Amazing Metal Cutting Machine at Work - Old School Plate Cutting - Fast, Accurate & Inexpensive 

Hey Guys, Thank you so much for the constructive comments thus far! I have learned so much about torching that I never knew with this machine and the pipe beveler in last weeks video. Amazing how we were all taught wrong when using a hand torch. I couldn't believe how much less O2 I went through and how much more efficient I could get it as I kept cutting. I am looking forward to making patterns and cutting different and much thicker parts. Keep the comments coming, they are definitely a big help!

Nice machine Josh, I use to run plate straight line burners and "pano-graph" torches like yours at several fab shops back in the day. Try to set your flame to a bit more hotter neutral flame, raise the torch up 1/4" more, and speed up the travel a bit more...you will get some very nice clean cuts in no time at all✔✔👍👍

You can manually lead in the cut. Start off the pattern and after started move it at normal cutting speed to the pattern. Works well on my little home made rig.

Hey topper I run one of those for my shop, mine is a ESAB unit almost identical, just a couple pointers don’t run your tips so close to your material, you will overheat the tip , also you’ll get mill scale up inside the tip, I generally run mine about 3/4 of an inch away from the material and yes I use propane also, so if you’re getting slag stick into your cut you are going way too slow, try to use Tips of the right size for the material, you know don’t use a number 4 tip to cut 3/16, also you have to watch for the poll of the metal when you’re cutting, so cut the light shit away first and allow your project to push into the heavy part, this will control how much it moves , Good luck these are a good addition to any job shop , before long you will have hundreds of patterns.

Josh, I have had one for years and when set up right there great. But if you keep blowing through the plate you will always have a crappy looking area where you start and always have a chance of blowing slag up in your cutting tip and then not cut clean. When possible you always want to start on the edge of the plate and hand feed the magnet to the pattern. On cutting out the centers I would drill a hole for starting your cuts. You should never have to blow slag around until you get through the plate. But you will definitely get it figured out and running smooth.

Nick Collyer has one of those machines, he learned as a young fella how to use them. Nick runs a youtube channel I am sure if you want to ask him anything, I think he would be happy to help.

IS the square section required if not I would start the cutter from the middle then allow the cutter to follow the paten the same for the outer edge

on the internal square where you cant start off the part predrilling a start hole in the wast at the edge of the cut works well.

I used to run one of those for years. To keep the cut without notches slightly hold the magnet away from the pattern and start your cut then move the magnetic tip to the pattern to start cutting the pattern. This will keep from causing a bad start and damaging the psrt. Another thig is to start and end the cut on a thick psrt of the plate so it doesn't move as the plate moves from making a cut.

I ran a similar machine back in the 70 is.I always started the cut 10 mm away from the final cut and drove the cutter in to contact by hand.Then there was no starting marks on the final workpiece

Cant agree more about cnc. Its a great and needed tech for manufacturing, but if your not interested in the whole process, its just a pain in the ass.

That's an extremely cool machine, love it. I'd seriously consider adapting it with an inexpensive plasma cutter that runs off of your air compressor. You could burn out product all day long and it would save you lots of $$$ on the expensive oxy/acetylene. I also think once converted to plasma and dialed in there'd be far less setup/tweaking from job to job.

I knew a fella who did these large crucibles for some sort of mineral processing. He would have to cut the old lip off and weld a new one on. It was only an inch and a half but he did two to three of these a month plus other large stuff he did he decided to get his oxygen in those large stainless steel tanks that liquid oxygen come in. Not sure if it's cheaper for you per cubic foot but if your processing a bunch of really thick material it might be worth looking into. Just a thought. BTW, built my own pentagraph setup as a mobile rig that would run off 12 volts from my truck. Works really well but never used it on anything thicker than an inch. Should work as well I guess on thicker stuff.

