Is a Plasma Cutter really worth having in the home garage?

I love my plasma cutter I also had a have a stomp shear, I sold the stop because it took up so much room in my shop , dont get me wrong I love the shear and I miss it at times but the plasma will do the same job with a little clean up not perfect but close) and I have a large section of a wall area back for other stuff I also have a nice beverly shear. Andy

 

I couldn't have built my latest truck without it. It will do things the other methods wont.

 

Again we are talking about a HOME GARAGE. Not too many are going to need to cut a 4" piece of aluminum in a home garage. You may most won't. A good verticle band saw is going to run you close to $3500 and if you are one person it is going to be pretty much useless to cut up large sheet metal pieces by oneself as one example of where it's not that great. Anyone can endlessly suggest things that you cannot do with any tool but for a guy working at home on cars there is not a lot a plasma won't be able to cut that the average guy is going to use.

 

i do quite a bit of fab work using 1/4" flat stock.its the ticket for intricate cuts,beats oxy /acetelyne hands down.i still use a drill for holes.

finishing is dependent on practice,air quality and pressure/supply.
my co-worker has an incredibly steady hand,he could torch out flames if he needed.

but he hates the machine.
i have one at home,its dirty,but torches are on wheels and roll out of the shop way too often in borrower's hands.got so expensive i sold the torches.nobody wants to borrow the plasma.

i had some latches i needed to cut out,with the torch it made more of a mess.
my plywood template worked awesome and the pieces came out closer to size with the plasma.1/2 the clean up,and easier to grind/finish than torch cuts.

14 feet of metal siding in seconds,1/8" burn next to the cut.it doesent leave a sharp edge on sheet metal either.

plasma at work has a gouging setting,it will clean out a weld nicely if you take the time to dial it in.

 

Obviously, a lot of people love them and use them a lot, but ours is the least used piece of equipment in our shop. We have a Thermo Dynamics 38, it actually belongs to my Son Don, and I think we have used it 3 times in 8 years.

What I hate about it is the shower or sparks and am still wearing scars on top of my feet from them going down the tops of my shoes. Last time I used it I even made a carboard shield to stand behind and that only helped a little. Even my trusty cutting torch makes less sparks and flying molten metal.

Probably what is contributing is that we haven't played with it more, so we are not familiar with the settings and how to use it. Don says he is going to start using it more, so our feelings about it might change then.

Don

 

I'll just throw this out there: A Henrob might be a worthy compromise between spending big money for a plasma cutter, and keeping a torch set you may already have.

 

I have had my L-Tec plasma cutter for 16 years, and I do not use it that often. It is not the God-Send that people think it is. It works great for zipping off brackets from rear end housings, which is what I use it for the most, but bracket building will still require alot of grinding.

I find it far easier to use a 4 1/2" cut off wheel on my angle grinder as you can cut right on a scribed line with some minor touch up grinding with a sanding disc to fine tune the edges. A plasma cutter will not weld or heat things up either, like a torch will.

 

"Is a Plasma Cutter really worth having in the home garage?"

no, you can use a hack saw and chisel

 

I'm a tool junkie. I'm one of those guys that gotta have everything. I got a shit load of tools that I don't use too often, but when I need them it makes life so much easier. Plasma cutter is one of those tool. Ken

 

The trick to making brackets with a plasma is making a pattern to follow. I always have made wood patterns before I make a bracket even before I got my plasma to see how they will fit etc. Now I just take the pattern scribe 3/16" all the way around and sand that off to allow for the width of the torch head and I can then make 10 brackets in the time it would take me to make one with a cut off wheel and grinder. With the right settings and cutting speed I have virtually no clean up to do once cut.

 

After using a tourch for 30 years it took some time to get used to mine, but now when I have metal to cut it's one of the first tools I reach for.

 

We've got a Hypertherm Power Max 30, the wife does metal sculpture and cuts out lots of shapes which she couldn't do with hand shears (shoulder problems) also she sometimes cleans up some items with a throatless shear. I used it for brackets and cutting thin metal. I helped a cousin put up steel on his shop ceiling, we could rip 30 inch wide sheets of roofing in seconds instead of .............well how long does it take to use dull shears to cut a 16 foot piece of steel roofing? He'd never used one, after the first cut he said "I gotta have one of those", If you can afford it, get it.

