The Profile Cut

The MicroStep ProfileCut is a machine that amongst other possibilities can cut flat sheets, -open and closed sections, bevel cut, do weld preparation, wear plate cutting, I-beam cutting and pipe cutting. These the capabilities make the ProfileCut plasma cutting system so very versatile and flexible, as it can cut all your steel cutting requirements all on one machine.

Flat Sheet Cutting

The MicroStep machine can process flat sheet plates with sizes of:

Cutting length: 6000mm to 50 000mm

Width: 1500mm to 6000mm

These capabilities make it an all-round solution for so many industries.

On flat sheet cutting the CNC ProfileCutmachine is able to cut 2D and 3D. 3D bevel cutting is used for weld preparation or for countersunk holes, that are cut into wear plates.

3D Bevel Cutting

In a general factory environment weld preparation is done with a quickie or grinders, where plate processing has different needs in different formats. The most common CNC cutting ability of factories is 2D cutting of the plate which can be done with plasma, laser, oxyfuel or waterjet. Then there is the next step in this process to be able to cut bevels so as to create a V groove to enable 100% weld penetration for plates that are thicker than 15mm mild steel. This is a very tedious and costly process when done manually.

On the ProfileCut it is possible to cut 2D and any other shape at bevel angles of up to 50 °.These capabilities make it the obvious choice for cutting of weld preparation be it single or double prep that is required. Chamfered holes for wear plates production are also cut at very cost-effective rates.

These chamfered holes for wear plate preparation are normally done on a milling machine. When milling machines are used the plates first have to be heated up to ease the drilling and milling process. This is a very time-consuming and labour-intensive process and therefore very expensive. The typical costs for holes that are milled on a milling machine are around R50.00-R90.00 per hole. The bevel head on the ProfileCut is able to cut these chamfered holes while the plate is lying on the table, without being heated and thus the cost of the chamfered hole is reduced drastically to below R2.00 per hole.

This groundbreaking solution creates a massive opportunity to cut wear plates more cost effectively and therefore allows for higher margins when selling or manufacturing of wear plates.

I-Beam Cutting

The traditional way of fabricating structures that involve I-Beam, channels and angle is either to cut them with a band saw or hand flame cutter. This requires highly skilled employees. The outcome of the quality and production time of the I-Beam preparation is left to the operator. The most common machines in the marketplace can only cut I-beams to length at 90 deg or angles with a band saw and then holes are also drilled. If you need coping to be done this requires another machine or boiler makers must process this manually.

The MicroStep ProfileCut cutting solution can perform all the below processes on one machine

1. Cutting to length
2. Angle cutting
3. Bevel on the angle (compound mitre) cutting
4. Hole cutting
5. Slot cutting
6. Marking
7. Coping
8. Castellation of I-beams

When using a cutting system, like the ProfileCut, the designer and operator only needs to programme the project or job that needs to be cut.

What does one need to programme the machine? The following applies:

A 3D solid CAD file is imported into our MicroStep patented Mcam software. This solid drawing then gets extrapolated automatically and the different material be it,  flat sheet, I-beam, Channel, Angle, Square or rectangular sections or pipe; are listed automatically on the screen with the required quantities of each also shown. This means that the designer or operator need not programme each part individually as the Mcam software does this for you. The benefit for your business is that the Mcam software saves you hours of planning and preparation.

One of our customers in the Western Cape did a little experiment with his operators. He proposed a challenge. 20 boiler makers vs 2 operators on the ProfileCut system. He advised them that whichever team would produce 8 I-Beams the fastest would win the contest and receive a prize.

The winner was the team with the ProfileCut system. They were able to, together with the machine, process the 8 I-Beams in 40 minutes.

In that time the 20 boilermakers, were still marking out the first I-Beam. This result speaks for itself and demonstrates the ability to increase your overall production capacity immensely.

I-Beam cutting sizes that can be processed are 300mm x 1000mm x 13500mm

Pipe Cutting

The ProfileCut CNC Plasma Cutting System, also can cut pipes of all shapes, round, rectangular and square sections with a diameter of 30mm up to 1000mm and with a wall thickness of 30mm. Pipes can be cut to length and at angles and bevel on the angels. When cutting intersections into the pipe, a constant weld volume is also cut on the bevel angle, thus facilitating welds that are even on any plane of the pipe. This means that the Mcam software allows for the programming and cutting of any design, and you as the operator are able to programme everything offline and the software downloads everything to the machine automatically. This alleviates actual programming time on the machine itself.

The machine is also fitted with ACTG (automatic calibration tool), which enables one to calibrate the bevel head within 7 minutes, thus saving a lot of downtime and ensuring quality at all times, even if the machine is older.

The ProfileCut can be used in various sectors:

Mining Industry

Fabrication

Power Transmission Sector

General Manufacturing Sector

In all these sectors there is the possibility for manufacturing: cages, conveyor structures, mining shaft structures, processing plant structures, pipe lines, refineries, structures for agriculture, factory and warehousing, building of turbines and transmission lines.

This machine is truly the best all-rounder when you require a solution to be able to process all your steel fabrication requirements.