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The magazine for metal service centers, OEMs and fabricators www.modernmetals.com A TREND Publication October 2007

FORECAST 2008 Call your play

Hypertherm’s cutters keep it fast and simple plasmatechnology

BY GREG FARNUM, EXECUTIVE EDITOR Keeping it fastand simple with plasma

Steven Thompson knows a good when he sees one

The Powermax600, seen here in action, employs coaxial flow technology to keep the plasma arc constricted and boost efficiency.

Modern Metals® October 2007 n terms of units sold, ing stainless and alu- Before its plasma handheld plasma cutters minum, in addition to mild cutting system, reach some pretty impres- steel.” I Central Oregon sive numbers. Hypertherm, Industries relied One of the key technical Hanover, N.H., for instance, primarily on oxy- advantages of the Power- recently announced the sale fuel torches. max600, says Altobelli, is in of its 50,000th Powermax600, the torch design. “It uses a a 40-amp handheld plasma technology that we call cutting system that it intro- coaxial flow, which allows duced in 1999. the plasma to become more The 50,000th unit is now focused and thus of higher in the hands of Steven energy, resulting in faster Thompson, owner of Central cutting or thicker cutting, as Oregon Industries, Prineville, the two go hand in hand.” Ore., fabrica- In plasma cutting there’s tors and erectors serving the Pacific North- oxy-fuel,” says Bruce Altobelli, Hyper- typically a plasma gas flow and a shield gas west as well as Idaho and, on occasion, therm’s business team leader for manual which is used to prevent splatter. With the California and Nevada, as well. Thomp- systems. “For one thing, it’s faster and Powermax line of products, the shield gas son’s company works primarily on the cleaner. Plasma cutting speeds are up to is directed by the torch into a tight colum- construction of commercial buildings but four times faster than oxy-fuel and the nar configuration around the outside of also fabricates a variety of ornamental and cuts are cleaner because dry air is used the plasma gas. Hypertherm refers to this architectural pieces such as hand rails and in most applications. Plasma produces a as coaxial flow technology. This not only sun shades. narrower cut with a smaller heat-affected guards against splatter, but it also helps Until recently, Thompson and his zone so less clean-up is required. Plus, it keep the plasma arc constricted, allowing team of 16 relied on , cutoff wheels can cut a wider range of metals, includ- more energy to be focused on the cutting on grinders and, primarily, on oxy-fuel torches for cutting. Recent business growth, however, was posing a problem because the company’s traditional cut- ting methods couldn’t keep pace with the expanded workload. “I had never used plasma—I’m old school,” says Thompson. “But I knew we needed to find another solution if we were to have any hope of keeping up with the increased demand for our products, and a couple of employees suggested plasma. As a small business owner, I don’t have much room for error. That’s why I made sure to research the subject, and I determined that plasma was a much better way to go.” Thompson says he was looking for a sys- tem that was reliable and would cut with consistent results. He ended up buying the Powermax600 system from Norco, a gases and distributorship in Boise, Idaho. Coincidentally, Norco had also sold the first Powermax600 in North America years before. Hypertherm’s Gold Edition The case for plasma marks 50,000 units sold. “Plasma offers several benefits over

October 2007 Modern Metals® plasmatechnology zone, which is more efficient. In addition, the tightly configured shield gas also helps remove molten metal from the kerf, boost- ing both cut speed and cut quality.

High tech for light weight The Powermax600 is inverter-based, notes Altobelli. Unlike analog plasma cut- ters, which use a heavy mains frequency transformer, inverter-based plasma cutters rectify the mains voltage into DC which is fed into either an IGBT or a MOSFET for high-frequency switching. Hyper- therm uses IGBTs—insulated-gate bipolar transistors—which are more rugged than . High-fre- quency switching greatly reduces the magnetic flux in the transformer, thus reducing the size. This allows the cre- ation of plasma cutters that are smaller, Jeff Deckrow (left), Hypertherm’s director of North American sales, presents lighter weight and more powerful than the 50,000th unit to Steven Thompson, owner of Central Oregon Industries. older models. “Powermax600 has the versatility that most smaller shops are highly. That doesn’t surprise Hyper- tems—less than half the number of some looking for,” Altobelli continues. “While therm’s Altobelli. of its competitors, Hypertherm claims. it is ideally suited for cutting 0.5-inch- “It has been our most reliable product Fewer parts, of course, mean fewer things thick steel, it is capable of severing steel since we launched it,” he says. “It’s been to go wrong, less downtime and reduced up to 1 inch thick, and yet it can also cut characterized by low maintenance re- cost of ownership. On top of all of this, it thin sheetmetal.” quirements and long consumables life, boasts fast cutting speeds and rapid pierce That point wasn’t lost on Thompson. and both of these factors increase up- times. “This week we’ve cut quite a bit of thin- time and reduce the total cost of opera- Though the system is very new, it has material. We’ve used the daylights tion for the customer.” been a productive component of Central out of that plasma cutter. An oxy-fuel torch Oregon Industries’ tool kit since the day it would have warped that thin-gauge mate- Easy by design was installed. “It’s very simple to operate,” rial, but the plasma gives us wonderful Perhaps the best testimonial to Central says Thompson. “My guys had no prob- clean cuts.” Oregon Industries’ experience with lem learning how to run it. and we’re With business booming, Thompson plasma cutting technology is Thompson’s pleased with the results it’s giving us.” didn’t want to sideline any of his 16 work- recent decision to purchase a second Hy- Technology, says Altobelli, should fit ers for lengthy training sessions. Fortu- pertherm system, a HySpeed HSD130. with the needs of the business in which nately with the new plasma cutter, he This is a mechanized (table-based), oxy- it is employed. Businesses shouldn’t be didn’t have to. “With the 600, we essen- gen plasma system (oxygen gives excel- forced to adapt to the needs of technol- tially just plugged it in and were able to lent cut quality on carbon and ogy. In the case of plasma cutting and immediately start cutting and get the high- extends the life of consumables) that is Central Oregon Industries, it seems to be quality, clean cuts we were looking for. My designed to be easy to install and easy to a perfect fit. ■ guys were thrilled to have that kind of a operate. It features extensive self-diagnos- tool at their disposal.” tics and fast consumable changeout for Though Central Oregon Industries’ reduced downtime. Perhaps most impor- Powermax600 is still relatively new, the tant in this respect is the fact that the Hypertherm Inc., Hanover, N.H., 603/643- company has used it enough to get a HSD130 is designed with significantly 3441, fax: 603/643-5352, feeling for its reliability, which it rates fewer internal parts than comparable sys- www.hypertherm.com.

Reprinted from Modern Metals® October 2007 Copyright Trend Publishing Inc.

Modern Metals® October 2007