A fabricator called our tech service line for assistance in beveling a 1” plate at a 45 degree angle.  The beveling of plate edges before welding is a necessity in many applications both to insure proper dimensions and fit and to allow proper welding techniques to be employed. 

Beveling can be accomplished with basically three methods; oxy-fuel, plasma, and laser.  The type of method chosen depends on many variables. 

Beveling of thick plate is most often done via the oxy-fuel process.  The two major issues in oxy-fuel bevel cutting are applying the proper amount of preheat and determining the proper bevel travel speed.  As a rule of thumb for analyzing the quality of a bevel, gouges starting at the top of the bevel and usually transitioning through the entire cut face are usually caused by not enough preheat or traveling too fast.  Gouges starting at the bottom of the plate and transitioning up the cut face, but usually never reaching the top, are caused by traveling too slow or using too much cutting oxygen volume (i.e. tip size too large). 

The fabricator who called Harris was utilizing propane as a cutting fuel.  Alternate fuels such as propane or propylene offer much lower operating costs and produce a smoother bevel that does not require additional cleanup prior to welding.  To get the preheat needed to make the 1” cut for our fabricator we recommended the Harris model BV-98-2 beveling head.  With the addition of this torch accessory, the customer will be able to produce a smooth, clean beveled surface with no additional cleanup or grinding needed.