Plasma cutter....yay or nay?

[Farrier-1]

Wanted a PC for years. Already have O/A torches, welders, bandsaws, grinders, lathe, mill etc. Just never wanted to pony up of the money, but I found a Cutmaster 58 on sale for $1370. Kinda like a sore dick, can't beat it. Am I dumb not to jump on this??

[Louie1961]

Its not a bad deal, but when the next cutmaster 60i (the X model) becomes more available, the price may go down more. Or you might be able to get a first gen 60i on the cheap. If you can afford it, I say go ahead.

[crab fisherman]

Wanted a PC for years. Already have O/A torches, welders, bandsaws, grinders, lathe, mill etc. Just never wanted to pony up of the money, but I found a Cutmaster 58 on sale for $1370. Kinda like a sore dick, can't beat it. Am I dumb not to jump on this??

It's never bad to add equipment if you can justify it's use. That being said, if you have the means and just want it, go get it!

What do you need to cut that the torch wont do? I don't know if that plasma cutter has gouge capability but they can be good for that. one thing about steel cutting with a plasma cutter is the metal turns into almost a "dust", where as oxy/fuel consumes that "dust". It will make a mess of your shop, especially around your lathe and mill (unless you do that kind of metal fabrication elsewhere). Good for cutting stainless steel.

[N2 Welding]

It is my understanding plasma is a very fast process, a lot faster than OA which lends to putting less heat into the material being cut. If cutting thinner gauge materials this may come into play especially if you are wanting to minimize heat warping. I purchased a used plasma and liked it enough to step up to the Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster 60i. This thing is a beast as they say. I don’t always use it but I try to use it more and more every chance I get so I’ll get more proficient at plasma cutting. I got lucky and got a great Amazon deal for a new unit sub $1k. I would not have it if I had to pony up the full retail asking price. They are not cheap but if you can afford it I think you will appreciate having a PC.

[acourtjester]

Once you have Plasma the next step is a CNC Plasma table, you talk about happy
That will open up a whole new world, not much cost if you build your own table

[jimcolt]

Determine your cutting needs: - Maximum severance thickness, maximum pierce thickness. Severance will be slow (for plasma) and will require edge starting. The manufacturers rated pierce thickness is what you should size the plasma system at. For the most popular air plasma systems, here are the severance and pierce thickness:

Powermax30XP pierce 3/8", sever 5/8"
Powermax45XP pierce 1/2", sever 1"
Powermax65 pierce 5/8", sever 1-1/4"
Powermax 85 pierce 3/4", sever 1-1/2"

The above systems will operate on single phase (small shop and residential) power, below are 3 phase only due to higher power output.

Powermax 105 pierce 7/8", sever 1-3/4"
Powermax125 pierce 1-1/4", sever 2"

Then , if you think there may be mechanized cutting on a track burner, pipe cutter or CNC machine in your future, be sure that you get a system that has an available machine mounted torch as well as a built in (or upgradeable) CPC interface port. All of the Hypertherm Powermax units of 45 amps and larger have these upgrades available.

Other points:

- Duty cycle cannot just be a single percentage number, that would be meaningless! Duty cycle ratings are developed when each power supply and torch are engineered during their product development cycle. Ambient air temperature, Amperage setting, material thickness (specified as arc voltage) as well as the internal design and efficiency of the power supply play a role in determining the real duty cycle. If you compare all of these things you will find that the Hypertherm duty cycles are typically the highest......when Hypertherm advertises a 50% duty cycle and a competitor advertises 60%.....look carefully at the rest of the specs that achieve those ratings! in most cases Hypertherms lower percentage will provide dramatically longer duty cycles (cutting thicker material on hotter days without interruptions to wait for system cooling. If any questions on this I can show some examples with more detail!

- Cut quality and consumable life. Ask around, you will see overwhelming feedback about Powermax torch consumable parts life.

- Where is it made? Hypertherm Powermax units are built in factories in NH, USA by employees that own the company.

