Water injection cutting and micro-nozzle technology make ESAB’s M3 plasma unit more flexible

Water injection cutting, said to be twice as fast as shield gas systems, is offered as a modular addition to the M3 automatic gas control. It allows the machine to switch automatically between standard dual-gas cutting and water-injected cutting. This more flexible solution provides a wider range of plasma capabilities for cutting carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminium. The water injection module is available on new machines equipped with the M3 plasma system or as a retrofit to an existing system. Micro-nozzle technology for thin materials also further extends the flexibility of M3 plasma. It produces extremely high quality cut edges with virtually no dross on material thicknesses down to gauge metals. This development, says ESAB, allows near-laser quality plasma cutting on thinner materials, where previously plasma systems have often struggled to achieve sharp edges and high quality surfaces. A single M3 plasma system, available with power sources from 200 up to 600 amps, can cut material from gauge thickness up to 150 mm thick stainless steel.