It's not just your praxair by the way. I had my wife go get refills into aluminum tanks that I owned and since she didn't know better, they swapped them for steel units that normally require a deposit and belongs to the supplier. I called them immediately, but they denied everything, claimed I owed them a deposit, and basically told me to kick rocks. Pacific Northwest location

A quick glance shows some people already told you this, and I'm sure you would have figured it out on your own if you didn't, but you can start every one of those cuts off the line by hand and then lead it into the pattern after the cut is established. Using a lead in is something we do in machining plasma cutting and obviously torch cutting so that you don't get that massive melt pool on your profile. You may also be able to use a lead out so that if you're distracted for a second you don't get a melt pool at the end of your cut. Make a small bump that you can clamp onto your pattern after the cut has passed a certain point. You can make the end of your clamp-on lead out bump non-magnetic so that it stops moving.

Next project,a catch can under the cutter to save your concrete floor. Could you shim out the tracer pin so the cut pearces threw in the drop then once its threw remove the shim for a cleaner start on the part? cool piece kit.

After awhile the stylist will wear and slip more easily. Replace as needed

You could put a little magnetic ramp on your pattern so that it starts in the center and moves into the path. Then as it starts it's cut pull the little ramp off.you cuts would be cleaner.at the start.

Try drilling a starter hole it's mutch eazyecon the cutting tip .

A good thing to do is put a big piece of plate steel on the floor to protect the concrete from getting pop holes from the hot slag and falling parts . Once the concrete is full of pop holes floor is never the same and can not be repaired well . I used to be a concrete finisher as on of the many things I have worked at .

Nice machine burner . Looks like it works great. It will help if you can start the burn away from the cut line some and come to the line then the blowout will be in the scrap. The other way is to drill a starting hole for the torch flame to start the burn . I cut a lot of holes with a compass point on my hand torch with a starting hole and the dia. at .010 - .030 under size and then hand ground to fit pins to the hole for a good tight fit . Takes a lot less pre heat to start the burn with a starting hole with a small tip . Hope these tips will make things work better. Have a great day .

Have the machine on while leading into the cut. Also make sure its sitting on a reasonably level surface. If too much out of level it could cause the stylist to slip or fall away from the pattern.

Just a hint you need to raise your tip so that the blue flames are just touching the metal if not a little off so your torch does not get clogged up so easily. When piercing the metal if you can take another torch and pierce a hole in the scrap part of the part in the center of the piece or with the same torch.

Sometimes the newest technology isn't the best. The simplicity of this machine is what makes it so reliable.

Nice addition to the shop Josh. Works 👍 great. My first week as an apprentice in 1978 was on a profile burner, a BOC Falcon, it had a magic eye that followed a green pencil line on drawings. That was set up to use Oxy -Propane, for both cost and cleaner burning. Thanks for sharing.

You need to speed her up, you’re way too slow, I would also lower your pre heat flame a bit, you can see the flame is melting the edge and making the plate red hot at times, that’s far too hot….. and it will cut better, less crap sticking to backside, crisp edges and a very distinctive sound coming from the cut, I can’t even describe it but you will know it when you hear it, I’ve been flame cutting and metal glueing for over 40 years and I have never seen one of those…… brilliant

I have been cleaning out my Uncles shop and found one of those contraptions in the back of the shop and had no idea what it was, it probably would have gone in the scrap pile had I not seen this video. there is a 1/2" depression in the concrete under it so it has been there for a while I am guessing. Love the channel and Thanks.

We are stuck with Linde gas...They seem to do better than American welding here now days..But I own all of my own bottles so I go where ever I want to.

Neat machine. Probably a good idea to drill a pierce hole like you would for a CNC plasma table. Give the torch a place to start.

Pull tip up away surface and turn down some, air carry Arc should drop without hammering.

hi again one of those tools you don't use much but when you do its priceless good one john

Mate, for $200 you got one heck of a great deal. It’s going to save you a lot of time, less gas usage and less wasted material. Enjoy the new toy. All the best from Australia 👍🇦🇺

one has to wonder if you can use this with the plasma cutter as im sure this is consumable hungry

This is a nice affortable and alternative way to cut patterns. If I may, if you had a water tray underneath your cutting table like I see on plasma tables, it may help to contain the sparks. Also, I use to work in a Jewelry store and we had this engraving machine that you could adjust two arms on it to make any size letters up to it's capacity. Look up a engraving machine on line and look and the adjustment arms. this way, you could make small patterns and make then bigger or smaller. Just saying. Love your machine..