Jim Colt

[Farrier-1]

Post #5 ^^^ Ya know, I wanted one of those in the beginning. But after seeing the abundance of used tables on Craiglist, eBay and such, I'd figured I'd be money ahead if I pay to use someone else. I think a lot of people had big dreams of making lots of money.

I agree on the Hypertherm being the better model. However my argument for buying a PC is solely price driven right now.

[Broccoli1]

Buy it.
have a beer this holiday weekend and be happy

[Lis2323]

Buy it.
have a beer this holiday weekend and be happy

Have a beer even if you DON’T buy it.

[N2 Welding]

Have a beer even if you DON’T buy it.

All out of beer will a couple glasses of wine work ?

[jimcolt]

A plasma cutter is a tool that you will likely have in your shop for a decade or more. The better it works, the more use you will get out of it. The more you use it the lower its cost of ownership. (purchase price plus operating cost divided by time). Buy a lesser system, often it's cost of ownership is higher (lower performance, shorter consumable life). So at least buy a major brand plasma. It is often a good choice as well to be patient, watch Craigslist and local classified ads for a good used Hypertherm. I am a strong proponent of buying good quality tools that are second hand. If you visit my shop I can show you many of them! Jim Colt

Post #5 ^^^ Ya know, I wanted one of those in the beginning. But after seeing the abundance of used tables on Craiglist, eBay and such, I'd figured I'd be money ahead if I pay to use someone else. I think a lot of people had big dreams of making lots of money.

I agree on the Hypertherm being the better model. However my argument for buying a PC is solely price driven right now.

[Lis2323]

I agree about looking for used brand name machines.

I bought both my Miller plasmas used. One locally and one on eBay.

[farmersammm]

Look...…..When I got my plasma, I thought it would probably only be a luxury. Actually, it wasn't. The accuracy of a straight line makes it worth the bucks if you do a lot of fabricating. No more shears, and no more costly trips to the doods that do the shearing. It paid for itself pretty fast.

My Cutmaster 52 will cut thin stuff all day long, and it will do 1/2 plate in a pinch. I don't swear by plasma, but I do use it where it is appropriate.

"1/2 plate in a pinch"...……...ya, I'm real about it. The machine will do 1/2 if you're careful, and are familiar with cutting steel with an O/A torch. Travel speed is important.

I hate the marketing BS that says ya can cut thick stuff with ease. Ain't so...…..unless you own a table. There's quality cuts, then there's severance cuts...…..big difference.

Same with O/A. I can cut 2" plate with a 1/2" tip, but it ain't pretty.

[Yofish]

Looks like Sammy had some kind of an epiphany.....

https://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.ph...oot&highlight=

[ronsii]

LOL!!! Ain't that the truth

[BD1]

Post #5 ^^^ Ya know, I wanted one of those in the beginning. But after seeing the abundance of used tables on Craiglist, eBay and such, I'd figured I'd be money ahead if I pay to use someone else. I think a lot of people had big dreams of making lots of money.

I agree on the Hypertherm being the better model. However my argument for buying a PC is solely price driven right now.

I say don't buy it. YOU even say Hypertherm os the better model. IF you are gonna spend the money wait and go first class, get a Hypertherm. Hypertherm is the best in the industry. I attended Fabtech a few times, All you see at the plasma tables are HYPERTHERM. They are there for a reason.
Here, $1420.00 and free shipping.

https://www.weldersupply.com/P/200/H...Powermax30Plas

[Silverbullit]

I have to second that BD1, the Hypertherm is absolutely mindblowing!
As I dreamt of my own equipment some day I tried every brand I could get hold of at the welding shops/demonstrations and I truly believe nothing compares.

[farmersammm]

Looks like Sammy had some kind of an epiphany.....

https://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.ph...oot&highlight=

I haven't changed my mind. I still like the way you can cut a very nice straight line. And I still don't like the associated bevel (shrug)



If you're needing to clean up the bevel, you can ruin some expensive tooling (HSS) due to the nitride hardening from the cutting process.

