How much use is a plasma cutter?
 

Ok I'm still selling bits of my donor and using the money to buy tooling etc, one of the things I was looking at was a plasma cutter, initially for cutting the donor up and then using for the build.

I'm just wondering though how much people have actually used a plasma cutter during the build and if its a worthwhile investment or if I'm better putting the money into other things.

I had a hand held plasma cutter for a while which i thought i would use for cutting CP plates, i thought it was a decent purchase at the time but i could never get away with it to get a nice clean cut - just couldn't do it. Might have been me but sure we'll see what other peoples experience with them is. Grinder with metal cutting discs and flap discs was easier.

Andy

Thanks Andy, that kinds of confirms my suspicions that actually it might not be worthwhile. I'l most likely use GRP bodywork and the only other things that came to mind to use it for was the CPs and floor pans etc. As you say floor pans can easily be cut with grinder/jigsaw, both of which I have and CP's (grinder as well), but if thats the only other use then its probably more cost effective to get them pre cut.

I've been looking around at plasma's, and you can pick cheapy imports up for £250 - £350, R-Tech seem to do a nice 40A and one of their shop soiled one's you can get for £500. Second hand they seem to sell for nearly new prices! There's lots of other bits I could buy with that money.

Anyone else had any experiences?

I have a cheap cut40 £150 that I use on 1-3mm sheet and it works well enough with a little practice,any thing over 4mm and it struggles to make a clean job of it. You have to use a straight edge or a curved guide fence and be very smooth with your movement, you have to drag the torch across the material not push. They are sensitive to the balance between air pressure and amps much like welding is. Great little tool if you use it say 2-3 times a week but you may better off with a 4" and 9" angle grinder if your only going to use it to build a Roadster.

Yep already got both 4" and 9" grinders, thinking I might get 2 more 4" ones so I can have them set up with cutting, grinding and flap wheels without having to keep switching discs. I've only been playing about a little bit and found that's a pain in the arse already:p

Its is a right pain I have been thinking along the same lines about having extra grinders but as someone said to me the other day I only got 25 more pieces to cut then I can get on with welding up and getting her rolling

Plasma cutters are good BUT the hand held type wont really be that good for cutting the cp plates with as it needs to move at a fair rate of knots on thin plate and would be better off being cnc controlled.So i would say save your money and use it for something else and either cut the plates with a grinder or buy them ready cut.:eek:

i used to sell and demo plasma cutters and my opinion is you really need a unit man enough for the job to get a nice clean cut and the price realy ramps up as you get bigger and your limited on a 240v domestic supply.
bit of an expensive toy for building a roadster but a very handy tool in a everyday workshop.

^^^^ as Baz said, you need to fork out a lot to make sure it can do a smooth cut.
I've got a 3phase Zeta 60 in my workshop and when cutting above 10mm it starts to need a bit of tidying up afterwards but 3 and 5mm plates cuts are sweet.

I have to admit i love my one. Used it to cut the steel 2mm floor sheets and took no time at all!

Well the general consensus seems to be its a 'nice to have' as opposed to a neccesity, so thank you all for the comments. Eternal, your one looks just like the one I was looking at:D

Anyway, I decided I was doing way to much thinking and not enough doing, so as it was a nice day I decided to get the engine out of the donor, tomorrow if the weather's still good I'l start relieving it of all the bits that don't need to be there:)

Bruce dont forget to raise the seat 6" so you see over the top of that thing:p Theres a challenge for the mule when you collect it.:)

Bob

yep i think its going to be a challenge for sure Bob lol, how you doing with the mule?

I think plasmas are great don't forget they cut all metallic materials so ally will cut like butter you do need big air pressure though so you will need a big compressor or run it off a bottle

I've a cut 40 and its brilliant saved me a fortune over the last 2 years

I had a small plasma cutter but fell out of love with it because it was rated a cutting about 6mm. If you were cutting 3mm or 4mm it was fine and the cut was equal in neatness to a laser cut, at 6mm the cut would walk at all sorts of angles and really struggled. I got rid of it and later bought the cebora prof 55 and chucked it under the bench, gas was what we had always used for cutting and the plasma was forgotten about. B.O.C had big problems supplying gas for about a year so I dragged out the plasma, what a machine, its rated at 20mm but is happy at 18mm max. After that it starts to struggle in the same way as the small one did. So my advice is if you want a plasma to cut 6mm steel get one with a 10mm capacity and leave some capacity untapped. They wont cut with ease the advertised thickness neatly.




