Plasma cutter recommendations

   / Plasma cutter recommendations #11  
hypertherm or disappointment.

i'm all about saving a buck, and have a number of welding bargain brands used daily in my shop. but when it comes to plasma cutting its hypertherm. if looking at it by price as we all do it is flat out the best value, best consumables, best user satisfaction.

dont know how to be more blatant about it, dollar for dollar they beat every option. ****, even the big guys sub-contract them for torch design etc.... even more telling is resale value. they are they only true abosulute value in weld and fab i know of. my shop has yellow, green, blue and red machines, grey is the only plasma... the only one now, the rest have been scrapped.

i felt horrible buying the expensive machine 4yrs ago for the CNC plasma, my family needed the money. i had several cheap amazon models, and a harbor freight before that. i built my CNC table and went for it, the support (Mr. Jim Colt) and base line settings made me, my family, money. that same machine is used and abused every day now as i'd be happy to buy a new one, the machine has repaided its self many times now.



there are lots of bad choices out there, i have yet to hear a a single person regret hypertherm.
 
   / Plasma cutter recommendations #12  
When I worked in an agriculture machinery factory years ago, all we had was oxygen/propane cutters. They were cutting up to and around one inch. We had profile cutters where a steel template was made, and a magnetic pick up on an electric motor would follow the template and the nozzles of the cutters used to follow.
 
   / Plasma cutter recommendations #13  
kathy50 said:
I'm learning to weld and I'm doing better than I expected. I have a Lincoln 140C mig and I stick to small/fun projects. I think that makes this a hobby.......I'm about to take on building a smaller (6'x10') dump trailer so I can take care of my honeydoos more efficently. I want to purchase a hobby sized plasma cutter. I like good equipment and I take care of it.....so I am sure I'm staying away from HF tools.......unless someone changes my mind with cost vs performance discussions. I currently do not have 220 power. So that may limit my options but I can get 220 if its really worth the expense.

I hope I can tell my wife I need this cutter to help with her work!......

It's here my interested: LOTOS LT5000D

If you're a Lotos owner, would like to hear your experience with the extendable Lotos durability and how they compare to other Plasma cutters you've tried.


Any suggestions and or comments are appreciated!
Click to expand...

That is the one I purchased and use. The Lotos one I have has the pilot arc which works great for getting started in painted and rusty material.
 
   / Plasma cutter recommendations #14  
I bought an eastwood plasma cutter. I have had it over 3 years now with no problems. I accidentally melted the handle and all of the insides with blow back and I contacted eastwood and was sent a new hose with handle free. Great company and the consumables are easily found. I haven't had any hiccups at all. It was so reliable I bought an eastwood 250 mig welder. I converted it to run 40lb spools through it. I am on my 6th spool with no problems whatsoever. I highly recommend eastwood!
 
   / Plasma cutter recommendations #15  
Plasma is one tool that, at least in my experience, you want to buy up AT LEAST one size over what you think you will need. I have a Hypertherm 380 and love the damned thing, but it is not the best on 1/4". Also, for tubing, sq or round, you might be better off with a horizontal band saw or a Dry cut saw. I have the Evolution 380 (?) 14" and I picked up a used old Delta Horizontal BS. Both are superior for the tube over the plasma. The plasma gets the sheet work and I do less of that than tubing.
 
   / Plasma cutter recommendations #16  
I bought a hypertherm 30xp 4 years ago and have no regrets.
 
   / Plasma cutter recommendations #17  
I have a hypertherm 85 hook to a 5'x10' cnc table cutting 1m"+ per year.
Even for what it cost, it pays for itself ever 5-6 months.
For me, consumables last 10k"+. Their cost is so low, that I do not factor them in to my work.
And I keep $300 to $500 of them in stock at all times.
 
   / Plasma cutter recommendations #18  
cabinhollow said:
I have a hypertherm 85 hook to a 5'x10' cnc table cutting 1m"+ per year.
Even for what it cost, it pays for itself ever 5-6 months.
For me, consumables last 10k"+. Their cost is so low, that I do not factor them in to my work.
And I keep $300 to $500 of them in stock at all times.
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cabin, I think you are in another league vs. what the OP is looking for... not sure how your advice helps here.
 
   / Plasma cutter recommendations #19  
Two choices really - 1) Buy a Hypertherm 30 or 45 2)Buy something cheap and if you wear it out, you know its a tool you use often and buy the Hypertherm then
 
   / Plasma cutter recommendations #20  
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