How versatile are plasma cutters? I have heard of people notching pipes and making flanges, etc. I was wondering what some of the other uses that people have come up with.

 

It'll speed up cutting through most things, and hell if you've already got the plasma cutter you might as well use it.

 

Dont have one yet, will be my Christmas gift to my shop. I figured that it would save me the cost of some sawzall blades, cutting wheels and a whole lot of labor time, plus they are so clean when cutting through the thinner stuff.

 

we have three thermal arcs, wouldnt recommend anything else. ive used the harbor freight, miller, and lincoln.

 

I agree the thermals are the best The new ones will cut what they are rated to unlike the rating on many other units.

look at IOC on ebay for the best deal and shipping also

I have had a plasma for about 15 years and pretty much never used it for cutting a car apart. I use it to stretch quarters and misc tin work but not for cutting a car apart. The good ol cutting torch works the best by far. If you can really use one that is. Us a double or triple 0 size tip. The plasma torch has to many short comings with its size and close proximity that you need to keep your hands when you hit a pocket of sealant and stuff. You also need to be very careful not to have the unit shoot and arc out the side of the torch because you have it laying up against a piece of metal . This is especially true when the cap gets kinda ragady.

The thermal has a good torch for following templates that you can even make from 3/16 masonite hell I have used old paneling and it even works in a pinch.

You can lay a cutting torch on its side and cut thru sheet metal about 3"s long without moving the torch and that you can't do with a plasma. If done right it will have a nice edge on it also. Get a little pump up spray bottle for pesticides and fill it with some water and that is the perfect extingusher if things get a little carried away. You'll need that even with the plasma if your disecting a car.

 

also something that we have ran into on plasma cutters...some you can drag the tip along the surface your cutting, some you cannot or you can but the tip go out fast. i think it was the miller if i remember correctly that when we would drag the tip, it needed to be replaced very often. all three thermal arcs have the same tip that we bought them with, they dont seem to be bothered when dragging along the cutting surface.

 

I have a Hypertherm i have there smallest model for home use and it cuts through 1/2 steel pretty easy i love this thing and it also comes with a no questions asked 3 year warranty.

 

Hypertherm is the way to go in my opinion. We have had just about every make and model you can name over the last 15 years. We current have a 5' X 10' CNC plasma table with a Hypertherm that can cut up to 1" plate. We cut 3/4" plate for a local customer all the time. The CNC table is great, we can create a 3D model in solodworks of say a headers flange and in about 5 mins you got a 1/2" plate cut to order. Works awesome for prototypes. Once we have the prototype proven we can use the same 3D model for the CNC machining centers for production parts.

 

I have used the thermal arc Tig unit and it worked well. Is the Miller unit good? We borrowed one and it worked nicely, we even dragged it along a straight edge and get some nice cuts. My welding supply company is going to give me a good deal on the Miller if I decide to get it.

 

miller unit was the worst we have had.

 

What kind of issues did you have? I love my Miller Tig unit.

 

Miller is known for their superior welders and Thermal Arc is known for their superior plasma cutters.

 

Thanks for the input.

 

i have a hypertherm as well. drag style nozzles ftw.

 

^ agree i can drag my nozzle too and this machine is awesome Hypertherm FTW

 

So the original question was what is some of the more interesting things to use the plasma for? Thanks or the awesome input so far.

 

There really is no limit to what you can do with a plasma. Go nuts. Drag tips, cutting guides and circle cutters allow you to do almost anything you could ever need.

 

im not talking about tig units, we have a miller tig and love that thing. but their plasma cutters absolutely suck. drag or not drag the tip, the miller kept going through tips, and that was just with 1/8" stuff which we usually just cut with a bandsaw. the drag tips are expensive as well and it sucks going through them quickly.

the three thermal arcs we have, you can have those things fired up and drag the tip all day long, no problems at all.

 

I haven't bothered to analyze it and I probably never will, but they don't exactly pay for themselves as far as saving money on other cutting supplies like sawzall blades and cutoff wheels. The contact tip pieces are expensive (mine cost about $10 per set for the pieces that actually wear out) and need to be replaced more often than you might think.

That said, plasma torches are wonderful for making fast cuts through sheet metal and light plate. Mine is a bit slow through 1/2" steel, but it is pretty good with 1/4" steel. It would do much better on 1/2" steel, but I still use it at 110V instead of 220V. For me, the plasma torch is most useful for free-hand cutting, but it'll cut a nice straight line if you set up a straight edge.

I have used mine to cut copper sheet and to remove extra material from intake manifolds, but it spends most of its time cutting sheet metal up to 1/4" plate.

 

I am looking at it as being able to cut different things more precisely. Such as circles and other shapes in confined areas that would be hard to do with a sawzall or other methods. Plus the time saving aspect is a big plus. I saw a local muffler shop using one the other day, they said it was cleaner than the standard torch.

 

it's way cleaner than an oxyceltylene setup for sure. I can attest to taht.

 

Yes it is. And it's cleaner the faster you cut. Don't tarry when cutting. Move as fast as you can and still penetrate 100%. Set up guides and straight edges whenever possible to allow you to scoot along as fast as possible. This will minimize slag and post-cut clean-up.