plasma cutters

Hey I'm looking to upgrade from a set of old torches I want to buy something that will last and does a good job im thinking about starting a fab shop as a second job out of my garage so I want to get clean cuts anf do them fast

So that being said I do have a little bit of money not very much. Tho I'm not sure what to expect to pay or who to buy from any recommendations or help us greatly appreciated

You will miss having a torch if you give it up for a plasma. You can't heat things up with a plasma, and cutting irregular shapes in odd places is hard with a plasma as well.
But nothing beats a plasma for a smooth fast cut, on sheet metal and stock steel.
I have 3 plasma cutters and my two favorite are an Essab, and a Hypertherm. Both are fine machines and each one has it's strong point. Both of my big machines are industrial type, and ran in the neighborhood of two grand each. There are some smaller machines that are priced pretty good right now. Watch for a machine with reasonably priced consumables, and pay attention to maximum cutting capacity. Some can hack trough heavy steel, but hardly cut it well.

We have a plasma cutter and I hate it. Every time I cut something with it I burn the crap out of myself. I have even stood behind a shield of cardboard and sparks still end up down my shoe. My feet still have the scars from the last time I used it over a year ago.

Don

How thick is the metal that you want to cut will be the determining factor on what one will cost. I have a Miller Extreme 375. It was a good deal but I dont cut real thick stuff with it.

For prices check www.cyberweld.com

We have a Hypertherm 600 in our CNC machine. It does a great job and we could not do with out it. Do a lot of research as to what you actually want to do, and think down the road into the future. We bought this machine about 5 years ago and it still does a great job with very nice cuts. However our business has really grown and we are now exceeding the duty cycle of this machine. It would be just like a welder. We used to run it 10-15 minutes at a time, now we run it 4-6 hours at a time. After about 20 minutes of non stop cutting it is overheated and shuts down, then you have to wait 10 minutes and it will cut again for 20 minutes. This is a 40 amp machine. We are going to step up to a 80 amp machine as it has a 100% duty cycle. It will cut all day long with out overheating.

So if you are going just cut a few things at a time or use it hand held a smaller machine works good.

Also the plasma will not tolerate any water at all. One tiny drop and the nozzle is ruined. We had to install a refrigerated air dryer to get rid of all the water. Several traps and filters would not do it.

Also as was stated you will need the torch to heat and bend things.

This least expensive place to buy a Plasma cutter is on Ebay. I called Hypertherm and ask how these guys do this pricing so low. I was told by Hyperthem that these guys buy a whole tractor trailer load at a time to get these low prices and that they products were not any different than what you would buy anywhere else.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hypertherm-Powermax-45-Plasma-Cuttter-New-088016-/360292057720?pt=BI_Welders

i've never had a cutting torch, but agree that there would be times just heating for shape etc. would be nice.......

got a plasma a couple yrs ago, a hobart (400??model #) it is a 110/220 with a switch to change it on the back......it really impressed me b/c most of what i was doing was cutting sheet metal and cut-off wheels & sawzalls just wore me out......the thing cuts quick and clean and with an aluminum carpenters level for my "guide" i am confident in my cuts being straight

this little unit will cut clean thru framerails easily and if patient, can cut up to 3/8" but i seldom have that need......


can't hardly do w/o it now

I don't know as far as what to expect to pay but I am sick of cutting with a sawzal going thro blades and it just gets old trying to cut curves with a cut off especially with 1/4 inch or bigger as far as thickness probably 3/8s and it won't happen very often what are some good machines on a normal budget up to say 800 or less I guess maybe more but I'm not sure what they go for ill have to look when I get to the computer

well i did a little checkin on the bay i am wanting to get a tig welder as well in the near future i noticed alot of the combo cutter tig welders are these something to stay away from? i seen a brand i havent heard of before but i read most of the descriptions and they seam like they might be decent have any of you heard of avortec plasma cutters/tigs?

Those combo machines are usually Chinese junk... bite the bullet and buy a US-made Miller, Hypertherm, Thermal Dynamics or a similar machine.

Tight on cash? Check craig's list or your local pawn shop.

We make a living with our plasma, so I belong to several plasma cutting sites. Top of the line in plasma is Hypertherm, as far as lasting and consumable life. You will need a 40 amp machine to do what you are talking about in the automotive stuff. Check with all of your local welding suppliers for trade in machines. They will also know of individuals who want to sell a machine so they can buy a bigger one. Then there is Craigs list, see them on there from time to time.

well ive been looking for one about all day now and im down to thermal dynamics and hypertherm. i see that the thermal dynamics machine has a better duty cycle and for the money cuts thicker has a different styl tip. its only about 350 between the true 52 and the 39 the bigger cuts half inch cuts and the 39 cuts 1/4 cuts i think half inch is wasting alot of materail for what im doing anyone have one of these machines?

I have a hypertherm 380 for a hand held. It will cut 1/4" steel but it is slow. For all other cuts it is awesome. On the CNC machine I have a cutmaster 151. That will blow through 1/2" if I wait for it. cuts 1/4" @ 35"/min. I have had the 380 for 10 years and just had an issue with it. called customer service and was back in business in under 10min. [

there is a used hypertherm 380 he says its 3 years old he wants 800 for it i think thats a bit high for a three year old cutter. am i wrong or is this a fair price? what are some things to look for when buying used? jfg you said you have one have they inproved since then? i was readin your post and you said they cut really slow thro 1/4 inch he said that is the recommended cut thanks for any help or advice i really appreciate it guys and gals, zeth

Do you plan to use this as a hand held plasma or set it up on a CNC? They seem to lose some cutting capacity when set up on a CNC.

hand held i dont have nearly enough space for a table

I have a small tip in the hand held as I cut 1/8" plate most of the time. You can blow through 1/8" about as fast as you can reliably move your hand and still make a straight cut. suppossedly they have improved them 380 (now is a 385 I think) since I bought mine 10 years ago. I say it is slow as it cuts 1/4" at about 2-3"/min but it is a clean cut. Mine was $1100 new 10 years ago if that helps with pricing. Then again the cutmaster with a machine head was $1800 but I bought it at the same time I bought the torchmate table so I got a discount.

I would assume you are going to be building hot rod stuff since you are on this site. There will be times you will want to cut 1/2" and maybe even 3/4", I wouldn't buy anything less than a 40 amp machine. There is a lot of 3/8" stuff in these cars and if you want to make money at it you don't want to take all day to do it.

Ok so I'm kinda having a hard time finding a single phase 40 amp machine anyone know a few machines that run this? I found a used hipretherm he said it was a Max 43 but I think its a 45 unless they made a 43 but its run on 3 phase and all I have at the house is single

we have a CNC at work - its large -- and runs on a huge water table with no problems - today we squared up and cut 12 pieces of 3/8" steel 47'5'x6'
- then beveled and rolled it, stacked and loaded

my point
i dont know if some plasma cutters cant be run on a water table and some can - but if you can get one that can - go with that - nothing like bein able to handle a piece of metal bare handed minutes after cutting

we cut 3/4 in at 100in per min.