Custom Steel Owls: Plasma Cutting 12 ga Hot Rolled Steel

Custom steel owls are no difference when it comes to metal cutting than the other projects we’ve done at CNCROi.com as far as the machiney involved is, we are just turning pixels into beloved metal pieces.

For this specific plasma cutting project, we used hot rolled 12 ga mild steel, it cuts fast, it cuts great and it most importantly, it rusts when left outside, which is on purpose.

Plasma cutting mild steel is done using basically the same settings and parameters as stainless steel when it comes to 12 ga, the reason for this is straight forward, our plasma cutter is able to cut up to 2″ steel, this relatively thing stuff is no problem being so over-powered.

The nice thing about plasma cutting is that it’s a very fast process that doesn’t slow down exponentially as the metal gets thicker, you’d see a major slow-down if this was laser cut or waterjet cutting as the gauges get smaller.

You may notice some smoke being produced during the plasma cutting process of these custom steel owls, this is because we are vaporizing metal and that “dust” has to go somewhere, so it goes down into the table and gets sucked out using our vacuum system… but the compressed air shooting down on the material during this process displaces it all over the place so it isn’t as clean a process as you see with CNCROi.com‘s laser.

This is the same mild steel spec as the video above, it just shows you the ultimate flexibility that can be achieved using fire and metal.

Having a downdraft plasma cutting table rather than a water table provides one major advantage, NOTHING GETS WET, so the clean-up is so much easier and this is doubly true when it comes to mild steel as there is no flash rusting.

For these custom steel owls, whether we used the laser, waterjet or plasma as we did in this case, the results would be been identical, CNC equipment is really that interchangeable!

The plasma arc you see during the cutting process is super-heated gas that does an absolutely amazing job of melting the steel underneath along the path dictated by the design and processing software we use at CNCROi.com to cut these custom steel owls.

When it comes to your design options with CNCROi.com, if they aren’t optimal for CNC plasma cutting, then they can be for CNC waterjet or CNC laser or CNC router even… we offer options that aren’t typical.

This wasn’t the first bird I’ve plasma cut at CNCROi.com, any bird cuts wonderfully among many other animals, whatever you want, we can fabricate.

Whether you want ornamental traffic signs or a whole zoo of animal silhouettes, CNCROi.com can make them for you out of pretty much any material in any quantities you require.

Having the added services of welding at CNCROi.com allows us to basically put together whatever you need to truly make 3D items, from something as simple as studs at the back of signs for easy affixation to walls to more complex assemblies.

Inside parts then outside in order to keep these custom steel owls in one solid piece accurate to the specifications outlined by the customer, regardless of the intended purpose, having something that’s made to spec is always important to me.

Most of what I cut at CNCROi.com when it comes to steel is actually stainless steel, because we can also fiber laser etch details onto it.

When it comes to making custom steel owls, CNCROi.com could have made it any size but this was to be used as a garden ornament, so you want something cute and relatively small that doesn’t overtake the entire garden.

I really enjoy working with 12 ga steel, stainless or mild, it’s very cost-effective, far stronger than any wood and far more durable as well, but like all other materials, it has it’s place.

Plasma cutting steel is a melting process, unlike scissors that split two parts together, this is proven pretty straight forwardly, because if I cut too fast, I don’t get through the steel and if I go too slow, my cut line is a lot thicker.

I really enjoy using my plasma cutter for ornamental type work, there is just something that the kerf created by the melting process makes these items more aesthetically pleasing, especially after they are painted.

Although CNCROi.com does woodworking and plastic working in the same shop as these sparks you see flying all over the place and welding, there isn’t an issue with fire because they quickly burn themselves out before they even hit the ground and any combustion can’t build itself up to an unsafe level.

The smoke does built-up a lot all around the project, especially when I’m cutting the outline of the custom mild steel owls but you’ll see in the video how it’s sucked down pretty quickly.

Thankfully, the plasma doesn’t have an optical system like our lasers, as a result, all this smoke and debris does make the table dirty but there is no sight required to do the work so the heat along with the blinding light has no affect on the finished product at CNCROi.com.

Paint + mild steel really comes out amazing, if you don’t want it painted and you want to use the sign outside, then the only real choice is stainless steel.

When the plasma cutting of the custom steel owls is complete, I need to let them cool down a bit as vaporising metal is a hot process though melting is fast so that’s why these aren’t red hot.

After a quick clean-up using the angle grinder to remove some of the dross on the underside, the custom steel owls are now finished and onto their next home.

Need custom metal cutting services? Contact CNCROi.com right now!