Another tool-French Curve

I have the original Langmuir Crossfire that I upgraded last fall with the XL kit that added some capacity by lengthening the support tubes and moving the motors outboard of the water tray.

I got the new Crossfire Pro in Feb which is a 3ft by 4ft (a bit larger but close enough) with automatic torch height control. That’s a super addition. The original you set the torch height manually and cut. That’s not optimal for torch consumable life (tips, shields, etc) because you want to start a pierce about twice as high as you cut to prevent blowback of molten material from hitting the torch head before it cuts through and the plasma arc is blowing downward into the water table. Also, if the material warps, the head may end up cutting parts too high or too low. That can result in slag (dross) on the material you have to take off later with a grinder. It can also in extreme cases hit the head and burn out a nozzle.

Torch Head Control allows you to specify different pierce & cut heights. It also automatically adjusts the torch head to material distance as you cut so if it hits a high spot in the material it raises up to the proper height (it does this by sensing the voltage being delivered to the torch head - as you get close or further from the material the voltage goes up or down).

I’m using a Hypertherm 45A torch which makes for really nice clean & controlled cuts. Hypertherms are more expensive to buy and the consumables are proprietary but they’re the best torches out there for consistency, support, innovation, etc. But I used the Razoweld 45 for a long time without problems and I’ve a buddy near me running a Miller. Just about any torch can be used well, it’s just that the HT is a bit better :slight_smile:

I cut everything from art pieces to material for fabbing up auxiliary fuel tanks for motorcycles. 18ga to 3/8" steel, stainless and aluminum.

Design is similar to the GF, SVGs are good (although the kerf is 10x wider than my GF - 0.06") so you can scale up to larger sizes & steel, designs you’ve used on the GF :slight_smile:

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That is awesome. I don’t think we currently have space in our house for a beauty like that

both of mine are on casters. That way I can roll them into a corner of the garage when I’m not using them. The smaller of the two will go to someone else’s home (had a fellow makerspace guy who wanted it but then pandemic). The space underneath houses the water (I drain mine between uses) and the plasma cutter so it’s just the 4x3 footprint that I need to accommodate.

I pull my wife’s car out and cut in the middle of the garage when I want to use it. Not ideal, but otherwise I wouldn’t have the room either :slight_smile:

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Sorry that didn’t work out for your friend, I’m thinking that it should definitely make a trip out to Hawaii… hehe

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