Looking at Plasma Cutter, need advice

Anonymous Poster · Jun 18, 2003

There is a Plasma welder from a company in Minnesota that I am trying to find some information on. Here are two links for it, one the international one: http://www.multiplaz.com and their US company: http://www.enviplaz.com/ .
Obviously it has some wow style marketing fluff. I am interested in finding out if there is anyone here that has ever seen one of these work.

Thanks

Shari
JD4310 MFWD eHydro, 430 FEL, 47 Backhoe, LX5 Rotary Cutter, 550 Tiller

uhmgawa · Jun 18, 2003

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I had also recently been looking at plasma cutters. Beyond
finding a reliable machine I'd strongly suggest to look at
the running cost of the torch consumables. It varies by
vendor however the most frequently replaced components have
a running life of 3 to 8 hours. Factor into this the cost
and availability of such.

jimgerken · Jun 19, 2003

The page says it will cut 10mm material. Is that what you need? My Thermal dynamics cutmaster 38 (the smallest one they sell) claims 5/8 severance, rated 3/8 good quality cutoff. It will not start out in the middle of a 1/4" sheet, only will start at the edge. I would call it a 3/16" machine. So you may wish to compare advertised capacity to advertised capacity of other brands. Also, ask what the cut kerf width is. On mine it is about 0.038". Consider if you are cutting, any features smaller than about twice the kerf width will be cut off effectively. Judging by the specs, I would say it is overpriced for a cutting machine. I cannot judge how to add value for its supposed welding capacity. And if you contact them, ask about bevel, which is sometimes annoying on a plasma machine (one side of the cutline gets beveled more than the other, about 10 degrees of bevel).
I wonder if it welds more like a TIG torch??? I dunno, good luck, compare the capacity to the Millers and Thermal dynamics.

Tractors4u · Jun 19, 2003

I bought a Hypertherm plasma cutter last year. From what I read on the internet they were supposed to be pretty good. Mine is about the smallest they make. I didn't need to cut anything real thick so it works for me. I may get a larger rig one day, but for now mine works just fine. One thing I liked about mine was that it has a built in air compressor. If it doesn't have it's own air source you will have to hook it to an air compressor or bottled gas. Having a built in compressor make mine very portable.

5030 · Jul 4, 2003

We have a big Miller. It will cut 1/2" clean and sever 3/4". It's a220 3 phase machine and takes a lot of compressed air to run. However, on the plus side, you can dial it down to do thin work like aluminum sheet or stainless sheet. We hardly ever use our "gas axe" except for heating. I believe most Millers have a pilot arc, ours does. Makes it easy to start on rusty or painted surfaces.

Whatever machine you get, make sure the air supply is clean and dry. Condensation and air borne dirt will destroy a plasma cutter. We use a 5 micron particulate filter in front of a coalsecing filter. The 5 micron takes out about 75% of the air borne contaminants and the coasceling filter takes out the rest.

HTP America sells plasma cutters/welders and accessories. I've never used one of their machines but we use their filters.

We use Part Number: 25310-HTP Maxi Dry. It's not cheap, costs about $400.00, but our machine costs 8 times that.

Their web address is: www.usaweld.com

pajoube · Jul 4, 2003

I have been looking at the Cutmaster 38, how do you like yours? Any comments will help me in my decision.
PJ

Henro · Jul 4, 2003

Hi,

I suggest you stop by this site...

Hobart welding discussion board

People there are into welding and cutting like we are into tractors here. They are friendly and helpful too.

Ask a question there or do a search...lots of good info and help to be found.

Bill in Pgh, PA

jimgerken · Jul 30, 2003

Sorry for the delay, I'm back now. How do I like the Cutmaster 38? Well, it works just fine. Realistically the cutting capacity is about 1/4" steel. To cut 1/4" you must start OFF the edge of the material. If you don't start off the material it will not go through. Molten metal flys all over but it doesnt get thru. I am using mine to cut a lot of 14 gauge stainless, and it works great. If you need more capacity, buy a bigger machine. I have thought about trading up frankly.

Skeptic · Jul 30, 2003

I went to look at a guys setup last night that has a Torchmate II plasma table and he is using a HyperTherm 600 to cut a lot of 14 gauge steel.
It was a very impressive setup.
I thinking about doing something along those lines.
This guy does a lot of folk art style metal work, very cute and I guess sells pretty well.
I am looking at getting the HyperTherm 1000 and want to be able to cut some "tines" for a grapple that I want to build for my FEL bucket. So I know that I need to be able to cut 1/2" for some of the projects that I want to do.
The welding store that I buy things from has a HyperTherm trade in going on. Old Plasma cutters, working or not (apparently) will get you a few hundred dollars off a new one.
Now it is just a matter of figuring out how much money I want to spend to save some... actually it is more fun to build the stuff than buy it anyway /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif