Plasma Cutters

[Ruffdaddy]

I'm looking for a plasma cutter for a small CNC plasma table...and I keep bouncing between a hypertherm or Hobart. The Hobart will save me enough to pick up a new Mig, but I'm not sure if there is enough of a difference to warrant the price of the hypertherm.

Does anyone have experience with 30-45 amp plasma cutter?

I will likely never exceed 1/4th of an inch material thickness.

[dcs13]

Cant speak for the Hobart. We have a LoneStar cutting solutions table at work. It has the Hypertherm unit. It never misses. Ive cut some stuff 3/8" with no issues. We run it a lot.

[Chopped54]

I run a Hobart unit, never missed a beat. I did all my subframe and crossmembers out of 1/4" and it cut like butter. I have cut 1/2" although it had a few restarts.

[Craizie]

Unless you plan on using it for extended periods of time, i'd save money and get the Hobart.

[Ruffdaddy]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Looks like both options will work so I'll go the cheaper route. Gotta upgrade my compressor as well.

If I use this thing enough I'm sure ill upgrade at some point anyways.

[Chopped54]

When I set mine up everyone said over and over again to make sure the air was dry coming into the plasma. I ran the typical two stage filter/dryer at directly at the compressor and then one of these down the line https://www.summitracing.com/parts/m...SABEgKXOfD_BwE

[Rick Modena]

Robert is correct, I was about to say the same thing and be sure to have a nice sized compressor too, and nice dryer set up. Hobart makes a nice product, I had a Hobart and it worked flawless for the entire time I had it, I only sold cause I upgraded to a Snap-On.

BTW, my buddy was telling me he bought a Hobart PC from Northern I believe and said it was under $1k and had a built in compressor and was enough to do most everything he needed it to do. He works at a body shop but does side work at home and needed a small PC for his shop at home..

[Ruffdaddy]

When I set mine up everyone said over and over again to make sure the air was dry coming into the plasma. I ran the typical two stage filter/dryer at directly at the compressor and then one of these down the line https://www.summitracing.com/parts/m...SABEgKXOfD_BwE

Thanks for the tip...I'll definitely make sure to include this in the mix.

I only sold cause I upgraded to a Snap-On.

Damn...Im not choo choo rich yet. Who makes the Snap On units?

[Ruffdaddy]

Regarding the plasma cutters with the onboard compressor, they're just too limited for material thickness and feed rate. Since I'll be using this on a small CNC, I'm wanting faster cut speeds and longer duty cycles.

It would be kick ass to not have to put together a big compressor/dryer/filter setup though. Im sure by the time I get all this hardware in...itll be on the market and my shit will be obsolete...lol

[Ruffdaddy]

After buying the pneumatic setup for this fucker...I sure as shit wish I had the option to go with an internal compressor now.

Gonna need to make a lot of rusted Steel planters, smokers and fire pits to convince myself this thing was worth it...lol