Plasma, and O/A, are wonderful for something that's gonna be welded without any edge treatment. Both processes suck for steel that has to be further processed with a machine tool. I suppose a guy could get around the problem with carbide tooling...….but I don't own any carbide tooling for the mill.

Never knew this would be a problem until I experienced it when putting together some parts for a bearing housing.

The plate was plasma cut, then squared on the mill. Wore out an end mill in record time. I marched my happy azz off to the store, and bought a bandsaw very shortly thereafter.

[farmersammm]

Almost forgot...……………………………… Credit for the first pic of the plasma cut pieces belongs to VPT. It was some of the stuff he did for his roller build. I snagged it off his thread.

Just shows I'm not the Lone Ranger when it comes to the bevel thing.

[jimcolt]

If you are talking about air plasma cutters, then yes there is a slight bevel, though with a good quality air plasma on a good quality cnc machine the bevel is essentially non-existent. See, the plasma system doesn't do everything, it relies on a good operator for the best hand cutting, or a good machine for good machine cutting (I post a lot of pics, if you want to see the quality from a properly engineered cnc machine and plasma I can post more!). Further, When you use oxygen based plasma cutters on a cnc machine there is less of a heat affected zone and less hardening than with oxyfuel, and with the right choice of equipment there is no edge taper and holes that rival drilled holes but at much faster speeds. This is not new technology, though many only think of plasma as the air plasma systems....there is a whole nother world of plasma cutting with high definition class oxygen based plasma. Jim Colt

I haven't changed my mind. I still like the way you can cut a very nice straight line. And I still don't like the associated bevel (shrug)



If you're needing to clean up the bevel, you can ruin some expensive tooling (HSS) due to the nitride hardening from the cutting process.

Plasma, and O/A, are wonderful for something that's gonna be welded without any edge treatment. Both processes suck for steel that has to be further processed with a machine tool. I suppose a guy could get around the problem with carbide tooling...….but I don't own any carbide tooling for the mill.

Never knew this would be a problem until I experienced it when putting together some parts for a bearing housing.

The plate was plasma cut, then squared on the mill. Wore out an end mill in record time. I marched my happy azz off to the store, and bought a bandsaw very shortly thereafter.

[jimcolt]

Here are air plasma cuts (Powermax45xp from Hypertherm on 1/2" steel at book cutting specs) on a low cost cnc machine with good motion and height control. These are air plasma, a high definition class plasma does better than this. There is not an oxy-fuel cut that comes close on 1/2" steel in regards to speed, consistency and low cost per foot of cut.

[Yofish]

"See, the plasma system doesn't do everything, it relies on a good operator for the best hand cutting, or a good machine for good machine cutting."

That be the truth. In the boat world, everyone has pretty much gone the router route these days for aluminum. I'm a little puzzled by this in that I've built boats using both and by and large, the output is close to the same. BUT! my cutter does a great job with plaz, little bevel and little dross along with the cost being less than half. There are some issues with HAZ during cutting (I suppose that is part of the migration to the router) but it's never been a problem for me, at least with my designs. I have great comms with my cutter, Alaska Steel, and appreciate their working with me on the inevitable drawing (CAD) hitches. Having said all this, I've had 2" thick hinge pads for barge ramps cut from A36 with 2" holes done with water that were true. Completely unnecessary process for thin stuff employing large parts, or smaller parts that don't require close tolerances.

[Brand X]

Just because Sam has a opinion on plasma from using his Cutmaster 52, others have theirs based on what they have used too.. Operator, and machine setup is a huge key in the final product quality. Plasma marking, and precision gouging adds a few more nice options to the mix for Joe blow.. It's pretty cool to strip away one layer of sheet metal, and not touch the layer below it.. I tend to mark and punch out things a lot.. Although I do have carbide tooling, and a real mill to turn the bits.. (USA stuff Sammy boy)