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plasma cutter
desyboy - 3/10/07 at 07:05 PM

Can anybody recomend a decent plasma cutter for home use?


blakep82 - 3/10/07 at 09:48 PM

i've been thinking about this lately too... don't know if its worth while at my stage of, and new approach the build of my car. but i will be watching this topic!


mark chandler - 3/10/07 at 10:01 PM

I got one a few years ago, bit disappointing to be honest.

The consumables do not last long (tungstun tips) and the cut is not that neat.

In hindsight I should have saved my money.

Mines a CEBORA CAR 30M , in theory quite a powerful machine, the specs do not live up to the cut depth unless you go really slowly.


Gav - 4/10/07 at 06:55 AM

Ive got a Clarke on a VAT free day and it has been invaluble!

You "can" make a right hash of the edges but with a bit of care with a template or straight edge you can make them quite neat with just a little bit of kurf left on the bottom edge to chip/file off, a damn sight easier than using a hack saw!


PeterW - 4/10/07 at 07:08 AM

I've got one of the combined plasma tig and arc units from China. Got so say... as a plasma its great, I cut 6mm ally plate with no real issues. Not tried the tig yet as I've got to get a new argon bottle, but as an arc welder its good too...

Was well worth the £350 IIRC that I paid

Cheers

Pete


Alex B - 4/10/07 at 09:02 AM

Would agree with the above. Mitec or Greenbird seem to be the best. The Inverter arc with these is superb ..........especially with stainless rods.

Alex


NS Dev - 6/10/07 at 09:06 AM

I have been pretty disappointed with the chinese import jobbies by and large, hence have not bought one myself yet!

I will however say that we have an inverter plasma at work, that gets daily abuse and never misses a beat, made by "invertec"

would certainly recommend them, but without looking I will bet they aint cheap!


Angel Acevedo - 6/10/07 at 03:30 PM

Plasma cutter is the way to go, I have a Oxyacetylene set that I just bought oxygen and acetylene for, it was 900 pesos (about 60 pounds) that was one load.
And this is for steel only, with Plasma you can cut any material as stainless, ally, copper, or any other conductive material.
I think I read somewhere else that yu can cut even non conductive material if you put a conductive backing.


JoelP - 6/10/07 at 06:36 PM

i bought a clark machine some time ago, and used it quite a lot. It eventually stopped working so i stuck it in the dusty cupboard - looking back with 3 year wiser eyes, it probably just needs a new tip!