plasma cutter

[REDPOCADOT]

thinking of buying a plasma cutter will be cutting steel to 3/8 thick what would any one recommend or stay away from i have a torch and know how to use it just a lot cleaner cut from the plasma cutter have never used one have been looking at miller brand any help appreciated

 

[Anonymous-0]

Hypertherm is the leader in Plasma. They are coming out with new improved 30 model that should work for you. I thinks it's a 30X model but can't remember.

 

[Jason the Red]

The cut of a plasma is cleaner. However in my opinion, the consumables cost of a plasma is prohibitive of owning one.

You didn't mention how much you would use it, but unless you were going to use it day in and day out I would suggest sticking with the torch. You can do an awful lot of grinding to clean up rough cuts and slag for the cost of a new plasma cutter.

If you are stuck on buying one, Thermal Dynamics are very good.

 

[Animal]

Are they still as hard on tips as they used to be?

 

[Anonymous-0]

Hypertherm has the longest consumable life in the industry. Sometimes as much as 60% longer life. The first thing to add to a plasma though is a larger water separator/filter. Water is the worst thing on consumables.

 

[Steve@Advance]

The company bought me a Miller about a year ago. Don't recall the model,but it's top of the line. Works on 120/220v with interchangeable cord adapters. The 120v is useless, trips 20a breaker even on the lowest setting.

It is hard on consumables. I recently added a water trap, should have read the book. Seems the thicker the steel, the harder it is on the electrodes and tips. It will cut 3/8 but that's about the limit. Thin stuff is a breeze. I can't freehand, but that's just me. Clamp down an edge guide or bolt on a compass, and it will cut beautifully!

They've gotten better, smaller and more affordable. I think it was a good investment.

 

[Bob]

Don"t know how much difference there is between brands noways, but buying a machine that has a local dealer behind it, with a stock of "consumables" on hand is not a BAD thing. (Don"t ask me how I know this!)

 

[Dr. Walt]

Back in the 1990's I worked as a Welder / Fabricator for a large steel fabrication shop. We did all of the structural steel work including all of the stairs & hand railings for the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. I've also fabricated a lot of custom structural steel-work for several large Las Vegas Casinos; and I've used both torch & plasma cutters extensively. For thin sheet-metal a plasma cutter is the only way to go, but for thicker steel above 5/16 inch your better off with a torch. Unless you're going to be doing a lot of thin sheet-metal cutting EVERYDAY, the initial cost of the machine & the recurring cost of consumables can't be justified - particularly in light of the fact that you already have a torch.

In my own personal shop I could never justify the need for a plasma cutter, I can do far more with a torch (I'm occasionally cutting steel up to 2 inches thick).

My suggestion would be to rent or lease one for whatever job you have at hand. That way you can try different brands, learn how to use them, and see for yourself whether or not you have enough work on a daily basis to justify owning one.

Good Luck

Doc

 

[MikeinKy]

I used to work for a welding supply co. and Hypertherm is the best. I have a miller and it's ok, Hypertherm is better. I don't use it as much as I thought I would. You absolutly have to have a good water trap.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I busted a 4 in 1 bucket, on my little skid loader, bent the clamshell, and broke one of the welds, at the top corner hinge, get the picture? I had a choice to buy a new bucket,($2500) or a new hypertherm plasma cutter($2600). Bought the hypertherm, fixed the bucket, and haven't bought any more oxygen, since! Still use the torch, to heat things, but cut with the plasma. Yes, consumables ain't cheap, but that's the price you pay, on everything.

 

[John in Nebraska]

The company bought a new one for me to use. I found out immediately that it didn't like used steel. Any rust or paint, and you'd loose the flame. 1/4 inch was its limit, and every time I fired it up, found I had used double the time that I would of just using a oxy acetylene torch. Was really planning to get one for home, but rather soured on them now. Daily in a shop, on new steel, thin stuff, they might be great.

 

[MattE]

we have hypermax at the shop. They are good plasma units, however the consumables are expensive. For home use I bought a chineese unit of fleabay after listining to the ravings of the other boys at the shop who all bought one.

and I can honestly say for $400 the giant tech units are amazing. I"ve cut thousands of linear feet of steel and stainless from sheetmtal up to 3/4" with out any issues. no one I know of has ever had any issues and consumables are dirt cheap. for personal use there is now way to beat it. I"m hard on mine too, never hardly tuch the torches anymore

 

[Ken Macfarlane]

Air dryer and water trap both are good. Wet air = garbage consumables in no time.

