plasma cutters

[Renze]

Personally I would go with O/A torch for cutting salvage... going to be way faster than always moving your ground, cleaning a spot for it etc. not too mention having to have a good air supply on site. Of course I already own a 100' set of O/A leads so that may influence my choice

I am a hobbyist with a near professional workshop... i have to draw a line, i cant just keep on spending on tools. the barn demolition is mostly 42x3mm pig sty pipes, and a couple of structural beams. I doubt if you cut thin stuff faster with O/A because you need to heat before applying cutting oxygen, the plasma allmost cuts right away.
The barn demolition is something i wont do every day, but its a justification to buy another tool.

He has mentioned to me that the air supply needs to be dry. He also said he has heard of people using bottled oxygen as supply air. He hasn't tried that himself but it would be about as good an air supply as you could get.

I have a moisture absorber in my 3 cylinder workshop compressor, for spray painting. For just a month of barn demolition, i can unscrew it from the big compressor and put it to my brothers little one, to use with the plasma.



..so.. 40A plasma will cut 7/8 or 22mm ?? Thats bigger than any of the beams in our barns. I can get them for 350 to 600 euro, depending on brand. I do concider the brand of what i buy, because i want something which is known by repair shops and parts are available. Therefor, i dont want an older heavy duty industrial unit: We once bought a 450 amp mig welder which was a real beast: but we had to scrap it because our dealer couldnt get just a small part for it, required to fix it.

 

[J_J]

Renze,

This ain't no plasma cutter, but it will out-cut just about anything out there. Check it out and see for yourself.

Petrogen | Petrogen Oxy-Gasoline Cutting Systems Home Page

 

[Therios Pendragon]

Renze,

This ain't no plasma cutter, but it will out-cut just about anything out there. Check it out and see for yourself.

Petrogen | Petrogen Oxy-Gasoline Cutting Systems Home Page

So... does anyone actually have any experience with these? I am intrigued.

 

[Reg]

Round numbers, it is possible to "sever" about twice the "rated" capacity, but it will be slow.
I suspect that it would be less than half the speed, in inches or cm per minute, though I don't have the specs of my cutter here.

 

[JoeL4330]

I have a plasma cutter, which works fine, and O/A ...but also have two metal cutting circular saws, that would be my first choice for what I think you want to do ...you can google them, see what you think ...I have a 7"+ and a 9"+ and it's like a hot knife through butter.

 

[J_J]

So... does anyone actually have any experience with these? I am intrigued.

You would see more of these units except for the price. About $1300 for the portable unit. I have read quite a bit about and watched the videos, and I am very impressed with the cutting capacity. The concept is simple, and gas has the energy. A lot of the rescue people have these units. They even work underwater. The cost of consumables is much lower.

Just imagine one of these units on a computer cutting table.

Have you ever seen the jet rods cut up stuff? That is also impressive. You just strike the rod with oxygen flowing through, and cut anything, including cement. There is a chemical in the rod, that when combined with oxygen, it burns like a rocket. They use them to cut through safes.

They also call them exothermic or slice rods.

 

[jenkinsph]

The quality of the rectifier and filters is what eliminates the ripple voltage. With a real good rectifier filter set-up you would not be able to tell the difference between half wave and 3 phase full wave rectified DC. Quality manufacturers provide quality rectifiers in their equipment.

Quality manufacturers build 3 phase welders with quality rectifiers and filters.
It is much easier to filter 3 phase to a high degree because the ripples are smaller to start with.



Steve.

 

[SpringHollow]

He has mentioned to me that the air supply needs to be dry. He also said he has heard of people using bottled oxygen as supply air. He hasn't tried that himself but it would be about as good an air supply as you could get.

There is no way you want to be using bottled oxygen as your supply air. That is just asking for trouble. And i assume it is more expensive than straight bottled air.

Ken

 

[Scotty370]

".....Barn demolition is something I won't do everyday, but it's a justification to buy another tool." Ah... the real truth emerges......! I say O/A is the cheapest way to go aww , duh....... I mean buy the plasma cutter!

 

[J_J]

There is no way you want to be using bottled oxygen as your supply air. That is just asking for trouble. And i assume it is more expensive than straight bottled air.

Ken

They do use oxygen. Here is part of the article.

The HySpeed HT2000 200-amp oxygen plasma cutting system incorporates the company's patented coaxial-assist jet technology to boost cutting speeds on mild steel by as much as 50 percent over conventional designs. Designed to cut most metals from gauge to two inches thick, this system can benefit all mechanized cutting operations. Both the HySpeed HT2000 and HySpeed

http://www.used-robots.com/articles.php?tag=1658

http://www.thefabricator.com/PlasmaCutting/PlasmaCutting_Article.cfm?ID=2135