Welding Tips and Tricks

do any of you guys use a plasma cutter much ? I have a Simarc 520dp I CAN GET TIPS , 50 PACK FOR $30 and cuts 1/2 easily and I use it way more than cutting torch . I find a plasma cutter is a very handy tool to have a round for cutting all kinds of stuff , I don't here much about plasma cutters around here , and wonder if you guy think there much good for your kind of work, thanks John

I used to use one all the the time when we were doing retrofit mods at my last job. I preferred it to our cutting torch to

I recently got one for the shop a Hypertherm powermax30. their smallest. and it is invaluable as i work a lot with SS and Aluminum. Straight edge is a must for Aluminum, but i find it gets a lot of blowback regardless of pierce method. I recently got their Deluxe Circle guide kit. but as we are changing the power to my shop to 3-phase atm I have yet to use it. I have been trying to get a Plasma for years, but now that we do I can't see how we have gone without one for this long. In the future we are looking at getting a Plasma table for short run production jobs.

i had a small miller 110v plasma cutter. i believe it was the spectrum model. it was very handy for light material up to almost 1/8" then became obsolete when the consumable tips got too expensive if i could find them so now it's collecting dust on a shelf.

jwmacawful wrote:i had a small miller 110v plasma cutter. i believe it was the spectrum model. it was very handy for light material up to almost 1/8" then became obsolete when the consumable tips got too expensive if i could find them so now it's collecting dust on a shelf.

Cant you buy the Chinese ones off Ebay for it? I bought hundreds of electrodes and ceramic insulators for just $20-30 for my plasma cutter (not Miller)

Follow da blue light wrote:

jwmacawful wrote:i had a small miller 110v plasma cutter. i believe it was the spectrum model. it was very handy for light material up to almost 1/8" then became obsolete when the consumable tips got too expensive if i could find them so now it's collecting dust on a shelf.

Cant you buy the Chinese ones off Ebay for it? I bought hundreds of electrodes and ceramic insulators for just $20-30 for my plasma cutter (not Miller)

that normally would be a good idea but working for a para-military organization with thousands of employees and a multi million dollar budget discourages me from reaching into my pocket for consumables.

I do a lot of plasma cutting, and even use it to wash stainless and aluminum welds. We have two Thermal Dynamic units at work. I don't recall the model, but they'll cut 1/2".

To make your consumables last as long as possible, put an oil seperater and dryer ahead of the plasma cutter. Dry, oil-free air is essential to making the tips and electrodes last.

I also have access to dry nitrogen at work, and this is a help on stainless and aluminum. It's bone-dry, oil free, and does not make excess oxides in the cut. Carbon steel cuts better with air, however, probably because of the presence of oxygen.

Two cents....

Steve S

Thats good to know Otto, as we will be getting nitrogen for using our cutter for out of shop operations.

I have been running a smith torch for years and over the years I have learned to like both... I love plasma but have no money for one and only 120 v outlet and I work with 3/16" and 1/4" plate...I was working on a plan to build one but felt it was to much of a saftey risk and realize either i buy cheap model or save up for better one..

I have a cheap Chinese dual voltage plasma cutter. I use it a lot on plate/sheet, and when I just want to make quick rough cuts. I wish I was better with it, and could get more accurate/clean cuts, but for me it's more of a time saver to hack metal down to rough sizes.

I use a Miller 625 Spectrum X-treme all the time. I cut a lot of steel and aluminum with it since we don't have a shear in the shop. They say it will do 5/8" plate although I haven't tried yet.