 

I think they are an asset in any shop fast,clean less distortion too all metals,curves like butter,Plasma should always be used with proper eye protection,just like gloves should be worn when tiggin

 

YES... no other answer is needed

 

my dad and I bought a little 110 lincoln unit years ago when I was running my shop. it's not really worth having. works for sheet metal, but nothing else and I find that i prefer the ziz wheel for most of what i'm doing. I can see the value for thicker stuff, bracket fab etc but...

in retrospect I wish we'd spent the $$$ on a TIG or a nice finger break instead.

 

Bought a plasma and used it once....sold it. Cutoff wheels are King?

 

Cost VS frequency of use; that would be the deciding question in my case. I have a friend that will lend me his plasma cutter/s (he has two), but if I needed to use one more frequently, I think I'd try to split the cost between a couple/three friends or more. Many private pilots buy their plane this way. I'm currently thinking about buying into a ramp truck, and splitting the costs 3 ways. Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I bought a Miller plasma about 15 years ago. I used it a lot when I first got it, but I never liked the mess it made and the stink it made in the shop. I started using 4 1/2 zip wheels and rarely use the plasma any more. I wouldn't sell it, as its paid for, I'm a tool junkie, and sometimes it is the tool to use, but knowing what I do now, I would never spend the money on one again. I find you still have to grind down to a line when making brackets. The belt sander is the most used tool in my shop.
Also, if you ever cut some sheet metal and try to run that plasma edge through your e wheel rollers, you'll make quite a mess of them. You have to cut that hard plasma edge off all the time. I got sick of doing that.
Zip wheels, metal shears, top quality band saws are a far better investment. If you are building a car, what do you need to cut that is thicker than 3/16 anyway, unless you're installing a trailer hitch.

 

I love mine.

 

My Thermal Dynamics Pak 2 XT is 23 years old and still going strong. So to answer your question, for me YES.

 

I don't use mine every week but i couldn't live without it .If you work with sheet metal 1/4" and thinner it is great straight or curved cuts.True you can't cut a 4" piece of round stock but you also can't write your name in a piece of sheetmetal with a bandsaw. It depends on the kind of work you do and only you can decide if its worth it .

 

Hi .... Ive had one for 16 years..only use it on sheet metal....quick..easy...straight edges used with a guide virtually no clean up....its a great tool......

 

I see some talk about a bandsaw being better than a plasma cutter, and in a lot of instances it is. Did you ever go out and price a metal cutting bandsaw. They're not the same as a wood cutter. If I was doing fabrication all day I'd have one, but for my personal purposes the plasma cutter is a much more inexpensive way out. Ken

 

Just throwing it out there.. I got my horizontal band saw off craigslist for $500. American made too. I clamp my material, set the hydraulic feed, walk away and do something else. New machinery is outrageous $$$. But especially in our current economy, there is tons of good, old equipment up for grabs.

 

Now that it has been mentioned,I have had a upright metal cutting band saw for 30 years,,it does everything I need,slower than plasma but works for me. HRP

 

One doesn't do the work of the other.

This is turning unto that TIG/MIG thread here. Each tool has its intended purpose and either will do one thing better than another. If I wanted to slice a bracket off of my chassis I would not want to lift that bugger up and cut it on the band saw. On the other hand if I had a piece of aluminum 3/8 thick and wanted to cut a braket out of it I would probably rather use the band saw.

Every tool in the box has it use, no tool in the box will do everything well and some won't do anything well at all.

 

Benno,,Your right,It was not my intention to add fuel to the fire,,my method works fine for cutting metal before the it is put to use,,plasma is ideal for removing metal cleanly from a previous project. HRP

 

I too agree with PB... I bought my plasma because of space limitations,
It suits me fine, if I had the room I would have a nice big band saw too.
Plasma is on a cart that fits beneath my MIG
sure beats cutting plate steel with a sawzall and a jig saw!

 

Ah hell HRP you were just available. I could have gone back several posts and said the same thing.

 

I don't own one, but have used one at work and helping my buddy fab at his work. Plasma cutters rule! Especially great for cutting out complex shapes and boxing plates. I helped my buddy with the frame work on one of his '60s cars. We made everything with that plasma, it was awesome. So so much faster than a cutting wheel or saw. A plasma is my next shop purchase. Consider that the good cut off wheels for grinders are about $3 a piece and saws-all blades are about the same. I have probably spent the equivalent cost of a good plasma on the those consumables over the years. If you regularly fab a plasma is a must have, IMO.