Posted by Paul (in NY) on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 20:56:19 :
In Reply to: Plasma cutter posted by igor on Tuesday, July 24, 2007 at 20:40:56 :
Buy much larger than you think you will ever cut. Be sure the Plasma will Genuine Cut of at least .500" and test one at your dealer before buying. You may think you just want it for sheet steel, but very quickly you will find yourself cutting much heavier stock. I perfer and own a Thermal Dynamics 80XL. It will do a Genuine cut of .875" and a rough sever of 1.5", as well as sheet steel. Be sure to stick with a name brand such as Thermal Dynamics, Thermadyne, Miller or Lincoln. You can get parts and service if need be.
The plasma I bought was used one weekend at the dealers open house for demos. It came with a new consumable kit of parts and of course full warnatee. I bought it in 2002 for between 1800 and 1900 bucks, I forget the exact price as I bought a roll cart, circle cutter and more consumables.
IT has never given me a problem. You will also need a scource of good clean dry air. The CFM/Pressure depends on the make/specifications of the unit you buy.
Take a nice ride south of the border to Schroon Lake and you can test drive mine on sheet and heavy stock anytime. Your always welcome.
Paul