Originally Posted by
John K Jordan
I just saw this. Years ago I cut a piece of railroad rail and make a small anvil. I first tried a metal-cutting saw blade but ruined a couple of blades trying. (It was almost like the rail was hardened. Could it have been work-hardened from the wheels? Does steel even get work hardened? If hardened, could it be annealed first?)
I ended up cutting it with an oxy-acetylene torch, using the biggest one I had. It worked but sure was a mess. The torch would not cut completely through the thick part so I had to work my way around, "gouging" out rough channels until I cut through. The problem was the torch would melt the steel fine but since it couldn't blow through the other side the gas pressure blew globs of molten steel out the top instead, towards me! It was tricky to stay out of the way. It was also the roughest, messiest cut I ever made!
I now have a plasma torch and I'm not sure it would work any better on the thick part, at least the one I have. Mine will cut through 1/2" cleanly but easily a sloppy 1", havent tried anything thicker.. Perhaps the air pressure would blow molten steel out the front just like the oxy-acetylene torch. It would be interesting to try, to see if the plasma would blow all the way through the 2" thick part.
JKJ