best plasma cutters out there?

anchorman

Titanium

Joined

Dec 19, 2005

Location

Opelika, AL

• Mar 6, 2007

• #1

I was looking for a new plasma cutter for my shop at work, and last year settled upon a Hypertherm. they were supposed to hold up well and also have cheaper consumables than the rest.
We finally might have the money in the budget to buy one, so I am out looking stuff up again in order to find the best machine I can.

What are y'alls opinions about these. (hypertherm and others)

We need a unit that can stand up to the abuse of students in a university sculpture studio. I try to instill good work practices and also put the fear of god in them as best I can about not breaking stuff, but as they say, $hit happens. So i need something sturdy and inexpensive on the consumables/repair parts front.

thanks in advance,

jon

 

macona

Diamond

Joined

Jun 20, 2006

Location

Beaverton, OR

• Mar 7, 2007

• #2

HYPERTHERM

Havnt we gone over this already, hmmm???

How thick do you want to cut?

 

Empireweld

Aluminum

Joined

Feb 19, 2007

Location

Cucamonga, Ca. USA

• Mar 7, 2007

• #3

HYPERTHERM

You can't go wrong.

 

anchorman

Titanium

Joined

Dec 19, 2005

Location

Opelika, AL

• Mar 7, 2007

• #4

3/4 mild steel max is my guess. most of the time would be cutting 12 ga sheet or so.

From my previous research last year or the year before (can't remember exactly when), hypertherm were the hands down favorite. Just wanted to check if any of yous had any new developements in this field.

 

TFPace

Stainless

Joined

Oct 11, 2003

Location

Pinnacle, NC USA

• Mar 7, 2007

• #5

Anchorman,

Nothing has changed

Get in gear and go buy yourself a Hypertherm and you'll be thanking us.

Tom

 

macona

Diamond

Joined

Jun 20, 2006

Location

Beaverton, OR

• Mar 7, 2007

• #6

Powermax 600 would be pushing it. It will do 3/4" just not fast or pretty.

Next step up is a Pmx 1000. Good machine...

 

anchorman

Titanium

Joined

Dec 19, 2005

Location

Opelika, AL

• Mar 7, 2007

• #7

I'll be thanking my boss the most if she can pony up the cash I'm just glad she is trying to help us out.

 

Holescreek

Titanium

Joined

Aug 27, 2004

Location

Centerville,OH

• Mar 7, 2007

• #8

Havnt we gone over this already, hmmm???

Click to expand...

Yeah, that was me. I picked up a new Powermax 30 last Friday. Thanks! -Mike

 

J

Jason_Campbell

Plastic

Joined

Mar 7, 2007

Location

Michigan

• Mar 8, 2007

• #9

I have a Hypertherm PowerMax 1000 and I love it. IMO it is over rated on it's cut capacity though. I specifically bought it to cut 3/4" plate, and it will cut it, but it isn't pretty. I run the fine cut consumables for thinner material, and these make a much nicer cut than their drag cut, shielded consumables. I have had it just over a year now, and in the first couple of months I had torch problems with it. Hypertherm Tech support was very good with me, and eventually replaced the torch. Overall it is a very good machine.

 

J

jdsmith

Aluminum

Joined

Jul 25, 2006

Location

Cincinnati, OH

• Mar 9, 2007

• #10

We've got a Powermax 1000 in a very similar shop to what you're talking about - in the College of Design, Art, Architecture, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati. To help with consumable costs here the students have to buy the consumable parts themselves so there's some incentive to learning how to cut properly. We do the same thing with the two TIG machines, make them buy the electrodes themselves.