Plasma cutter; pros and cons please

You can't double-up two pieces of metal and cut through both of them like you can with oxyacetylene. And you have to have adequate airflow/ventilation to avoid breathing the metal vapor they produce (of course this is true of all welding/cutting). But, as you already suspect, these are minor compared to all the upsides. Wouldn't trade my Hypertherm 380 for any other cutting process. John

There really is no downside if you ask me. You might end up making more stuff, which, if space (or spouse) is an issue, could be viewed as a downside.

Well, if you plasma cut on concrete or other hard surface and it's uncovered (meaning it gets rained on) you will eventually get a rust spot wherever the plasma cutter sprays the metal it's cutting.

-T

I have a neighbor who got rid of his because of the haze it put on everything when it was used inside. It works by vaporizing the metal and that vapor then condenses everywhere. The haze was particularly noticeable on the fluorescent work lights, he says. Bob

It works best outside... It does indeed leave a mess after a while. A funky sort of dust that gets everywhere you don't want it. On cement, it leaves rust, in the grass it has shown no ill effect. I would imagine the oxides are actually good for the grass (Now It's not a front yard) I hang the torch out the window and slice away. Indoors is really a messy deal after a while and if you work on machinery or engines that's FOD waiting to happen. The plasma cutter is without question one of the best cutting tools ever invented. Buy one "a step bigger" than you think you want if you can budget it because it's easy to get addicted to using it and it's way cleaner than a torch. I keep finding "bigger" things I need to cut and plasma farts hitting your clothes is rather uncomfortable if you don't get cut-through or stress the unit's limits.

Rob

Thanks all for the comments!

How rough is the cut compared to a oxy-acetylene torch cut?

Eide

A whole lot cleaner- a rollock disc on thin stuff usually gets the ick off but a grinder gets what you and the pen miss with the torch. I think I really only used my oxy for real heavy stuff or to anneal and I have not had a tank refilled in over a year. Bear in mind I cut mostly 1/4"-3/8" most of the time for engine part fabrication and the fine control the torch affords really makes easy work. My suggestion is to check around a body shop or steel shop and ask,talk and bring a case of beer in for the foreman and I bet he lets you take a drag with one... It's really that big of an improvement over flame cutting.

Rob