Plasma cutter eye protection

[Farside]

I think I'll be erring on the side of caution, especially bearing in mind that nobody seriously thinks of tig welding in a similar arc range without proper dark protection.
Just because the plasma arc is partially hidden most of the time means nothing - there's still a lot of electrons being bothered and giving rise to harmful radiation.

 

[Carl Wilson]

You are right. The way I think is that you can have as many goggles, glasses, face shields and gloves as you want. But you will only ever get one pair of eyes and one pair of hands.

 

[RonA]

Thanks for all the suggestions on eye care. Just as a follow on, how do people guide the cutter? Noticed a recent post on computer guided table perhaps the ultimate but beyond my pocket money. Hand held only, getting a lot of jitter due to hand shake.
Pleasantly surprised at how narrow the cut width is, so guiding the cutter should produce a nice neat line.
RonA

 

[Carl Wilson]

Can I ask what thickness you are cutting?

 

[RonA]

Can I ask what thickness you are cutting?

I’m just at the trying out stage, so far I’ve cut car panel gauge (which will be its main use & main need for guided cutting) ) & I’ve tried cutting 6mm thick (which it handled with ease) & 10mm (it cut but results were a bit raggy). Suspect 8mm might be about its max.
RonA

 

[Pete.]

For straight cuts I scribe a line and clamp a straight edge guide 5mm away. I then run the tip along the straight edge. Use a thinner guide so it doesn't rub on the shroud.

 

[Carl Wilson]

I’m just at the trying out stage, so far I’ve cut car panel gauge (which will be its main use & main need for guided cutting) ) & I’ve tried cutting 6mm thick (which it handled with ease) & 10mm (it cut but results were a bit raggy). Suspect 8mm might be about its max.
RonA

Thanks Ron. I've got a Cut 40 but I've never really had much success with it.

 

[RonA]

For straight cuts I scribe a line and clamp a straight edge guide 5mm away. I then run the tip along the straight edge. Use a thinner guide so it doesn't rub on the shroud.

I was wondering if there was some sort of mouldable guide you could set a curve with viz a viz as used by draughtsman in the days when you used a drawing board
RonA

 

[earthman]

I use a cheap Chinese auto-dark lid on the lowest setting (9 I think). Might try grinding mode next time. My spaceview goes down to shade 5 but I don't want to put that near the plasma.

I used my auto darkening MIG helmet the other day just to try the plasma out, best to have overall face protection rather than just goggles I think.

 

[skotl]

I was wondering if there was some sort of mouldable guide you could set a curve with viz a viz as used by draughtsman in the days when you used a drawing board
RonA

The problem is that the guide has to be treated as disposable. Wood chars and it’s not impossible to accidentally cut a metal guide if your hand strays or snags, and plastic is out for obvious reasons.
So I just use sacrificial bits of wood. Offcuts of ply/laminate flooring are good as their thickness seems about right and they’re pretty hard wearing so can put up with multiple passes before they are fit for the bin (or running through the table saw and removing an inch of charred edge!).

 

[SwissTony]

What about soaking the wood before you use it. For the few seconds it will see heat, its unlikely to burn away or char.

 

[Munkul]

I use a metal guide.

I use my welding helmets, the grind mode is too light, I have a preset of shade 6 that i switch to for plasma.