$500 or under plasma cutter?

[G-ManBart]

I'm not a professional welder, but I'm pretty good and keep my eye on the market closely. I've been considering adding a plasma cutter to the shop for quite some time (I have a Hypertherm at work I can borrow as much as I want). I'm going to buy a Primeweld CUT60, which is a touch more than your budget, but they also make a CUT50 which is $400, 50A, dual-voltage unit that has an AG60 torch (pretty common).

Primeweld was started by a couple of guys from the big name welding companies and they are located here in the U.S. They have the machines made to their specs overseas and their customer service is pretty legendary. You can get someone on the phone in a couple of minutes and I've seen folks claim they got a reply to an e-mail over a weekend. They have really taken the affordable TIG welder market by storm the last few years. I have three coworker/friends who have bought welders from them, and the guy who sits across from me just added the CUT60 to the TIG225X he already had....loves it more than his old Thermal Dynamics unit.

I would definitely recommend looking at Primweld over the YesWelder stuff...in the unlikely event you have a problem, it'll be a lot easier to deal with. The most recent customer service issue I saw with a Primeweld that got damaged in shipping and they shipped a replacement without even waiting for the damaged unit to be shipped back. It's that kind of company.

CUT50DP 50-Amp 110v/220v Plasma Cutter

The PrimeWeld CUT50DP 50-Amp Plasma Cutter is portable and uses compressed air and does not require a shielding gas. Order online to get free shipping.

primeweld.com

 

[G-ManBart]

4.7 out of 5 stars on Amazon with 643 ratings...that's pretty impressive.

Amazon.com: Customer reviews: PrimeWeld 50A Air Inverter Plasma Cutter, Portable Plasma Cutting Machine, Premium and Rugged Plasma Cutter Kit, Automatic Dual Voltage 110V/220V AC with Plasma Torch, 1/2" Clean Cut, CUT50D

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for PrimeWeld 50A Air Inverter Plasma Cutter, Portable Plasma Cutting Machine, Premium and Rugged Plasma Cutter Kit, Automatic Dual Voltage 110V/220V AC with Plasma Torch, 1/2" Clean Cut, CUT50D at Amazon.com. Read honest and unbiased product...

www.amazon.com

 

[DavidR8]

+1 on Primeweld. I don't own their plasma but if I were in the market they would be the first place I go.
When my Primeweld TIG machine was delayed in shipping they sent another and paid for return shippiing of the first when it finally arrived.
Top notch company.

 

[pontiac428]

Normally, I would try to make @Batmanacw "feel like an idiot" for not considering a blue machine, but for a home shop with a limited scope, I've known a number of guys who have been very happy with their Primeweld cutters. I think you've homed in on your optimal machine and met your price point. That's hard to do, but I think you'll be happy with them, since you're not planning to push the performance envelope too hard with your intended use (no weekend warrior work cutting 1" plate or attempts at CNC). Plasma is one of those tools you'll never know how you lived without.

 

[Charles scozzari]

You do understand that a 60% duty cycle is far more than I need as a hobbiest. I'm not a production machine shop so you need to temper duty cycle vs cost. I simply do not need a professional machine at 5 times the cost.

Don't overlook the duty cycle. At this time you may feel you don't need it but down the road you may very well regret it.

 

[Shotgun]

You can buy what you want, but here is my take away from these reviews:

Bitter disappointment. Unlike the highly rated previous model, this has changed the primary plug from 220 to 110, and made the conversion pigtail send 220 from the wall to a standard 110 female outlet capable of destroying any appliance plugged into it. This is unsafe,

The thing worked just fine, but I had to find something to complain about. So I whined about a trivial non-compliance with a standard that won't make a difference. If you're plugging random equipment into an adapter that's going into a 220V outlet, you're doing it wrong.

