I am ready to spring for a plasma cutter. I have narrowed it down to this model. Is there any other model you would prefer if you were buying one now? Do you think this is a good machine? Is there a better machine?
I will be doing mostly light stuff, and occasionally 3/8". Are consumables readily available? How much of an air supply is needed?
Mfr. suggests 4.7 cfm @ 60 psi for air supply. Should I overshoot this a bit to be sure? Say a 5.5 cfm or so? Ingersoll Rand has a 2hp garage model upright for $499. It is 5.7cfm @ 90 psi.
I have a Hypertherm 350, the older version of the 380. It works very well, I use it hand held and in my plasmacam table.The only reason I would replace it is for more capicity (the Hypertherm 1000 looks pretty nice).
I've been using a friend's 350 for a few years. Damn good machine. Hasn't given a moment's trouble, but it does get through consumables at noticeable rate (they all do).
Keep the air dry. Makes the tips last longer.
What do people wear for eye protection when plasmaing ? This machine was supplied with some very light impact-resistant rigid glasses. They're good for line following, but I couldn't use them all day. For less-critical work, I wear slightly darker gas-welding goggles.
#5 or #6 goggles if using guides and templates. If you are freehand cutting, where you are staring at the exposed plasma stream a lot, then use a welding hood with a #8 lens.
When I was looking nobody mentioned to me that the newer Hypertherms have an afterflow timer. When you finish cutting, or when the sensing circuitry stops the cut for you, you're locked out of restarting until the timer finishes, about 7 seconds or so. You can trick the circuitry into overriding the timer by hitting the trigger a second time, but consumable life may be shortened (or so I'm told). The feature is likely to be irritating if you've tried a machine that doesn't have the timer. That said, I'm happy with my 600.
(sorry if this is repost - have been having prob. Newsgroup application)
Hi all
Thanks for responses from me as well, as I also homed-in on this machine and intended to go see one tomorrow.
Compressor: have little space at moment - was thinking of getting cheapest cheapo small light compressor just to run plasma cutter and nothing else. Would then have portable cutting set-up - plus some of these ones are "oil-free" - so less demand on filtration before the plasma cutter? Would 6.5-7cfm, 8bar (120psi?) machine do for Hypertherm Powermax 380?
Have been drooling over pix of 3~1/2HP two-stage air compressors which would run die-grinders, grit-blasters, etc, etc, but can't have a huge machine thundering away under the stairs in a shared house, if you see the problem I mean.
The quietest compressor I own is my 2 stage 5 hp Ingersoll-Rand. You can carry on a conversation in normal tones in the same room with it. I've got an old Sears 2 hp (back when Sears actually meant
2 hp) 2 cylinder single stage that's at least twice as loud as the IR, and I have a little HF "2 hp" (no way really) 1 cylinder compressor that's louder still. These are all oil-type compressors. I gave away the small oil-less compressor I had because it was *unbearably* loud.
So don't just assume that a bigger compressor will be louder than a small one, and for sure you can bet that the oil-less direct drive types will be *much* louder than the oil-type belt driven models. In general, the more cylinders it has, and the slower it turns, the quieter it will be. So look for a compressor with the biggest pump pulley you can find.
BTW, the plasma you're considering needs about 5 CFM at 60 PSI. A small compressor with a small tank will be hammering all the time to feed it. You should look for a compressor which is at least 2 honest horsepower, at least 2 cylinders, and with at least a 20 gallon tank to keep the duty cycle down below 50%. Bigger would be better.
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