I think your new gas supplier should have GIVEN you the machine.....really cool

Hey Mr Josh, Im just getting around to seeing this video. That tool is the trick for doing repetitive cutting. The older guys had it all figured out, the younger generation had to complicate it. Planters are a perfect example of that. Started out ground driven and now they are hydraulic driven with gps. Anyway have a great day!

Looks like a slow and expensive way to create those basic parts. Just my opinion 😃😃😃😃😃😃

Super cool piece of equipment Josh, Congrats! Can't wait to see how you incorporate it into the projects, your imagination is the limit on the pieces you can cut out with this machine. 👍👍

Josh, this is a nice cutting table. I think you would like it even more if you swapped the gas touch with a plasma cutter. Just make a new holder. You will have more control with start and stop and no scaling.

Well...the secret part isn't ninja throwing stars. We had a CNC (5'x10' bed) ox/act to cut out the guitar shapes from 3/4" plate for HardRock Cafe railings. There was a lot of labor involved grinding parts afterwards to remove torch marks & slag ect...A water jet or laser would have been the best option and could be used for many other fab process'. The CNC would stink up the entire shop and really needed a vent system. That...and the CNC machine would go tard'd and was down most of the time.

Back in't day it were the old BOC minigraph magic eye cutters... You put a trace on a table and the magic eye would follow it... You could upscale it as required... And that cutting head is much less fierce this time too... 🇬🇧😐

Pre CNC burn table technology that still works. The round template you got from the previous owner reminds me of a trick that a job shop owner i worked for would use. If a customer needed a we will say for example a 20" Od x 19" id ring he would charge him for the 20" x 20" stock and then would put the 19" round drop off a side for the next guy who would need a 19" Od x 18" id and would charge him for a 19" x 19" piece of playe and so on that piece of steel was paid for by a countless amount of customers the job shop owner would laugh and brag about how many times he sold the same chunk of steel. Another job shop owner i worked for would buy pallets of drop offs from the steel supplier for just above scrap price and store them out back of the shop then when needed for a customer he would for example for a 12" dia x 4" Lg piece of 4140 call in to the steel supplier get a quote and change the customer that price even though he paid just above scrap price. Just one of many ways to make money in the machine shop world.

Dang you only paid 200$? For the machine… What a steal. Consider yourself very lucky

I had written a comment thanking you for clearing up what an incomplete pantograph assembly I acquired several years back was probably for. I ended up deleting the comment after getting a better look. The unit I have incorporates 30° angles in the arms so that the attachment point is significantly higher or lower than the work surface. More significantly, the joints have excellent bearings, despite the enormously rigid construction, you can swing it anywhere within 8 ft with a single finger and it is remarkably rigid. I know it's from about the 40s, initially I thought it might be the support for one of those old sliding cabinet table saws with the sliding rip rail, but the quality of construction is excellent. It seems a little new to be a parking attachment for a large Mill, do you happened to know if they made torch holders like this for more freehand type work? Just trying to figure out the original purpose of these parts, I can think of a half dozen applications, but I've always been curious because the quality is so good

Handy machine. We cut all sorts of parts with one years ago. You don't have to be a brainiack. No programs ,just the correct tips and gas flows for the materials you are cutting. It won't be long, you'll master it.

My dad had a similar machine in his shop. Bu his was by Heath. He used it for over 30years. There are tricks to make everything work right, but once they are learned it can do amazing things.

I have 65 years experience with torch cutting, how is the kerf adjusted on this machine? I would suggest drilling a hole to start instead of piercing. The machine I have has twelve torches, and I trace drawings on a table. I cut up to 12 inch plate. I can adjust kerf at the tracing head.

Neat machine

Cool old machine, but just like a CNC machine you always make your pierce points away from your cut line.