After this I called Amazon because it wouldn't give me the option to simply exchange it because there was not another available, so they had me contact the seller and it went downhill from there. The seller responded telling me to disassemble the unit and try to figure it out myself and then they would send me parts!!!! I told them I did not buy a brand new plasma cutter to repair it myself right out of the box and who was paying me to do (THEIR) warranty work? If I am working on the plasma cutter, I am not working on customer work which pays my bills and requested them to please just send me out a new unit and I could return that unit which would require them supplying me a return shipping label.

When buying Chinesium, expect to take it apart at least once to do finishing work. Not having to that is a bonus. This is one of those social contracts, like tipping. It isn't written down anywhere, but we all know to do it. The guy buying the bottom dollar unit to do professional work is at fault, IMO.

 

[Aaron_W]

The import inverter welding equipment has really changed things. I bought my welder in 2019, and at that time I really only looked at Miller, Hobart, Lincoln and Esab. I only looked at these because at that time all the "no name" imports were still kind of unknowns, some supporters but also a lot of what if about them.

I ended up spending way more than I planned ($500 or so) on a MIG, instead dropping about $3000 on a Miller 220 MIG / TIG / Stick machine. It is a great welder, and I'm very happy with it. It should be the first and last welder I ever buy unless I buy a WW2 tank to restore and need something bigger than 200 amps.

Hypertherm is on my wish list, but the little Hobart is fine for my current needs.

Anyway, the days of the crappy $99 Harbor Freight welders is past. A lot of the imports are proving to be rather nice, and affordable hobby machines. At the same time the name brands are pricing themselves out of the hobby market. The Miller 220 I bought in 2019, I got for $2900, it is now selling for $4200 and the DC Tig only 215 which was about $2100 is going for $3000.

There are now several multi-process machines with similar specs to my Miller, that get very positive reviews for 1/3 to 1/4 the price of Miller or Lincoln. It was easy to go with Miller when it was 50% more, but honestly I couldn't justify the current price for the welding I do. $2900 was hard enough.

I never thought I'd say this, but if I were buying a welder today, there is a good chance it would be one of the green or orange ones from Harbor Freight.

 

[Headhunter Pipe Co]

Here you go.

PrimeWeld 50A Air Inverter Plasma Cutter with Non-Touch Pilot Arc, Automatic Dual-Voltage (110V/220V) and Dual-Frequency (50Hz/60Hz) Portable Plasma Cutter, 1/2" Clean Cut, CUT50DP https://a.co/d/epJBJvN

https://a.co/d/epJBJvN

93% 4 and 5 star

Mine says 80%I read the review's

Amazon.com: Customer reviews: PrimeWeld 50A Air Inverter Plasma Cutter with Non-Touch Pilot Arc, Automatic Dual-Voltage (110V/220V) and Dual-Frequency (50Hz/60Hz) Portable Plasma Cutter, 1/2" Clean Cut, CUT50DP

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for PrimeWeld 50A Air Inverter Plasma Cutter with Non-Touch Pilot Arc, Automatic Dual-Voltage (110V/220V) and Dual-Frequency (50Hz/60Hz) Portable Plasma Cutter, 1/2" Clean Cut, CUT50DP at Amazon.com. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from...

www.amazon.com

5 star	https://www.amazon.com/product-revi...e=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar	80%
4 star	https://www.amazon.com/product-revi...e=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar	13%
3 star	https://www.amazon.com/product-revi...e=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar	3%
2 star	https://www.amazon.com/product-revi...e=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar	2%
1 star	https://www.amazon.com/product-revi...e=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar	2%

PrimeWeld 50A Air Inverter Plasma Cutter with Non-Touch Pilot Arc, Automatic Dual-Voltage (110V/220V) and Dual-Frequency (50Hz/60Hz) Portable Plasma Cutter, 1/2" Clean Cut, CUT50DP​

byPRIMEWELD


Everyone is saying bad customer service. even one person saying they wanted to order new replicable tips and left a message ON SATURDAY and no responce.
No matter how good the machine is you need good customer service to get the consumable tips
The machine is worthless without being able to buy new tips.
Its really nice go to your local welding supply store and pick new tips.
To bad we don't know anyone using that brand machine!
Allot of customers were not happy about the short and to small of ga wire for ground.
I don't want to see you get burned on some worthless plasma cutter.
Maybe the local welding supply shop has a used plasma cutter for sale.


