After overthinking, I think Ryan’s thinking is the best thinking. I think, without overthinking it, which I’ve already done, I will just go with straight slats, installed straight instead of on angle. LOL
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If your running a straight cut and it happens run on along the top of a slat it could confuse the thc.
re. confuse the THC
You are right. Ryan’s thought of careful placement to avoid being on top of the slats is persuasive.
But so are arguments to use curves or angles to avoid.
Another set of pros for straight is the ease of replacement when it’s time.
Just when I thought my mind was made up, I’m still on the fence. LOL
Interesting. That is an argument for adding my third block. I need to get more time under my belt before I do much more though. Cutting the third block with the CNC could be a good learning experience. I just needed to get it running, it is going to cut its own strut plates as soon as the weather clears up a bit, then maybe a third offset block.
My actual plan was to eventually cut them into a Sawtooth (wave pattern) for even less contact and less cost for slats. That should solve that. I would just get 1" wider slats and cut them down the middle with the pattern, now that I have a CNC plasma, if I ever destroy the current slats I have. Seems like they are going to last a very very very long time with a few rotations occasionally.
I was just looking at some plasma slats with the wave cut pattern, and thinking that’s the way to go. All the ease of use of straight slats, with even more protection than curves or angles.
Yup, like that but much closer together. My parts all tend to be pretty small. And a smooth wave should cut nicer, but who knows, I am just getting antsy to do some cutting.
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You could do two different densities. A sense section in the middle for small parts and a less dense donut everywhere else.
There is a very good reason I don’t work metal. I would care about every loss. For some reason, wasting wood isn’t as hard for me.
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Cool idea!
I am planning to do a hybrid between normal and dual densities.
I’m planning to have half my plasma table be normal, 10 straight slats cut with sawtooth pattern as shown below. Then, the other half of the table would have slats just like that, but a small portion cut off the ends of each, and these small portions would be mounted in independent slat holders that allow the distance between them to be reduced, and these tiny short slats would not have sawtooth pattern (or very fine sawtooth pattern).
Here’s the current plan for sawtooth pattern. @kd2018 and @vicious1 I welcome your input. I narrowed the teeth spacing at the suggestion above by Ryan.
I plan to have the cut path carry the plasma blade outside the slat on each “outward tooth” swipe, so the existing slat width is always preserved, with each tooth’s blunt area (flatness instead of point) at about 3.6 mm across.
I will start a new thread for continued discussion, since the natural course of this has varied far from original title!
New thread started over here:
Well, I have two suggestions.
You need a fully functioning table to cut these, and there is a ton of tuning to do. I would start there. I think you are getting a little ahead of yourself.
Flatness is not important at all with THC and the second the torch touches the metal it moves. So cutting metal out just to toss it is a waste. I would make sure if you do this to optimize and make a mirrored pattern on a wider piece. When you cut it chunks up the material real good, not being able to flip them occasionally might be a waste. With my limited cuts I have found no huge impact of crossing slats enough for me to pull them out and cut them, but I have also not hit a long straight cut directly on a slat either.
I’m reading and rereading your input trying to make sure I understand. I’m not sure I do understand it all.
I follow you on the concept of getting two usable sawtooth patterns in a “common cut” (term in print industry if not also elsewhere) with a usable slat on each side.
I guess the sawtooth slats I saw (and linked in prior thread) which had sawtooth on one side and straight on the other were meant for flipping between straight and ridged. However, I suppose one could design a flippable slat with sawtooth on both sides.
I am certainly in acknowledgement of my newness and awareness of need to get some cutting under my belt. But both planning ahead (and often overthinking) has been a help more than a hindrance. I’m almost always ahead of myself. 
I don’t mean it that way at all. I’m just saying this was a huge focus of mine and after I started making cuts I realized this doesn’t matter much. There is so much else to do to get dial in great cuts. What is under that material is not of much importance. There is far more to gain by fine tuning, spotting, small holes, large holes, thin material thick material, and aluminum. I am used to CNC cut wood and metal, and the laser cut parts I sub out. Plasma is fantastic, but it very far from that kind of perfection.
I enjoy TIG welding and I can not seem to get my Aluminum to cut nearly as well as my Steel cuts. So they still require a lot of post processing to get them clean enough to weld on. For me that is the focus. Second is getting dimensions right…or better. The kerf changes depending on what you are doing so on standard offset does not seem to work as well as I think I can get it.
Then you have things like where to start and end a cut, if it is small heat plays a part and leaves funky makes on the lead in and out. Maybe I have the angle and radius wrong, heck maybe it is my tip, the air pressure, flow rate, or just heat. Accelerations? I could do the Correct way and do all the punch troughs then swap tips to get cleaner cuts but I am not sure if it is worth it. Heck maybe my water is too far or too close?
That is what I mean by a lot to deal with.
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Gotcha!