I've run a cutter like this many hours. It really helps to drill a start hole in the internal cut. Piercing can goober your tip and degrade the cut quality. In my opinion, your torch is a little too close. This can goober yout tip, too. Tip condition is all important. Believe it or not, there;'s a trick to dressing a torch tip that most people that use torches don't know. Hard to explain but it makes a nticeable difference in the quality of the cut.

What is the name or make of your neighbors cnc plasma table. I built my own cnc plasma and cut up to 2 inch thick Tried to use one company's controller electronics it was such crap and I decided to do my own Controller electronics pice together system it been great with no problems whatsoever it controls software rune off a solid-state mini pc stand alone and it never uses internet whatsoever. To keep corrupt files off it my design PC stays off of net to and works flawlessly.

It can get challenging making patterns, especially if they transition from inside to outside radius. At least I found it difficult but I never used one much and there may very well have been a trick to make the job easier that I never figured out.

CNC table is expensive to buy, not so expensive to make.

A plasma torch @3/4 cap is no faster than oxy/fuel . At full cap.,oxy/fuel is twice as fast.

What gas supplier did you go with,, after you terminated your contract with linde.

Hi Josh when I started using one of those Victor duplicate/ pano I has started to use small pice on metal that I put onto the edge of the pattern as lead in and after it started cutting i removed it it left no un cut cold spots and did pre heat with my touches to and pre drilling on thicker metal to. My food of though. I bought my first system back in 1991.

It is great to a competent raw material supplier! there is nothing worse then telling them what you want and either them arguing with you that you are wrong, or not receiving what you ordered. unique piece of equipment, old school is the best way some of the time. technology can really screw things up!

Good luck with your business fella. THIS is a tough business to be in for sure.

Thats a very cool machine. Is it possible to get a smaller magnetic stylus for it so you can cut more detailed pieces?

I am sure by now you realist to start your inside cut away from the line you want to cut then by hand ease the roller to the pattern. This way your plunge cut is clear of the pattern. Love your videos you do a really good job!

Could make an oxygen rich pass without cutting to clean the surface first (reducing flame out). One advantage of plasma for thin stuff is that you can cut it dirty.

Hi brilliant machine the nozzle is to ciose to the work pice good luck with your adventure

My guess for what part is for is drive spocket for tracks, aka tank tracks or logging machines tracks

What if you put a small magnet on one of the tips when starting up the cutting. As soon as it cuts properly you take away the magnet and at the end of the cutting process your bad point where the actual cut has started is automatically cut out which gives you a clear and sharp cut all around the workpiece.

That's an insanely cool machine! I love that "mechanical thinking" stuff. Question: that seems to be a one to one copier, does it do any kind of scaling?

There is nothing wrong with old school . Everyone today uses hurry up tools, While I see their usefulness , for me, steady as she goes. Enjoy the new equipment and have a good weekend

try holding the stylis away from the pattern to pearce then move it to the pattern t watch one when it came out new

I’m all about manual but I’d have to go ahead and get a plasma table for a numerous and consistent job like that lol

If you have a mag drill, drill a hole in the inside corner of the square next to a line and start your cut from there.

Try welding up the scars ad finish grind i have no problem with that .

Great machine I got one . Do they still have parts ?, if they do where

We used one of these at Tatum forever. Wed just make the pattern on aluminum then trace it out on chromoly. We ran ours on plasma because we were only ever cut sheet stock.

LOVE IT! and not a computer in sight!

You'll have to do like a cnc machine and manually start the cut inside or outside the cut line.

Go a bit slower victor gas equipment is the best get the nozzle up

cant you start the first cut in the center of the square and work your way to the stright cut ?

Your first shirt was hilarious, the second though, that one is epic.

What I would have done was to drill a hole where I was going to cut the square so that it look more neater

Looks like a little cultipacker wheel

it might be worth noting the stylus is magnetic. your templates are intended to be steel.

Just how strong is that little knurled magnet?

Great stuff Josh, back in 86 I worked as a welder in a heavy fabrication shop, they had a profile cutter that used a magic eye to follow a line drawing pattern, it would cut half a dozen 6ft sheets of 1inch plate at time, it must have had 30 burning heads 😀

Just start the cut off line in the waste area then move to the line.

