# Looking to buy a "budget" plasma cutter--



## Bob V (Dec 15, 2017)

Hi,
I've gotten great advice on this forum regarding my Van Norman mill, -- so even though it's not a plasma cutter forum, I bet people on this forum have lots of good information on plasma cutters.
I'm looking for a cutter to use on an occasional basis on my farm.  I'm sure it will prove useful-- I cut quite a bit of metal with oxy-acetylene, band saw and abrasive cutters-- and I think the plasma will do most of this much faster.
I already have a good 5hp compressor-- so I just need the plasma cutter.

I won't be using the cutter for "production" so I don't care too much about duty cycle.  
I've heard that it's very hard to find consumables for the cheaper cutters--is this true for all of them?
Since I work on farm equipment, the steel is frequently thick-- so I might need some cutter horsepower--at least for severance cuts.

Anyways, any and all advice much appreciated.
Bob
PS My kids want to give me this for Christmas!  All good!


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## Ed ke6bnl (Dec 15, 2017)

I have a $200 plasma cutter works good and consumables are cheap and all over ebay


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## Hawkeye (Dec 15, 2017)

I have a CT-416 plasma cutter. Cost me $350 used. Not the highest quality, but seems to work when I need it to. Again, lots of consumables on eBay.


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## dennys502 (Dec 16, 2017)

I have a Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster52 that works great for me. It will cut 1/2" all day with no issues. It was twice the price I paid for my first one but I decided you get what you pay for. 
I started out with an Everlast Supercut 50p - I had to return the first one as it didn't work out of the box. 
The first one was blue and the one I received back was green which was weird.
It was only rated to 3/8" and it had problems with that.


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## AndrewH (Dec 16, 2017)

I was in your shoes a couple months ago.. ended up going with a Hypertherm 30 XP. I’ve cut up to 3/4” mild steel with it. 

Originally I had planned to go with a much cheaper model but in the end I decided you get what you pay for and in the process I was able to support fellow American workers. 

I’ve been very happy with it!


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## BGHansen (Dec 16, 2017)

I bought one of these from the same seller on eBay about a year ago.  No issues with it so far though I'm only cut about 10' total with it through 1/4" - 3/8" plate.  Here's the thread on my experience out of the box.  I paid about $160 for mine plus shipping.

Bruce

http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/atpc54-plasma-cutter.51741/#post-433675


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## Eddyde (Dec 16, 2017)

I am very happy with my Everlast Power Plasma 60s, was just under $1000 delivered. It cuts great, I have used it on up to ⅝" plate without issues (haven't tried anything thicker). One thing to consider, you need very dry compressed air for good results, from a refrigerated (best) or desiccant dryer, bowl style traps aren't sufficient.


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## Cooter Brown (Dec 16, 2017)

I recently bought a Hypertherm 30 Air for $1700 best tool I have bought in a long time, I highly recommend saving a little bit for a Hypertherm machine


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## coherent (Dec 16, 2017)

It looks like plenty of folks have already responded with some insight and advice but my 2 cents... I bought a Lotos LTP5000D a while back. I've owned a few Hypertherm plasma machine and think they are the best.  I use the hypertherm strickly with a machine torch on a CNC machine, but wanted another small machine for general stuff and cutting up  "skeletons" from the CNC machine leftovers. I must admit it was cheap, has low cost consumables and cuts  well. I wouldn't use one for CNC (it creates interference which kills the computer/usb connections) but for the price it cuts metal and it operates 120v or 240v and really tiny and easy to transport. 120v works fine for thinner steel. I've owned it about a year or so and so far it's not had any issues or problems.


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## FOMOGO (Dec 16, 2017)

I recently got a Hobart 40i, and am very happy with it. 240v only, clean cut 5/8 and sever 7/8", and is CNC compatible, Which is the main reason I went with it. It was reviewed as being third best behind Miller at #1, and Hypertherm being #2. Not cheap at $1400, but about half the cost of the other two. Mike


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## richl (Dec 16, 2017)

I was watching a video on utube a couple weeks back, the guy doing the video had Lincolns very affordable unit. Either that guy was clueless on how to use it, or Lincolns very affordable unit was not very good. 

Read the reviews on whatever you decide, red and blue are not always the best choice. +1 on hypertherm or hobart


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## xalky (Dec 16, 2017)

The chinese plasma cutters are fine if you just want to hack stuff up into smaller pieces like you would do with an oxy acetylene cutting rig. Don't even think about a cheap plasma cutter for cnc. If you're gonna do cnc plasma, Hypertherm is the only way to go in my opinion. They're designed with cnc in mind and even interface with the cnc controller.


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## oregondave (Dec 19, 2017)

I own a $230 Chinese CUT-50 

here is one like the one I bought
https://www.amazon.com/Super-Deal-C...&qid=1513722177&sr=1-5&keywords=Plasma+cutter

I got it because amazon sold me a warranty (sucks for them? I haven't had any problems yet)

I pickup steel on the side of the road all the time and cut it into what I need for things such as tractor 3 point stabilizer bars, etc. I cut 1" holes and build makeshift one off C and I Beams for things I need. I can cut, tack weld, then stick weld any part I need in half an hour. Before I was buying one off parts (like a draw bar, etc) that I can now make and modify in minutes.

  Its wonderful and it does cut deep.  I never use my angle grinder for large cuts and I don't own a torch for cutting yet. I would use this plasma cutter for everything first.  For example, I needed some sheet metal and so I picked up a washer on the side of the road. Cut it up in about 5 minutes and had plenty of stock sheet metal for a project.


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## Ray C (Dec 19, 2017)

Whatever plasma cutter you settle on, an air dryer is an absolute must.  It makes an absolute day/night difference in usability of the plasma cutter.  Here's a home-made one with construction costs of about $5 excluding the reusable silica desiccant.  The desiccant was purchased on Amazon at a cost of about $20 which is enough to make 4 of these things.

LOL:  Warning, don't try to board a plane with one of these in your luggage...

Construction details are well visible in the photos but feel free to ask specifics.  Yes, those are foam earplugs stuffed in the connectors to prevent room humidity from saturating the silica when it's not in use.

Regards

Ray C.


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## Bob V (Dec 22, 2017)

Thanks for all the help!
Much appreciated.
Merry Christmas,
Bob


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## CluelessNewB (Dec 22, 2017)

Ray, Is that just perforated metal as a filter in the homemade dryer? 

BTW I love the photo bomb!


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## Ray C (Dec 22, 2017)

CluelessNewB said:


> Ray, Is that just perforated metal as a filter in the homemade dryer?
> 
> BTW I love the photo bomb!
> 
> View attachment 250578



LOL:  I didn't notice little Leila in the picture until you pointed it out.

Yes, that's a perforated piece of stainless steel foil (used for heat treat wrapping) to keep any large pieces of silica out of the line.  There is also a downstream air filter built-into the regulator on the back of the plasma cutter.

Also note, I keep the direction of flow marked because the inlet end turns pink-colored as it gets damp.   The caps are removable and when the outlet end start turning pink, it's time to bake the silica and re-dry it.    It takes about 5-6 hours of actual trigger time to soak all the silica.


BTW:  Harbor Freight sells a little tiny unit that has about 2 teaspoons of silica.  Don't waste your money.  It cost 7 bucks and lasts for about 15 minutes of trigger time before the indicator gel turns pink.  Also, the HF unit does not really have enough volumetric capacity to handle 40psi and actually dry-out the air.   The unit shown is a 1.5" diameter pipe, with about 6-7 inches of actual silica.  The air comes out very dry. 

Regards

Ray C.


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