Cutting Tools

 

                Acetylene Torches

• One of the most common cutting torches used by professionals, acetylene-cutting torches cut using a mix of oxygen and acetylene, which is the most efficient fuel source for welders, burning at 3,200 F when mixed with oxygen. Cuts are made as the heated acetylene-oxygen mix adds enough heat to a metal to make it oxidize and separate in the process, though like all oxy-gas cutting torches, it leaves oxidation, or slag, behind on the incision that must be removed with a grinder.

Oxyhydrogen Torches

• Because of hydrogen's flammability and clean burning characteristics, it is sometimes used as a fuel for oxy-gas cutting torches, burning at about 2,800 F. Although not widely used in fabrication hops, oxyhydrogen torches are used to weld or cut aluminum or in fine details by artisans. Oxyhydrogen torches also leave slag on their cutting surfaces.

 

Carbon Arc Cutting

• Rather than using a mix of oxygen and gas for fuel, carbon arc cutters heat metal to the melting point using the radiant heat from a carbon arc powered by an electric welder. As a carbon edge is drawn across a surface, electric current arcs between the welder and the metal, cutting the metal in the process. As the carbon arc heats the material, a blast of air blows waste material out of the channel and away from the cutting surface, which eliminates excess oxidation and slag. Carbon arc cutting is frequently used on stainless steel, aluminum and copper.

Plasma Cutting

• Plasma cutters use a jet of superheated gas, called plasma, as their cutting edge. Where oxy-gas fueled cutters rely on oxidation to cut metals, plasma cutters simply punch through metal with their heated gas. Because of this, plasma cutters can cut non-oxidizing metals, such as aluminum and stainless steeel, upon which oxy-gas torches are ineffective. Requiring a shop setup and a water table to increase their efficiency, plasma cutters are a high-end cutting tool used only in fabrication shops.

 
source:ehow.com