Plasma cutter usefulness/worth it?

[Gatorgrizz27]

Been getting back into welding and fabricating more lately, and upgrading some of my equipment. Considering picking up a plasma cutter but not sure how useful it would actually be. I worked at a welding shop back in high school and we pretty much only used it for notching or trimming 1/8” steel sheet and expanded metal.

There are certain tools like the oscillating multi tools that make you wonder how the hell you survived without them, as they are so versatile they get grabbed constantly for odd tasks. I can see a plasma falling into this category, or I can see it being something that sits there unused 99% of the time and only comes out for cutting sheet. I don’t have a shear FWIW.

Most of the stuff I’m doing lately is smaller vehicle projects like winch mounts, trailers, brackets, as well as bases for furniture.

 

[Benny]

A plasma cutter is a nice tool to have, but if you are on the fence you may want to look into a chinese unit. Usually less than 1/4 of the price of a name brand.

I got a Gianttech 3-in-1 a few years ago and use it for cutting all the time. But I just ordered a plasma table, so I bought a hypertherm to go with it.

 

[I Lean]

I'm a Hypertherm fan, I have one on a CNC table and it's done probably thousands of hours of trouble-free cutting over the last 10 years.

I will agree with Benny though, if you don't know how much you'll use one, get a cheap one first to "test your waters". If you find yourself using it a lot, you can get a better one then. On the other hand, if you get a "good" one first, you might end up using it more than if you test-drive a shitty one....

 

[woods]

The guy that fixed the skid steer plate on the front of my tractor used one for it. Had to cut out a bent piece and we rewelded in new new piece. Plasma cutter took about 5m of what would have taken me 2h and 47 cutting discs.

 

[total newb]

Get a bigger one than you think youll need.

While i see lots of people use then on existing chassis to remove parts i have been less than impressed with the ability to get in tight to the frames to cleanly remove parts.

 

[robert-r]

Get a bigger one than you think youll need.

While i see lots of people use then on existing chassis to remove parts i have been less than impressed with the ability to get in tight to the frames to cleanly remove parts.

Hypertherm has come out with side cutting tips which should help with that.

 

[Wulf]

Get a bigger one than you think youll need.

While i see lots of people use then on existing chassis to remove parts i have been less than impressed with the ability to get in tight to the frames to cleanly remove parts.

I hear you as I've been in the same boat and stuck doing more grinder cleanup than I'd like when borrowing my buddys plasma... that said if you're cutting something in a tight spot you probably aren't making clean cuts with an angle grinder and cutoff wheel either.

 

[tracyb]

if you buy a nice one, it take s a bit to get used to then you use it all the time.

buy a shitty one youll never use it, except when you have to.


i do allot of weld and fab. an at one point had a harbor freight plas that i never used. then when i set up the cnc plas and went with hypertherm, it is all i ever use. got rid of acytelene, still have an oxy/ propane set up for heating or 1" + plate, but other than that i use the hell out of plasma. i have a pm65(wish i had gone 85) for the shop/ cnc and a 45xp for the mobile rig.

also if you ever do the kinda work that requires scarfing. plasma is so much nicer to use than air arc. doesn't require as big of compressor etc

 

[GLTHFJ60]

A few years ago I took on a project that was to be made out of 3/8" plate. Cutting disks would have taken forever, and I didn't have anything else, so I weighed an oxy setup vs a plasma cutter. Only disadvantage of a plasma is that you can't heat up parts to bend them was my conclusion, but plasma was better in every other way. With a decent air compressor, your consumables are the only constraint, otherwise it's infinite use. No tanks to fuck with. Cutting anything that conducts electricity is as easy as turning the compressor/plasma on, hooking up the ground, and going to town.

I had a Miller 375xtreme plasma for a long time, then last year upgraded to a hypertherm 45xp when I got my plasma table. You can make parts pretty quickly with a handheld torch, but a CNC plasma table is just silly.

Long story short, I'm echoing what the other guys have said. Start out with a cheap one if that's what you can afford, but if you can, get a nice used one, and you'll grab it for everything. Cutting disks on an angle grinder almost become a thing of the past.

 

[Lil'John]

I bought one of the China Cut-50 about 18 months ago for $200. I still haven't unboxed it

 

[crazybluerider]

if you don't know how much you'll use one, get a cheap one first to "test your waters". If you find yourself using it a lot, you can get a better one then. On the other hand, if you get a "good" one first, you might end up using it more than if you test-drive a shitty one....

The only warning I'll give anyone with this though is that a cheap one will often convince you not to buy one. I had a chinese one that I rarely used at home because while it would cut plate and clean material it worked like complete shit for body mods and other misc. tasks. I finally bought a good one, because I knew from using the nice one at work it would be better, and I use that thing almost every time I'm in the garage.

 

[TRINDU]

Buy the best one you can afford. That's being said, I dont own one.

I rarely fab with nice, new, clean metal, so I still use a torch. I hate using a cheap chinese knockoff that keeps tripping or cant cut through 1/4" in a single pass.