Bob

Mule is fine Bruce I better hurry up and finish with it now the beemer lump has found its way out of the donor

Bob if you bring the mule to me before you give it away I could make those two chassis you are chasing!

a bit of a tip with picking plasma's is most makes have cut and severance ratings thease are at the limit and you need to be at 50-75% of thease to use at any speed and with any quality of cut.

also helps to have the right tip/nozzle for cut depth and thay dont last forever so replace them when needed.

if you have a inverter type keep it dry and out the way of metal dust it will last longer

I think at the moment the cost of a decent plasma far outweighs the savings it might make so I think at the moment I'l go with the cutting discs, its been interesting to hear everyone's comments though.

Bob, yeah now the beast is out I'm getting all excited again:D But I've got more than plenty of other things to get on with so I'm not desperate.

Bruce

Well, was down my local engineering firm and he had an old Murex Tradescut 5 that was his brothers, I agreed to give it a try with a view to buying it for £100. Well it seems the torch consumable went obsolete about a decade ago, I've sort of fired it up but the tip that's on it has seen much better days, it fails to get the pilot going but can be got to strike an arc on the workpiece so maybe not too much wrong with it.

Any thoughts on a torch that could be used to replace the original?

Bruce

most murex stuff has thair own torches on unless its already been converted (some kits where availble) but some pattern suff might still be availble

what you need to do is find out exactly what model torch is fitted then see if someone like starparts or parweld still make consumables.
for it or its going to be a torch conversion kit. thermal dynamics may do one to use thair 1torch

it would be best to seek some advice form a local weld supply/repairer and if you did fancy fitting a new torch yourself and have to open it up please take care there are somtimes big capactors in tigs and plasmas that hold charge and do bite!

starparts look in section11 (no pics on my firefox?)
http://publishing.yudu.com/Ad85/star...sources/87.htm

parweld plasma
http://www.parweld.co.uk/pageturning/Plasma/Plasma.html

Thanks Baz, I have contacted a few suppliers already, not had much response yet though, I think its still the original torch.

I had to open it up to fix an air leak before I could even test it and did wonder about the possibiliy of caps holding a charge so was careful :eek:

Those links you sent look much more comprehensive than any I've found so far so I'l contact them next week and see if they're able to help.

I've taken some pictures of the torch here:

http://s1157.photobucket.com/albums/...rlidge/plasma/

Cheers

Bruce

No I didn't get any pics in Chrome either, but I downloaded an offline version which works fine and there are some parts that look very similar in both catalogues, compatible with Esab it states.

Starparts also list some retrofit torches that say are compatible with any plasma cutter from 30A - 120A.

Thanks muchly for the info Baz and I'l have a chat with them next week and let you know if I get any joy.

Bruce

thermal dynamics 1torch is a very good retro fit if you can get one for your machine i would contact thair tec dept direct to get part no. and would prob have to buy from one of thair local suppliers if you cant buy direct.

retro fit will be alot more expensive than finding compatable spares!

i used to work at proweld at plymouth http://www.proweld.co.uk/ say barry said you should be able to help and thay will sell via mail order you need to speek to someone in the workshop to get rigt part no. and adrian in store/tel sales is very good for any welding spares but dont forget to ask for a good price ;)

Its also worth mentioning that plasma will cut most metals inc ali.

Bob

Thanks for the links Barry, parts are definitely obsolete, I spoke with Pete at proweld who was very helpfull and he's got a trafimet A101 thats been sat on the shelf for a while for £95+vat, it has all the right fittings to go straight on the murex which I thought was a good price.

I'l have to wait a couple of weeks as I'm skint but will definitely go for that.

happy days glad to help :)