Driving down the street today, I saw a sign posted for a garage sale. Among the items for sale was a Telwin Tecnica Plasma 30 torch. I can't find any information online as to what they cost and the guy wants $350 for it - that's Canadian dollars. I'll probably offer less, but what is a good deal? They are made in Italy.
Before you do that, maybe @Lloyd's paint & glass will tell us how he likes his new unit, I lost track of his post about it.
If you can't plug it in and test cut with it, leave it there. Those made in Italy cutters were the cheapest ones you could buy (sold under several different names) and have had short life span issues in the past. Finding consumables is pretty hard (and may be expensive). Any other parts cost more then replacing the machine does. The consumables are the cutting nozzles and the ignitor tips, and they last for about an hour of cutting time per pair. Also, whatever it says is the rated cutting thickness is, means that is the max thickness it will cut if everything is perfect, and it will be a very slow cut. Expect it to cut decently at about 1/2 the rated thickness of steel. Gene
I bought a cheap ass one. $200 some dollars. Came with a bag full of consumables. Still working fine. I don't use it for commercial use just hobby but it does get used.
Get one thats "rated" for 3/8 MINIMUM. Many of them underperform and disappoint. I had an Italian one years ago. It underperformed and disappointed. 1/2" is much better. You also need to know that you can get consumables easily. Also traded for a "Snap On" plasma. Went up in smoke the first time I used it. Turned out to be a "Century" with a Snap On rebranding. Luckily Hypertherm gave me more for "trade in" value than I gave for it, so it worked out. All that being said, todays units are much smaller and better(?). I still like something reasonably sized. Too easy to pull a small one off the cart and onto the shop floor. Hypertherms are expensive, but they are the best. They hold all the patents and the other companies just pay them for the technology.
It must be an older and probably smaller unit than what they are selling now Products | Telwin I've got a Forney easy weld 20P unit that I bought at the Black Friday sale at a local AG supply store a couple of years ago. I haven't used it enough to form an opinion on it though. I wanted it for non automotive projects that I make for side money but that stuff is a hard sale when the local community day sales in the parks are on hold.
I bought this off of amazon $199. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GB3T4KG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 works ok good for 1/8 max, it did cut 1/4 but sloppy, for thin sheetmetal it is very good, consumable super cheap
Since you guys didn't give glowing recommendations on it, I offered the guy $100 and was turned down.
You didn't listen anyway. I have my Harbor Freight. Have had it for 5 years now with constant use and no problems. I paid $250
Cut-50 50AMP plasma cutter is made of high quality components, By adopting the most Advanced inverter technical of switch power, as well as the Product life and work efficiency are increased by 30% than ordinary machines this is a Professional Plasma Cutter, Which Is Widely Used For Cutting Stainless Steel, Alloy Steel, Mild Steel, Copper And Other Color Metal Materials, Cutting thickness is 1-20mm ( 20 x .03937 =.788), effective cutting thickness 10mm (10 x .03937= .393) This is exactly what most people don't think about. It says it can cut up to .788 . Then it says it can "effectively" cut up to .393. The point is that when these small cheap machines are used, you really can't get good results on stuff that is near the machines limit. EMS says in his post that he doesn't even get good results on basically 1/4" (.250) stuff. For the most part these inexpensive machines can cut thin sheetmetal decently and thats about it. Seen it time and again. A good plasma cutter saves a lot of time and effort and is a great addition to any shop. The cheap ones will leave more clean up work than they are worth and may not even cut at all. Best thing to do is buy one you have seen work and don't believe all the sales hype on line. For a while, Everlast was getting some good revues with their inexpensive welders/plasma cutters. I heard the other day that customer satisfaction with them had nosedived. Supposedly they now require the buyer to pay shipping back to the factory and back to the buyer if a problem arises. Don't know that its true, but worth checking on no matter what brand you buy. I bought a new ESAB Mig as a second machine just for sheetmetal last year. Was DOA . I called the factory and they walked me thru a few test procedures. Nothing worked. Next week another NEW one arrived in the mail along with a return shipper for the bad one. There is a lot more to consider than just initial cost when buying these things.
I bought a Prime Weld. (https://primeweld.com/products/50a-cut50dp-dual-voltage-plasma-cutter) after owning one of their welders. I haven't used it enough to know everything about it but it does it's job well. Their written warranty is good but I haven't needed it so I don't know if it's great or not.
I've heard alot of good about prime weld myself. So much so I broke down and bought their big ac/DC tig and totally happy with it. Now if I could learn how to weld properly !! I have considered going back to them for my plasma buy...
Can you tell us how thick it will cut? Maybe a picture of the results of cutting 3/8 steel. I have heard good things about their Tig machine.
Here's a couple of pics of the Prime Weld cutting 1/2". If I had the speed correct, it would have made a clean cut. This was at full power.
TO update; I bought this particular plasma torch for it size, I had to go high into ceiling (35 feet up) to do maintenance work, it was bought for some light gauge cutting and it's lite weight to make it easy to lift. it works fine on 1/8 inch or less. this was done on 110 volt with 30 amp fuse, and extension cords. would work fine for home sheetmetal work. we have a larger Lincoln plasma on 440 3 phase that will blow through 3/4 inch like melted butter. it is important to size your equipment for the true need, a bit bigger is a good idea, but in the home market cost of equipment and electrical power are a consideration.
There is no doubt the pics of the Prime Weld cuts are better than my cheap one but as noted above, it all depends on your needs. I didn't need to cut anything as thick as shown.
Excellent WFO ! This is what matters when buying a Plasma Cutter............People don't realize that the sales hype is just that, HYPE. A machine that will actually get thru 1/2" WILL handle the needs of just about anything a car guy will ever need. Just because a small unit might suit a current need, there are a lot of things in ones future that will need more than "sheetmetal capacity". Cutting sheet steel to make engine mounting brackets, or rear end brackets, or modifying a frame, or building a work tables legs, or cutting an I beam or angle iron........the uses are endless if you have one thats capable. How many of you are currently working on a project or would like to do some project that you had never considered before? How many of you did not undertake a project because you don't have some tool available or the one you have isn't capable. Its about realizing that you should buy a tool that can meet any future needs rather than just one current need. Its also about realizing that the "good" (not necessarily expensive) tools will retain a lot of their value. My Miller welders are worth more today than I paid for them. My son's Miller 212 cost $1700 .........today they are $2200.
I used mine to make my gasser frame and associated brackets but haven't touched it since. My buddy used it to cut a car up but no worry's there about great cuts.
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