 

[quarters_ninja]

I have the 220v Cut 50 from ebay. It can cut 1/4" but it's slow and I usually have to clean up the edges. For 3/16 or less I find myself using it regularly, not often though. It's handy for certain situations but I still like the clean cut the cutoff wheel (or Milwauke circ saw) make.

I am glad I bought one because it has come in handy. But next time I would probably buy one that costs a bit more and cuts 1/4" better. A few weeks ago I cut up a truck and the plasma was handy for cutting the frame into manageable pieces, saved me a few sawzall blades and went pretty quick.

 

[Rangerrod]

Bigger than you think you need. I can’t imagine not having one. Hypotherm ftw.

 

[AK_F250]

I have two hypertherm's (one on the cnc table) and I still find myself grabbing the dewalt 20v metal circ saw or sawzall with a carbide blade for the majority of the work I could do with a handheld plasma. If you see yourself using it primarily where you'd be using a shear if you had one I'd go the circular saw route and if a name brand used machine comes up for sale snag it then.

 

[ChiScouter]

Had an old powermax 800, caused me nothing but heartache. Now getting used to my pm65 and loving life. Few things are as frustrating than a crappy plasma cutter. Cut 5/8 with the pm65 the other day and it was frustrating slow. Always buy bigger than you will need as cutting speed is important. I have never been able to cut worth a dam with a torch. If you can cut well with a oxy/acetelene torch than a plasma is not as useful

 

[CarterKraft]

The only warning I'll give anyone with this though is that a cheap one will often convince you not to buy one. I had a chinese one that I rarely used at home because while it would cut plate and clean material it worked like complete shit for body mods and other misc. tasks. I finally bought a good one, because I knew from using the nice one at work it would be better, and I use that thing almost every time I'm in the garage.

Truth.

I bought a REALLY cheap ($125) 30amp 120/240v cutter for metal building construction and it works solid for that. Anything over 1/8" even on 240v sucks. I suspect (shocker) it's not actually a 30 amp machine. I wouldn't say I wasted my money but when I get a CNC table I will have to pony up again for a good one, Hypertherm 45xp I think.

 

[rockyota83]

Get a bigger one than you think youll need.

While i see lots of people use then on existing chassis to remove parts i have been less than impressed with the ability to get in tight to the frames to cleanly remove parts.

youre doing it wrong removing brackets from vehicles is one the best things about my plasma, it will fit in much tighter places then an angle grinder.

when i remove brackets i cut the bracket off leaving about an inch left then when the bracket is out of my way i torch out the weld and then knock whats left off with a hammer and chisel, super fast and super clean, barely anything left to clean up with the grinder

 

[TTMotorsports]

I have a hypertherm powermax 600 for my CNC plasma AND a Longevity 60Amp machine for hand plasma. It works great but like said I cut the bracket off then score the weld with cutoff wheel and hammer/chisel it off to make grinding cleanup very minimal.

 

[arse_sidewards]

I have the 220v Cut 50 from ebay. It can cut 1/4" but it's slow and I usually have to clean up the edges. For 3/16 or less I find myself using it regularly, not often though. It's handy for certain situations but I still like the clean cut the cutoff wheel (or Milwauke circ saw) make.

I am glad I bought one because it has come in handy. But next time I would probably buy one that costs a bit more and cuts 1/4" better. A few weeks ago I cut up a truck and the plasma was handy for cutting the frame into manageable pieces, saved me a few sawzall blades and went pretty quick.

Same here.

Doesn't totally replace the angle grinder and cut off saw but for the sub-$300 it cost me it was well worth it for the time saved on stupid things that are hard to do with more conventional cutting tools.

 

[mjlogan88]

There are some shapes a cutoff wheel just won't cut. There are some places a cutoff wheel just won't fit. In these situations my $250 cheapo plasma pays for itself time and time again.

That said it plays 3rd string to the bandsaw or cutoff wheel and only gets tapped in when necessary.

 

[[486]]

I really like the selective preheat that you can do with the torch on a lot of things, mostly in the repair side of stuff. Nothing beats a torch for taking bolts/rivets out or nuts off, as you don't gotta worry about fucking up the parent metal

I did finally remember to get a #7 lens for my dad's plasma cutter, btw get more than a 25a hypertherm, it is "enough" for 1/4" but it is mildly frustrating how slow it goes. Guy at the welding store didn't know what to make of the dusty old #7 I plopped on the counter. My reply was that there were some #4 and #6 in that drawer too.

 

[RunningProblem]

I saw a guy compare a plasma to this. For straight lines the saw wins. If you ever need to cut a curve the plasma will be better than a saw. It wasn't even close. The saw just destroyed the plasma.

 

[grumpy356]

I am going to be the odd man out here, I have a plasma, and just for run of the mill cutting, I could EASILY live without it.

I honestly use a jig saw, skil saw, and cut-off wheels WAY, WAY more often, and I think I get better looking cuts.

