Plasma Cutter

[72mach1]

I have been looking at some plasma cutters, but I have never used one before. Anyone who has used one care to give me the benefits over using a cutting wheel? Looks like it would be better for non-straight line cuts and keeping down burrs.

[brink_79camaro]

I have used a plasma cutter quite a bit. It is ALOT faster than using a cut off wheel. If you want a straight cut, you can just clamp a piece of metal to the piece your cutting to use as a straight edge and zip it off. Cutting irregular arcs can be kind of tricky, but if you are cutting perfect circles you can swing an arc. The plasma cutter I use is a Thermal Dynamics. They are a pretty good company. I have been looking at buying my own and I have been looking at some Miller's and Hobart's. At the body shop I worked at, we had a Mac Tools plasma cutter. The Mac Tools cutter we had was for light metal. We mainly used it to cut quarter panels and box sides off. Depending on what size metal you will be cutting, you can get a good plasma cutter for around $600.

[Bigblue73]

Here's my 2 cents on Plasma Cutting vs. a cut-off wheel. The plasma cutter is a great tool, makes quick work of almost anything for cutting. The only problem is the clean-up that is required. I'm coming from a sheet metal fabrication stand-point here, the cut-off wheel can do the same, with the proper disc and requires less clean-up. The plasma cutter can make an absolute mess on thicker material and create more work to make it look like something. The company that I work for does primarily food production facilities and everything needs to be "finished". It about time and money. My advise, buy a 6" Metabo and have at it.

Tony

[Goatman]

Everything has its place......


PC's can make a mess and can also warp some thin metals with their heat. But, they are a nice tool to have when the situation arises....like making brackets or patches.

[72mach1]

Thanks everyone for the input.