Gap created by a cutting process. On oxyfuel cuts it widens with tip size and plate thickness, from about 1 mm on thin plate to several millimeters on heavy sections, and it is narrower on plasma and laser. CNC programs apply kerf compensation so parts come out to size, and a kerf that suddenly widens points to a damaged tip, high gas pressure or slow travel.
Heard on the job
Kerf is way too wide on these, your tip's chewed up, change it before the next sheet.
Also heard as
- cut width
- kerf width
Related terms
Oxyfuel cutting
Cutting steel by heating it to ignition with a flame, then burning it away with a jet of oxygen.
Plasma arc cutting
Cutting with an arc squeezed through a small nozzle into a hot, fast gas jet that melts and blows out a narrow kerf.
Burner
Shop name for the tradesperson who does torch cutting, or for the cutting torch itself.