Those cheapo plasma cutters on ebay are chinese- with no warranty, no brick and mortar US sales or service- just individuals who order a few from china, and resell em.
No guarantee that if it ever breaks, it is fixable, no reliable local source of consumables.
Not worth buying, if you ask me.
In plasma cutters, the two big names are Thermal Dynamics and Hypertherm.
Miller and Lincoln make a few, but their main business is in welders, not plasma cutters.
TD and Hypertherm are in every real commercial shop.
I know a guy who repairs welders and cutters- he swears by Hypertherm above all else.
All plasma cutters use up consumables, and all of them are expensive. Price electrodes and tips before you buy- and realize that the more piercing you do- that is, the more times you start a cut in the middle of the sheet, the shorter the life of your ten or fifteen bucks worth of electrode and tip.
I always change both at once- otherwise a worn part will wear the other out prematurely.
Also remember you need a LOT of air. Big compressor, the bigger the cutter, the bigger the compressor. My three phase 7 1/2hp with the 90 gallon tank is just barely big enough when I am machine cutting. 10hp would be better. For a small plasma cutter, realistically you need a 5hp compressor.
And you need very clean and dry air- I recommend a "toilet paper" style MotorGuard air filter, in addition to a regular water trap on your air line.
Wet air wears out expensive consumables, and makes for cruddy cuts too.
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Those cheapo plasma cutters
Those cheapo plasma cutters on ebay are chinese- with no warranty, no brick and mortar US sales or service- just individuals who order a few from china, and resell em.
No guarantee that if it ever breaks, it is fixable, no reliable local source of consumables.
Not worth buying, if you ask me.
In plasma cutters, the two big names are Thermal Dynamics and Hypertherm.
Miller and Lincoln make a few, but their main business is in welders, not plasma cutters.
TD and Hypertherm are in every real commercial shop.
I know a guy who repairs welders and cutters- he swears by Hypertherm above all else.
All plasma cutters use up consumables, and all of them are expensive. Price electrodes and tips before you buy- and realize that the more piercing you do- that is, the more times you start a cut in the middle of the sheet, the shorter the life of your ten or fifteen bucks worth of electrode and tip.
I always change both at once- otherwise a worn part will wear the other out prematurely.
Also remember you need a LOT of air. Big compressor, the bigger the cutter, the bigger the compressor. My three phase 7 1/2hp with the 90 gallon tank is just barely big enough when I am machine cutting. 10hp would be better. For a small plasma cutter, realistically you need a 5hp compressor.
And you need very clean and dry air- I recommend a "toilet paper" style MotorGuard air filter, in addition to a regular water trap on your air line.
Wet air wears out expensive consumables, and makes for cruddy cuts too.