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Which plasma cutter?

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tr8todd

Jedi Knight
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The lovely wife wants to buy me a plasma cutter for Christmas. I really only need it to cut roll cage feet, header flanges and sheet metal- your basic race car and LBC resto stuff. Don't ever see myself cutting anything thicker than 3/8". The garage is all set up as far as compressor and electrical goes, so I don't want a self contained system. I have been looking for a good used one that might be more than I really need, but still in the price range of a smaller new one, but so far haven't had any luck. Looking for some first hand recommendations.
 
I am going to purchase one before the years end. Have a look at E'bay. There are some very tasty units listed, and most offer free carriage and no sales tax = big savings. I am going to punt for a Miller, as all of my other welding machines are from the same maker.
 
No advice, but let her know if she wants to keep it at my house till Christmas, that would be fine
 
sure, I have soap and tape :whistle:
 
tr8todd said:
The lovely wife wants to buy me a plasma cutter for Christmas.
Click to expand...

Now there's a keeper!
 
While we're at it, does anyone have any experience or opinion on the cheaper plasma cutters?

I was looking at ~this one~
 
From what I've found, Hobart are pretty decent quality. They are made by Miller though their cheaper line. I have a Hobart MIG welder that the gun actually says Miller on the side of it.
 
I purchased my Hobart Ironman 250 about 10 years ago and it has worked flawlessly. I purchased a Miller spool gun and 100% argon cylinder for welding aluminum. The spool gun installed exactly as the Miller instructions. I compared my welder with a Miller at that time and the only difference I could find was it was white with red letters instead of blue with white letters.
 
I've got a Miller Spectrum, it has a self contained air supply, it works pretty well, good for anyhting up to 3/16". I got a good deal from one of the online weld shops. I went with the Miller because with a plasma cutter you are going to go through some consumables, so with a good brand name you can always get these parts easy and for years to come.
 
We used to have a "Dra-Gun" or something like that, at a shop I worked at. Little self contained unit. I loved it. It worked really well.
 
I have a Miller Spectrum 625, must be over five (>5) years old by now, and I think I've only changed the tip once, maybe twice.

With Plasma machines, I *think* you're supposed to buy a little more machine than you need. I can see myself cutting up to 1/2" plate, so I bought a machine rated at 5/8" QUALITY cut, though it will SEVER 7/8", should I ever need to.

You'll want to put a good water trap/filter right ahead of the air connection (mine's mounted on the machine) as moisture is what wreaks havoc with the consumanbles.

All in all, I couldn't be happier with mine, and likewise, I bought it off Ebay at a substantial savings from the local dealer.

Edit: their 625 is now an Extreme 625 portable unit, but here's the Miller 325 link = https://store.cyberweld.com/spec375cut.html
 
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