This what I did.
My local welding supply shop Norco makes payment plans 10% down, 12 month contract last payment is the interests;

I hope you find a plasma cutter that work's
Because the price of copper is way up allot companies use aluminum instead copper and the machines are like bic lighter.
Average cost for a good used plasma cutter is 1000$ and up . machines that are way cheaper normally never make it to the secondary market

Any way Best of luck,

 

[Shotgun]

I clicked on the link you provided. Supplies for it were one of the recommended purchases, with a link provided right on the same pages. Why would anyone call customer service for supplies, when the fastest way to them in through the same means you bought the welder/cutter.

This machine is $400. For the $600 to get the used machine you refer to, I can buy a whole lot of triple naught guage copper wire.

The reviews don't make any sense, when everyone knows that this is a disposable, some-assembly-required chinesium kit, whose customer service is whatever you find on YouTube. Shouldn't buy these things if your not comfortable with that.

 

[Batmanacw]

Mine says 80%I read the review's

Amazon.com: Customer reviews: PrimeWeld 50A Air Inverter Plasma Cutter with Non-Touch Pilot Arc, Automatic Dual-Voltage (110V/220V) and Dual-Frequency (50Hz/60Hz) Portable Plasma Cutter, 1/2" Clean Cut, CUT50DP

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for PrimeWeld 50A Air Inverter Plasma Cutter with Non-Touch Pilot Arc, Automatic Dual-Voltage (110V/220V) and Dual-Frequency (50Hz/60Hz) Portable Plasma Cutter, 1/2" Clean Cut, CUT50DP at Amazon.com. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from...

www.amazon.com

5 star	https://www.amazon.com/product-revi...e=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar	80%
4 star	https://www.amazon.com/product-revi...e=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar	13%
3 star	https://www.amazon.com/product-revi...e=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar	3%
2 star	https://www.amazon.com/product-revi...e=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar	2%
1 star	https://www.amazon.com/product-revi...e=all_reviews&pageNumber=1#reviews-filter-bar	2%

PrimeWeld 50A Air Inverter Plasma Cutter with Non-Touch Pilot Arc, Automatic Dual-Voltage (110V/220V) and Dual-Frequency (50Hz/60Hz) Portable Plasma Cutter, 1/2" Clean Cut, CUT50DP​

byPRIMEWELD


Everyone is saying bad customer service. even one person saying they wanted to order new replicable tips and left a message ON SATURDAY and no responce.
No matter how good the machine is you need good customer service to get the consumable tips
The machine is worthless without being able to buy new tips.
Its really nice go to your local welding supply store and pick new tips.
To bad we don't know anyone using that brand machine!
Allot of customers were not happy about the short and to small of ga wire for ground.
I don't want to see you get burned on some worthless plasma cutter.
Maybe the local welding supply shop has a used plasma cutter for sale.


This what I did.
My local welding supply shop Norco makes payment plans 10% down, 12 month contract last payment is the interests;

I hope you find a plasma cutter that work's
Because the price of copper is way up allot companies use aluminum instead copper and the machines are like bic lighter.
Average cost for a good used plasma cutter is 1000$ and up . machines that are way cheaper normally never make it to the secondary market

Any way Best of luck,

Actually there are dozens of people on that review thread bragging about the customer service. You better read further. Lol. The Primeweld has the best ratings and the most people satisfied with customer service. I read a lot of reviews.

You can buy all the $1000 dollar used machines you want. I don't have the money and I simply won't have one if it cost so much.