If I had a table, where it was automated and didn't count on my speed, the shakiness of my hand, and my ability to be consistent, I could see a use, but for a hand held, drag and cut. ..... it's occasionally handy, but I'm not sure it is worth the money.

 

[TTMotorsports]

I have a hypertherm powermax 600 for my CNC plasma AND a Longevity 60Amp machine for hand plasma. It works great but like said I cut the bracket off then score the weld with cutoff wheel and hammer/chisel it off to make grinding cleanup very minimal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4WHqylHf4I&t=231s

Here is the video I show how I cut brackets off to clean the frame and do the same stuff on axles. also edited the link to start where the discussion of how I cut the brackets off the frame so you can watch it and my other videos if you like but linked this since it's relevant to this discussion

 

[billybob_81067]

I am going to be the odd man out here, I have a plasma, and just for run of the mill cutting, I could EASILY live without it.

I honestly use a jig saw, skil saw, and cut-off wheels WAY, WAY more often, and I think I get better looking cuts.

If I had a table, where it was automated and didn't count on my speed, the shakiness of my hand, and my ability to be consistent, I could see a use, but for a hand held, drag and cut. ..... it's occasionally handy, but I'm not sure it is worth the money.

I'm with you. My go to is cut-off disks for the grinder for damn near everything. If i have long straight cuts in thicker stuff I will break out the carbide tipped ferrous blade on the worm-gear saw. And like the other guy mentioned above I am rarely working with new/clean steel so that's probably why I don't favor the plasma most of the time. Hell a lot of times when I have to use a torch to cut something apart it is even a pain in the ass with the dirt/shit/rust/scale on the back side causing my torch cut to blow straight back at me instead of go through!

I do have a Thermal Dynamics PowerPak 45 or something like that. (I can't remember if that is the right name at this moment) It's nice once in awhile, but pretty much gets a meh from me most the time. If a guy had a CNC table then it would be awesome to crank out parts with one, but for most of my one-off parts I think I could lay my part out on the steel, drill or holesaw holes and then cut the rest out with an angle grinder before I could ever figure out how to draw the goddamn thing in a program!

 

[TTMotorsports]

I have the cnc plasma and can't live without it but before that I hand cut stuff with my plasma and before plasma it was cutoff wheel or cutting torch if thick material. I built my entire first 2 trucks a arms trailing arm etc with a cutting torch. Wouldve killed for a plasma back than but plugging it in and air etc a torch is easy to turn the bottles on and light it up and get to cutting. Got good at cutting with a torch thats for sure

 

[thedirtman]

I use mine all the time, Hypertherm 45x. Its a few years old now and I plan on upgradeing to a new torch for it along with a flush cut kit to make cutting brackets off frame easier. The only time I ever use the oxygen acetylene torch is when I need to heat something up to bend. I use it on everything from aluminum sheet to 3/8" plate.

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

Thanks for the feedback, looks like it might be worth grabbing one. I’m past the phase of buying cheap, entry level machines in 99% of cases so trying a cheap unit isn’t really an option.

Been looking at the Hobart units, primarily because I trust their stuff and it’s nice to run and pick up consumables from Tractor Supply. There’s a new welding shop in town I’ve been buying steel from but they seem to sell the Chinese off branded machines.

I think their 27i unit would meet my needs as I rarely work with anything over 1/4”, it it’s still rated to clean cut that at 36 imp which is about as fast as I could run the torch anyways. 30A is about all I could draw on a shared 50A circuit with the air compressor running also. It seems the major downside is it only has a starting pilot arc rather than a full pilot arc, which is the reason most people recommend the 40i. Is it a big deal if you aren’t cutting expanded metal or no? The larger model is over $1,500 which is more than I’d like to spend. The duty cycle is nice if I ended up with a CNC plasma table at some point though.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Thanks for the feedback, looks like it might be worth grabbing one. I’m past the phase of buying cheap, entry level machines in 99% of cases so trying a cheap unit isn’t really an option.

Been looking at the Hobart units, primarily because I trust their stuff and it’s nice to run and pick up consumables from Tractor Supply. There’s a new welding shop in town I’ve been buying steel from but they seem to sell the Chinese off branded machines.

I think their 27i unit would meet my needs as I rarely work with anything over 1/4”, it it’s still rated to clean cut that at 36 imp which is about as fast as I could run the torch anyways. 30A is about all I could draw on a shared 50A circuit with the air compressor running also. It seems the major downside is it only has a starting pilot arc rather than a full pilot arc, which is the reason most people recommend the 40i. Is it a big deal if you aren’t cutting expanded metal or no? The larger model is over $1,500 which is more than I’d like to spend. The duty cycle is nice if I ended up with a CNC plasma table at some point though.

Having the full pilot arc is nice when you're cutting stuff at weird angles or in tight spots, and can't have a perfect cut line. Also gouging welds off of the surface of plates is nice and easy, you can really ride the edge of not arcing at all to have minimal impact on the base material.

I've cut with both, far and away prefer the full pilot arc. Different companies call it different things.