I’m looking to buy a plasma cutter in the near future my budget is around $1000. i would need to be able to make fairly clean cuts on 3/16 or 1/4". In the past I’ve used a miller (worked well but was abused and became problematic), a harbor freight brand one (got the job done but was a PITA for the most part. what are some good options for what i need? any input from those of you with first hand experience is greatly appreciated.
there was an esab for sale on here just a little while ago
Depends on what you are cutting. Thickness and material wise. Think of the thickest material you will REGULARLY cut with it. Then pick a machine that can cut one or two thicknesses past that.
$1000 is a great budget for a used machine, wont touch a new machine worth messing with.
For example, if you are cutting 3/8" stuff 99% of the time get a machine that is around 40-45amps that would cut 1/4" great and 3/8" with faster travel speed and straighter kerf on the cut edge. You can always dial it down to control the kerf (width of the cut) and still get through your material… you cant go past max.
Next biggest thing is consumables. Make sure you can get them locally if you are not into keeping $100+ in extras laying around and are more spur of the moment “Ohh crap I need an electrode right now.” Don’t get a machine so old that you cant get them for. Price out the consumables before you buy the machine. One of my machines (Hypertherm 380) is half the cost per part than the bigger machine we had (Hypertherm 65). Like $20 a set vs $40… and you buy them in packs of 5 for most parts… so you can see how that gets expensive fast.
Buy a nice, clean well taken care of used machine. Look at the torch if its not cracked, beaten to hell, wires showing or taped up, look at the ground make sure its in good shape, is the machine covered in dust or clean, look in the fan vent, maybe even pop the cover to see how much dust is inside it. If its taken care of they last forever, if neglected they will die electronically fast. See what kind of water trap was on the air line, if any! Moisture MUST not get into the machine from the air source, so buy a good water trap setup too. If the guy off craigslist selling a decent machine was running it off a 3gal potbelly ebay compressor with nothing inline to the plasma cutter, don’t buy it. The torches are about $200-400 to replace so if they are busted up plan on that expense too. Don’t get a chineese knock off. Stick to good names, Hypertherm, ThermalDynamics, Miller/Hobart, ESAB. Go to your local welding store and see what they carry (back to the consumables thing) and look for a good used machine they can service.
There is a lot to them when you want to utilize them properly, its like a mig vs tig… they both get the job done but one will be tailored better to the task at hand. If that’s the case you can outfit most machines to cut a razor thin kerf in 18ga sheet metal like a hot knife through butter with a fine cut kit and proper machine settings and that same machine could sever 1/2" with another set of consumables and settings. But if you just grab the machine and max the amperage and go to town on every different material you lay the torch to, yeah it will work, but it wont work great.
That is a good basic overview. Ask specific questions and I can help answer them or point you in the right direction if I cant.