Finally purchased a plasma cutter.

[TomWS]

You are definitely over thinking the non-HF start. The term you should be looking for is 'Blowback' start. The way it works is that the electrode is attached to a spring. When the probe is off, the spring pushes the electrode into the tip, shorting out the Voltage source (which is off) to the return (the tip). When the PC fires, it turns on current to the electrode AND turns on the air to the torch. The air pressure causes the electrode to 'blowback' from the tip, thereby causing an arc which, with the high current source, soon becomes a plasma.

Tips & electrodes, both of which are consumed after a certain number of uses, cost about $4 each, depending on source and commonality of the components. Normally usage with very dry air will get you hours of usage. If there is any moisture in the air the consumables will be burnt out almost instantly. Net: Plasma cutting's 'invisible' cost is VERY dry air and lots of it. A $400 PC will require the same setup as a $3000 PC.

I don't have a TIG, but, from what I've heard, you can't use sensitive electronics while you're using one. But I haven't seen a CNC TIG welder either.

 

[TomWS]

I've also been considering a plasma cutter. I have quite a bit of machine frames to cut. 6, 8, 10 & 12mm thick.
The cheap Chinese ones seem like a gamble. How many machines share the same consumables? When they say 65A what is the duty cycle?

Everlast 60i has a good reputation for a moderate cost PC. That will cut 12mm metal. I don't know the specifics, but 60A usage probably has around 30-40% duty cycle, but that's just a wild guess on my part. The specs and manual are available online. The torch is an industry 'standard' that uses commonly available consumables. I believe they can use a range of high current and also fine cut tips.

I would need to start through paint. Are drag tips commonly available for all machines? What is needed to be able to blow welds out?

Most PCs today have 'pilot arc' and would be able to cut through paint as long as the Work clamp is clamped to bare metal.

Most hand held torches have a metal clip on spacer to provide a proper gap fro drag operation. Even the one cited by OP has one. I don't know about welds but I would think the issue would be mostly the resulting extra thickness of the weld. You'd probably just have to slow down a bit as you came to each weld.

 

[Larry$]

I don't know about welds but

I wasn't clear on what I meant by blowing out welds. If two parts are welded together @ 90° with a filet it would be nice to be able to just blow the filet weld out and not cut the parts. I think angular tips are made for this but haven't used the correct term when searching.

 

[Boswell]

I think angular tips are made for this but haven't used the correct term when searching

Hypertherm calls this a Flushcut nozzle. I have used it on my Powermax 45XP and it worked OK, but took some practice. It directs the plasma at 45 degrees, that plus you holding the torch at 45 degrees to the surface allows for a included angle of 90deg.

 

[Larry$]

Everlast 60

On the site Workbench Creations Everlast customer service was shown to be no better than the typical Chinese product sellers. All his back & forth emails were posted. Not good! There is a maker of plasma cutters in Italy that may be a safer bet at a higher price. Now if I could just find them again.

 

[Navy Chief]

On the site Workbench Creations Everlast customer service was shown to be no better than the typical Chinese product sellers. All his back & forth emails were posted. Not good! There is a maker of plasma cutters in Italy that may be a safer bet at a higher price. Now if I could just find them again.

Not the experience I have had with them, they have responded promptly to any questions and quickly shipped parts to me when needed.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

 

[MikeInOr]

Everlast was my first choice of plasma cutters to buy eventually. This one came along for a great price so I decided to give it a try. The Everlast cutter I was looking at was 50% more than this YesWelder.

From everything I have read I believe blow back start vs high frequency start makes no difference these days for a hand held plasma cutter. The only reason the blow back start made a difference to me is because I would like to try to build a cnc plasma cutter some day and blow back start is said to have less of a propensity to cause problems with the cnc electronics. Although I have found projects online where they are using HF start plasma cutters in diy cnc cutters successfully.

 

[Gaffer]

I wasn't clear on what I meant by blowing out welds. If two parts are welded together @ 90° with a filet it would be nice to be able to just blow the filet weld out and not cut the parts. I think angular tips are made for this but haven't used the correct term when searching.

It's called gouging. As @Boswell said, Hypertherm makes tips for this process. I'm not too sure how many other manufacturers do, but there is probably something available for most torches.

 

[coherent]

I hope it works well and suits your needs. After looking at the link the reviews aren't very encouraging and would concern me especially support.. Ive had a number of plasma cutters over the last 15 years or so for both hand and a few CNC machines. Overall my satisfaction has been mixed anywhere from junk to outstanding. For simple hand cutting some of the lower priced imports that offered low cost consumables would have sufficed for a hobby user. As far as CNC and the very best cut quality I keep returning to Hypertherm and now pretty much stick to their cutters only. I have found that in the long run (at least as far as plasma cutters are concerned) you'll save more money and be happier spending more and getting a known and tested/recommended product for your specific needs.

 

[MikeInOr]

I hope it works well and suits your needs. After looking at the link the reviews aren't very encouraging and would concern me especially support.. Ive had a number of plasma cutters over the last 15 years or so for both hand and a few CNC machines. Overall my satisfaction has been mixed anywhere from junk to outstanding. For simple hand cutting some of the lower priced imports that offered low cost consumables would have sufficed for a hobby user. As far as CNC and the very best cut quality I keep returning to Hypertherm and now pretty much stick to their cutters only. I have found that in the long run (at least as far as plasma cutters are concerned) you'll save more money and be happier spending more and getting a known and tested/recommended product for your specific needs.

You are correct, it makes perfect sense to invest in quality tools! This is my first plasma cutter and any trades person will probably do more cutting in a single day than I will in an entire year. I would love a Hypertherm but there is no way I could ever justify spending that much money on a plasma cutter (even a used one, I have look for a used one) so a cheap Chinese cutter is pretty much all that will ever be in the cards for me. I read through all of the Amazon negative reviews quite closely and most were complaining about not being able to get consumables. The torch is a standard Hypertherm S45 Chinese knock off and I ordered the consumables with the cutter. If the consumables don't work with the cutter I will send the entire package back. If the unit is DOA I will send the entire package back. That pretty much covers the negative reviews that I saw on Amazon. My biggest exposure is if it works for 6 months then dies... no return, no support and this is a very real possibility.

As far as CNC goes it is something that I would like to have the option to play around with some day. I am not going to go out and buy a high end CNC cutting table, I will build one out of spare bits and parts for the fun of it. I am not manufacturing parts, I am not selling parts I am not doing side jobs, this is not my profession, I don't need the most reliable plasma cutter or the highest quality cut available on the market. I understand your point of view from a person who depends on there tools for their lively hood... that is not me though. I am a software engineer by profession and doing low tech manual get my hands dirty and have a physical object to show for it at the end of the day type projects is what I do to relax. As soon as I start doing this for money it is a job which would completely ruin my hobby for me.