any one got a plasma cutter?

T

tmickley

Joined
Apr 4, 2001
Messages
1,803
I'm thinking I need a plasma cutter. One that is self contained, runs on 220v and cleanly cut 1/2" and struggle through 3/4". Any one have any recommendations?
 
Tracy, I would call Kelly Cupples (who sells the carbon steels) and talk to him about it. He sells the stuff and will give you a straight and expert explanation. You can email him for his number at "octihunter at charter dot net".
 
I'll track him down. Thanks Mike.

I've been browsing ebay since I posted. Apparantly I was a little generous with my spec's. Self contained that cut anything decent are insanely high. Looks like I'd be tickled to settle for a unit that take external air and probably a little thinner cut. Even then those little dudes are pricey.
 
Tracy, I have a Linclon procutt 55. Runs on 220V and uses external air. Depends on what you want to cut but here are some examples to calibrate you. It will cut up to 3/4 inch mild steel ok but a little slow. 1/2 inch goes ok and 1/4 inch is a breeze. If you use it to cut .150 knife stock with alloys like CPM S90v and 10V it goes about like 1/4 inch mild steel. You will get kerf and heat affected zone to clean up but not a big deal. Don't breathe the fumes especially on the high alloy stuff. The smaller units will cut up to 10 gage mild steel nicely but don't think they would work well on the high alloy stuff. Might cut but very slow and then you get much more heat and kerf. My unit was about $2000 when I bought it and a comparable unit is still about that now. Hope this helps some. PHIL
 
you will find better prices with Thermal Dynamics than either miller or lincoln, and it will perform just as well. You are probably still looking at $1000 or more though

Ken
 
Greetings,
When I researched which Plasma cutting system I was going to incorporate in my 3 axis CNC machine, only one brand name was even close.

Hypertherm. They are expensive, but they are worth it.

Dennis
 
Tracy, not sure if you are friends with Kit Carson or not, he just recently set a plasma cutter up on a 2 axis set of rails (x & y), a couple of servo motors and (I think) a regular old PC (not sure what type of software he is using to control the servo's). He may be able to help shorten the "error factor". Pretty neat little unit for home made :thumbup: What type of HAZ would a guy have to plan for when zapping some blanks out with a plasma cutter ?
 
Very helpful. Thanks guys.
Phil, the performance you are getting with yours I think is pretty much what I'm looking for. I was hoping not to spend that much but it might end up at that.
David, I'm going to have to give the CNC aspect more thought. It could be another little income stream. If you worked it.
 
The real workhorses are 3phase power. I believe my Linde states that it will cut 1/2" at 58" per minute. That's a LOT faster than you can cut accurately by hand.
Matt
 
Tracy, I bought one of the early units about 12 years or so ago. Featured large thickness's it could cut 3/4" !!, and practically no consumables used.
In reality, it cuts almost 3/16th's on a good day when the atmosphere is really dry, and the consumables it uses look more like a .50 cal. machine gun in action. l;
 
I can provide anyone some design ideas in building their own CNC Plasma cutter. I would research using Mach3 software (www.artofcnc). I would recommend autocadd or corel draw for the drawing/layout package. I highly recommend you purchase sheetcam to convert your drawings to g-code (www.sheetcam).

If I ever build another CNC Plasma unit, it will cut under water to avoid overheating the steel (but mostly dust control). Very easy....I know a couple guys already doing it.

Dennis
 
We have a small high volume sword shop. Just my brother and I. The 1250 was overkill, but since the bank was paying for it what the hell!

Funny now they call me every month and tell me they are taking $$$ from my account. I must have not read the fine print!

Seriously, the powermax units are great and if you consider CNC for the future its important to have a unit that does not use high freq for the startup as it scrambles the computers brain. There is a small unit that has gotten good reviews everywhere I looked. I think its the powermax 600.
 
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