© 2020 Vital Systems, Inc
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Plasma Cut Sequence
The typical plasma cut sequence starts with a probe to locate the material. After the probe is complete, the torch is
raised to ignition height and torch is turned on and wait until the Arc OK (Ok to move) signal is detected. Once the
Arc OK signal is found, the Z axis moves to the pierce height and the pierce delay starts. Immediately following the
pierce delay, the XY motion starts and the torch height control begins once the THC delay expires.
All these steps are done by the M3 Macro script provided in the Mach4 Plasma Screen.
The following Gcode shows how a typical plasma cut sequence can be programmed:
M3 (Probe the material, move to ignition height, turn torch on, wait for Arc Ok, move to pierce height, wait for pierce delay)
G0 X5Y5 (Begin XY motion, at the same time wait for THC delay then Z- axis starts to follow the material height)
G0 X10Y10
M5 (end torch height control sequence)