What Plasma Machining in the Same Setup Means

A plate that needs a bolt pattern normally travels twice: once to be cut, once to be drilled. On the plate table at KorFab those two passes happen without the plate moving, and that changes what a drawing has to explain.

Two heads, one program

The plasma torch cuts the outline, the holes it can cut and the contour bevels. A separate 20 HP drilling head drills, taps, counterbores and mills. Both sets of features are driven from one program with the plate clamped in one position, so the relationship between the cut profile and the machined hole pattern is fixed by the setup rather than by two operators working from the same datum.

That matters most on parts where a hole group has to line up with an edge that was also cut, and on repeats, where the second handling is where positions drift.

What belongs on the drawing because of it

• Which holes are cut by the torch and which are machined. A clearance hole that fits the plasma kerf can be cut; a tapped hole cannot.
• Thread callouts for tapped holes, with the size and the depth if it is limited.
• Counterbore diameter and depth, and whether the counterbore is for a socket head or a through bolt.
• Any hole that has to be milled rather than drilled, such as a slotted opening or an oversize clearance.
• Which hole group is the datum, so the machining is referenced to the same feature the assembly uses.

What the setup does not decide

Capacity is confirmed per part. A hole pattern that includes threads deeper than the plate, a counterbore that breaks into a cutout, or a tapped hole inside a bevel zone is a review question, not a standard operation. What to specify on a base plate drawing walks through the drawing content for the part type where this comes up most.

Bevel angle, land and finish are also confirmed per part. Contour bevels run on five axes, and the review reads the bevel detail against the plate thickness and the edge being prepared.

Why it is not the same as the flat versus five axis question

Flat plasma follows an outline on a flat plate. Five axis plasma adds the ability to tilt the torch and prepare an edge, which is what makes weld prep possible in the same pass. Machining is a third capability sitting on the same machine and it is what removes the second operation from the schedule. Flat plasma versus five axis plasma covers the first distinction.

What to send

Plate size, thickness and material, the outline, every hole with its operation, the bevel detail and the datum. With those, a plate that would otherwise need cutting, drilling and a second setup is quoted as one operation.