 

[timcasbolt]

Consumables are dirt cheap on ebay. jus' sayin'

 

[jon f mn]

I have a Thermal Dynamics Pak master 100. Supposed to be good for 1", but 3/4 will give it all it wants. It's coming up on 20 years old and works as good as new. Consumables are expensive but last a long time. I would recommend buying one with at least 50% more rated power than you need. I think the new ones are better than the older ones at that but when I got mine that was the recommendation. I use mine a lot, especially for aluminum.

 

[Ken(MI)]

I have two, a Hypermax Powermax 1000 at the shop and a Hobart 700i at home. No complaints with either, but I also have three large bandsaws and high pressure waterjet, so they don't get used heavily. I think of them like I do MIG welders, nice if you have other equipment, but if you can"t have it all stick to what is the best all around solution, which would be a torch. They don"t like dirty or contaminated material, but you can cut stainless and aluminum with them, unlike a torch. I had a 6000 gallon stainless steel tank to cut up for scrap and bought the Hobart for that, cut it into 2' squares in one afternoon, used two tips, and sold the scrap for enough to pay for the plasma cutter and have a couple hundred bucks left over, had it been mild steel, it would have taken longer and cost considerably more in gas than what the consumables cost.

 

[Anonymous-0]

I work at a welding supply. We are Miller and Victor Technologies(formerly Thermadyne) distributors. As of Jan. 1 we are now authorized Hypertherm distributors. That should tell you something about Hypertherm quality and industry recognition!

 

[Bob Bancroft]

I think it would be good if you could try one out. After a bunch of aluminum truck body work I bought a real nice unit off lease. Didn't end up needing it after that, and I never felt comfortable with it. I finally sold it. Kind of like a wire welder for me. I don't know if it's my age, or what, but the stick welder and oxy/acetylene torch are my tools.

 

[Stan in Oly, WA]

You've gotten a lot of good advice and information on this. Dr. Walt said most of the things I would tell somebody who asked me about buying a plasma cutter. Basically, if you need to cut sheet metal thinner than 14 gauge (0.075" to 0.078"), cast iron, stainless steel, or non-ferrous metals, a plasma cutter will work and oxy/fuel won't. Oxy/fuel will cut most steel except for stainless from around 14 gauge up to thicker than you're ever likely to need to cut. (I've cut 4" round stock for a class demonstration---very, very exciting if you don't do it just right, like I didn't). It can start getting pricey to buy a plasma cutter that can cut steel thicker than 1/2", but for oxy/fuel, cutting thicker steel will only cost you the price of a bigger cutting tip---$25 or less---and use more oxygen.

On the issue of plasma cutting cleaner than oxy/fuel, it's not quite that simple. The high end standard for oxy/fuel cutting would probably be a properly adjusted track cutter like we use to cut the bevels on the edges of 1" plate for certification tests. That produces a face that looks like it's been polished, and little or no slag on the bottom edge. I've never witnessed a human make a cut that good, but I've watched plenty of people make cuts that were almost slag free. On a good day, with a few minutes of practice to get my game back, I can cut 3/8" mild steel cleanly enough that what slag there is can be removed with a single pass of the chisel end of a slag hammer.

Stan

 

[huntingreen2day2]

Got an ESAB that will cut 1 inch material. Bought it off Craiglist. See them on there often in my area.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Perfectly clean tip the right size and adjusting the pressures for the thickness can give you a very clean cut with no slag. They were using cutting torches for precision cuts long before plasma torches came along. Best hand cutting I ever saw was at trade show where a Smith rep. was cutting peoples names in steel plate. Put a tip cleaner in the cutting jet once before each sign. That was around 1980/81. I was so impressed I never forget and always cleaned the tip before making a cut. People would question me about it until they saw my cuts. Best 15 seconds you can take if you want the nicest cut. Also make sure you are comfortable and have free range of movement.

I can cut reasonably well but I'm concentrating so much on doing a nice cut, I forget to breath. LoL I worked at a shop that was too cheap to buy a pattern cutter so I had to trace cardboard templates for tear drop hinges on flat bar. Some were 1/2" thick and 3 hinges made a set. After cutting the 3 hinges, they were tacked together and had to be ground the same before drilling the holes. You learn how to do accurate cuts pretty fast when you're left with grinding steel 1 1/2" thick!