Great video, nice camera work also. It would make a nice short video of you putting the things that you learned you were doing wrong with the torch. I also do oxy/fuel cutting and would love to learn more correct ways of using the torch. I didn't know you could get enough heat with the propane gas to cut . You already just taught me something new. Thanks for the video. Dan in Louisiana

Had one in shop years agp, try cleaning the pattern.

HINT: to get rid of your "Start of Cut Problem(s.)" Hint One: Start your cut approx. 1/4" in. form the actual cut line. Think of it as a "Start-Cut-In-Mark," have your machine turned to the "ON-Position / Run Position," once your done piercing through the plate, by hand continue to cut the approx. 1/4" in. (or less,) by hand until the stylus hits / touches the "Cutting Jig," and then just let the machine take it from their. What ever is the diameter of your "Start-Damage," is the length from the line (maybe add 1/8" in.) is where you truly want to start from. Hint Two: drill a start hole, (1/8" to as much as 3/16" in.) just to either side of the desired cut line. Put another way, you want the "Screw-Up," / "Start-Of-Cut," to be in the "Drop-Piece." Hand operating the torch for a 1/4" in. or less is not going to be a "Time-Issue." When attaching a "Cutting-Jig," to your machine, I'd make a bolt with wings on it, to make it easier to tighten / loosen. FYI: Even on CNC Plasma cutting machine's, you have to plan (design into the drawing) for "Start-Of-Cut's, a.k.a Cut-in's" same for end of cut's. What you may not know, is just before you get to cut a design you make on a CNC machine, is you "Run-A-Check," on your design, and some of the software out there, will show little red crosses, (indicating "Cut-In's," or End of Cut's,) and how do you wish to handle said problem(s,) start on the north of a said line, or on the south of the afore mentioned line. Wink, wink, you stole that machine for that price. Here's wishing good luck with that machine.

still used in shipyards with several torch heads

1:06 looks like a direct 1 to 1 - not a pantograph

LOL. When you only have hammers.....

You could possibly do with speeding it up a touch......and cutting back a bit on the oxygen... 🇬🇧😐

I've used oxy for welding and cutting in the past, but I don't currently have gas, but I will be getting gas again when I get my new shop finished. I was wondering what the performance difference, consumption difference and cost difference is between using acetylene and propane (LPG), as I have only ever used acetylene. I have yet to decide whether to get acetylene or propane when I get set up again.

You're some kind of wrong American :) You cut the workpiece as close as possible to the edge of the sheet, saving metal, unlike your contemporaries with their CNC, who leave 20-30 centimeters from the edge in waste. Your work is nice to look at. Greetings from Russia!

I had one of those. sold it. and got a cnc Plasma table. I still use my track torch 1 or 2 time a year.. CNC. set the plate on it , zero it and let it eat.. wile your doing something else. pre heat the plate. then start the tacking around the die. start the O2 and lower the head at the same time wile its moving . PS. 3 years and no issues or problems with the table.

Your tip is tooo close.its a copy cutter great tool.

Really can't understand why you just leave it cutting a complete piece that will be scrapped, without stopping, and using it to experiment with different methods of starting the cut.

Can you cut several metal sheets at the same time?

I'm sorry you had an issue with Praxair by the way. I only have owner gas bottles, but I don't have to sign a contract in order to get a fair price from my local Praxair store on gas. Generally they have treated me pretty well. It may simply be a function of the specific management of an individual store. I know locally the transition from Praxair to Lindy really made no changes in my service and I'm only an occasional customer. I'm primarily a specialty machine shop not a fabricator so I don't go through a lot of gas or welding materials. They still treat me decent when I go in the store. Much better than my other local alternatives.

I like it. For the center cut I would lead in from the scrap material or drill a hole to start the cut. Just my 2 cents on the subject.

Great machine and nice shirt!

I was wondering if maybe on the half inch or so material if it would be better to drill a starting hole for the center so you don't get a molten pool if I had a bunch to do id be tempted to drill starter holes with an annular cutter to avoid start problems especially with the cost of plate now days👍👍👍