut metal sheets into smaller pieces. Regardless of how thick or thin a sheet of metal might be, it can be cut cleanly and without any of the jagged edges that occur when sheet metal is cut with a hand held tool. After cutting, the pieces can be used for other applications. Some pieces will be combined with other elements to create custom machine parts or building components. Sheet metal cut in manageable portions may also sold to customers for home use.
Plasma cutting is relatively new technology. It has only been in wide use for around fifty years. When compared with industrial tools such as the jackhammer and riveter, plasma cutting tools are actually relatively new. During their short life, they’ve clearly revolutionized all parts of the modern production chain. For this reason, it’s possible to find at least one plasma table in just about every fabrication studio. They’re used all around the world for all kinds of applications.
A plasma table is made up of four major components – the table, the robotic arm, the reservoir of gas or compressed air, and the computer that guides the cutting action. An operator wishing to use the table will first place a sheet of metal onto the cutting surface. These tables are large enough to accommodate most standard sizes of sheet metal so little prep work is required before the cutting can begin. Once the sheet has been properly placed, the operator chooses the action that the robotic arm will perform. The computer that guides the arm is preprogrammed with certain actions which can be selected from a menu. The newer computer-guided cutting tables allow operators to enter their own action programs. This feature makes it possible to create a pattern of cuts that is highly complex.
Once the desired program has been selected the robotic arm will execute the actions. This arm is positioned above the table at a height optimal for cutting. The height of the arm can be adjusted to further control the cutting process. The plasma that comes out of the nozzle mounted on the end of the arm comes from a tank of compressed gas. This gas is fed into the nozzle where it meets an arc of electricity. The electricity heats the gas until it becomes plasma; the plasma is then directed towards the metal. The speed at which the plasma jets from the nozzle is such that the metal debris created by the cutting process is blown aside. The whole process results in a cut that’s clean, even, and highly precise.
It’s clear why all good industrial workshops have at least one plasma table on the property. These advanced cutting tools make it possible for workshops of any size to create world-class metal components in just minutes.
There are many exceptional tools that are put to use every day inside a modern machinist’s workshop or industrial fabrication studio. Large and small drills, saws, lathes, and riveters are just a few of the essential pieces of equipment that get used every day. One of the most important of all industrial fabrication tools is the plasma table.
What exactly is a plasma table? This is a special kind of cutting device intended to quickly and precisely cut metal sheets into smaller pieces. Regardless of how thick or thin a sheet of metal might be, it can be cut cleanly and without any of the jagged edges that occur when sheet metal is cut with a hand held tool. After cutting, the pieces can be used for other applications. Some pieces will be combined with other elements to create custom machine parts or building components. Sheet metal cut in manageable portions may also sold to customers for home use.
Plasma cutting is relatively new technology. It has only been in wide use for around fifty years. When compared with industrial tools such as the jackhammer and riveter, plasma cutting tools are actually relatively new. During their short life, they’ve clearly revolutionized all parts of the modern production chain. For this reason, it’s possible to find at least one plasma table in just about every fabrication studio. They’re used all around the world for all kinds of applications.
A plasma table is made up of four major components – the table, the robotic arm, the reservoir of gas or compressed air, and the computer that guides the cutting action. An operator wishing to use the table will first place a sheet of metal onto the cutting surface. These tables are large enough to accommodate most standard sizes of sheet metal so little prep work is required before the cutting can begin. Once the sheet has been properly placed, the operator chooses the action that the robotic arm will perform. The computer that guides the arm is preprogrammed with certain actions which can be selected from a menu. The newer computer-guided cutting tables allow operators to enter their own action programs. This feature makes it possible to create a pattern of cuts that is highly complex.
Once the desired program has been selected the robotic arm will execute the actions. This arm is positioned above the table at a height optimal for cutting. The height of the arm can be adjusted to further control the cutting process. The plasma that comes out of the nozzle mounted on the end of the arm comes from a tank of compressed gas. This gas is fed into the nozzle where it meets an arc of electricity. The electricity heats the gas until it becomes plasma; the plasma is then directed towards the metal. The speed at which the plasma jets from the nozzle is such that the metal debris created by the cutting process is blown aside. The whole process results in a cut that’s clean, even, and highly precise.
It’s clear why all good industrial workshops have at least one plasma table on the property. These advanced cutting tools make it possible for workshops of any size to create world-class metal components in just minutes.
