looking for a plasma to cut 10 - 12mm plate

[ned]

Well, I can read all day, or i can you guys...... lol. I'll probably ill end up reading all day anyway.

I find myself working with 10 - 12mm plate a lot, so would like a cutter that is suited to this task.
I had a read about plasmas on here one day a few months ago, and since have been looking out for a second hand Hypertherm here in Ireland, but that doesnt seem to be happening.

regarding branding im easy. I have an IFL mig welder, English made I think? Are R-tech English made? I'm not that pushed but it seems a nicer idea to buy something made closer to home, though at the end of the day its not a dealbreaker. I think everything is made in China nowadays to China will do the finest also.

So i want to spend about 700 euros. well actually i want to spend 0 euros but its inevitable so 700 seems like a good cut off point.
I'm a solo hobbyist so anything more is hard to justify.

What the best I'm going to do for that money please? any and all input appreciated.

 

[waddycall]

Do you only use mild steel plate? If so why not go with oxy propane instead it's a lot cheaper to set up although you have to decide whether to rent or buy your oxygen bottle of course. For anyhting over 5mm thickness I use gas. I also use gas for thin sheet using Gasex cylinders and a stepped acetylene nozzle. Gas isnt much good for 2mm - 5mm.
You'd need a pretty hefty plasma to cleanly cut 12mm plate. Gas cutting is much less limited in terms of maximum thickness.

 

[ned]

hmmmm

cheers for the reply first off. I'm not gonna pretend to know much about it. I used oxy-acetalyne years ago when i was training as a welder/fabricator, I loved it, I love burning stuff i gotta say. Now I'm older and I wonder is that stuff safe to have around? lol. stuff that goes boom plays on my head.

In my unknowledgable head im thinking -

gas is not as safe but simpler.
plasma seems kinda complicated by the fact that you need an additional compressor. bit of a pain in the nuts imo, a unit with built in air would be nice.
A portable setup I could put in the car would be sweet.

To answer your question yes its all mild steel.
will go have a read about the gasex cylinders, cheers )

 

[BrokenBiker]

doubleboost on here has done a few vids on the r tech plasma. Well worth a watch to see what its capable of

 

[Paul99]

IFL, R-tech, Plasmapart are all Chinese made but are imported / backed up by reputable / capable UK companies. I kept an eye open for a used Hypertherm for a very long time before buying new - most on Ebay weren't cheap and would have been a real risk costing only a few hundred pounds less than new. Three phase you stand a better chance of a bargain single phase you'd need to be very very lucky as the few that crop up at a bargain price sell very quickly. The 30amp R-tech claims a severance cut of 12mm and I think would be just around your budget. If the bulk of what you want to cut will be 12mm though the 50amp machine might be a better choice - which is what I, like Doubleboost, have - these certainly goes through 12mm like a hot knife through butter but I think they will be outside your budget. I too weighed up if oxy-acetylene would have been a better alternative even considering that I have the regulators and torches already just pipes nozzles etc needed the cost of gas and the lack of desire to have to rent quickly knocked that option on the head which was a shame as it would without a doubt been more versatile - you maybe luckier in that you have more choice of suppliers and prices in your area though.

 

[ned]

Cheers brokenbiker, Paul99. Will checkout those vids. Paul I aint got a three phase supply so thats not an option unfortunately.
Jayzus that R-Tech 50 looks the biz, and at a perfect price.

http://www.r-techwelding.co.uk/welding_equipment/Plasma_Cutter/Plasma_Cutter_R-Tech_P50HF

While using my mig welder a few mins agoI had the daft idea that a matching set might be nice.... so I'm looking at the Inverter Fusion cut 60. its outside my budget, but like loreal says, im worth it.
What kinda questions should I be asking that company? Online info on the model isnt very thorough and even the spec sheet is pretty bare so far as i can see.

http://www.inverterfusion.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/i-TECH-CUT60-Spec-Sheet.pdf

So far ive picked up that i need a certain type of torch so that the consumables are affordable, is it called a Trafimet torch?
The Cut60 seems to have that, but im not 100%.
Also I've read a HF start seems to be a good thing, again I'm pretty ignorant on these matters, in fact i dont even know what that means, so any advice appreciated.
Should add that im not trying to plug IFL here, and I'm not committed to this notion. I've a bit more reading to do methinks.

 

[T0rnado69]

the red torch looks a bit like a trafiment torch.
but the end of it looks like the cheap torches you get with the chinese stuff.
plastic shrouds that melt when you try cut too fast and it blows back


top one is cheap torch on the cut 50.
bottom torch is trafiment s25 on sureweld 34k


ohh and HF is high frequency

if i could go back in time before i brought the cheap cut 50 and then before i bought the sureweld 34k
i would of brought the rolls royce of plasmas....... just one plasma a hypertherm

 

[Elmerfudd]

IFL, R-tech, Plasmapart are all Chinese made but are imported / backed up by reputable / capable UK companies. I kept an eye open for a used Hypertherm for a very long time before buying new - most on Ebay weren't cheap and would have been a real risk costing only a few hundred pounds less than new. Three phase you stand a better chance of a bargain single phase you'd need to be very very lucky as the few that crop up at a bargain price sell very quickly. The 30amp R-tech claims a severance cut of 12mm and I think would be just around your budget. If the bulk of what you want to cut will be 12mm though the 50amp machine might be a better choice - which is what I, like Doubleboost, have - these certainly goes through 12mm like a hot knife through butter but I think they will be outside your budget. I too weighed up if oxy-acetylene would have been a better alternative even considering that I have the regulators and torches already just pipes nozzles etc needed the cost of gas and the lack of desire to have to rent quickly knocked that option on the head which was a shame as it would without a doubt been more versatile - you maybe luckier in that you have more choice of suppliers and prices in your area though.

Paul.
Just curious would you recommend the rtech cut 50 I'm on the brink of buying one.
Also 12mm mild steel would probably be the most of what I would cut but would be nice to have a little more if needed.
Thanks.

 

[Paul99]

Paul.
Just curious would you recommend the rtech cut 50 I'm on the brink of buying one.
Also 12mm mild steel would probably be the most of what I would cut but would be nice to have a little more if needed.
Thanks.

Yes is the simple answer - mine has been faultless so far and has done everything I have asked of it. 12mm was simple - as yet I've not tested it on anything more though I've got no doubt it will go quite a bit thicker when / if needed. I've not got any experience with other makes of plasma cutter though so can't compare to others nor do I have enough hours clocked up to say that I have the technique right but getting a fast relatively clean cut on 10 or 12mm plate is pretty simple - on clean bright mild steel plate especially it's a real joy to use. The stand off springs are probably the weakest part of the whole package which is a bit of a shame as consumable life without seems to be a bit variable - it really doesn't take much to write off a nozzle and shortly after an electrode when dragging the tip without enough gap to clear any blow back - though this might likely be the same for whatever brand of plasma you use. It's certainly held up very well to any abuse I've thrown at it so far. Although I don't use it day in day out I do tend to give it a hard time when it is and it's clear that it's well enough made for this kind of life . Part of the reason I opted for the r-tech was the fact that the company is not far away and should anything go wrong I could return it in person - a shocking experience of ordering and having to return substandard goods to a rival company since all but confirms I was right to go with the R-tech.

The only other small gripe I have with it is the price of the circle cutting guides to match the torch - not cheap even before adding £40 of delivery which is just way OTT - so it if you have plans to get one it's probably best to order it along with the machine and just class it as part of the initial outlay.

Hope that's of some use to you if you have any more specific questions just ask...
Paul.