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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
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    Norwood-ish, Adelaide
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    Default Thoughts on plasma cutters with built in compressors

    G'day Guys
    I do occasional jobs for the local scout group and at the moment they want some steel (say 3mm) cut for a sign with lots of letters. I haven't got a way of doing this at the moment but a small plasma cutter is something I think about occasionally. However, I haven't got a proper compressor either. I've heard of plasma cutters with built in compressors - are they worth considering?
    Anyone got one and care to share their thoughts

    Michael

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2011
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    Murray Bridge S Aust.
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    Hi Michael, I've not got one of those, but have heard pretty good reports about them, your best bet would be to go to WESS (Welding Equipment Sales Service)
    they have a store on Cormack Rd Wingfield, they give good advise on equipment that they sell and repair.
    Re the cutting out of letters in 3mm have you thought about getting them laser cut? By the time you mark and cut them out, you might be in trouble cutting out the shapes plus cutting tips etc, it might be cheaper to get them lasered. I use to get a lot of small bits done and it worked out quite cheap.
    Kryn

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
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    I had thought of laser or waterjet but the problem is that those guys will charge where as my time (according to the scout leaders who give me these jobs) doesn't cost them anything.
    WESS was another place I was going to visit but thought I'd ask here too as they will want to sell me something.

    Michael

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    Ballina, NSW
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    I'm not familiar with those integrate units but plasma cutting does take quite a bit of air to get a clean cut - I'd make sure that the air throughput, rated cutting depth and duty cycle is way in excess of what you think you need.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Perth
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    My plasma cutter makes my compressor cycle a fair amount (Don't have the CFM on the top of my head, but it's a belt driven unit which does a decent rate, though still just a Bunnings grade unit), and I'd hate to imagine how much an integrated unit would struggle. I'd also have to wonder how much of an issue moisture would be, because there wouldn't be anywhere near enough distance in the airlines to let the air cool down and allow a separator to work properly. Could be wrong though, but I remain dubious without any experience.

  6. #6
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    Sep 2010
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    Lebrina
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    I have heard many good reports on the Lincoln plasma cutters with integrated compressor. As a bonus, they also allow an external compressor to be utilised for greater capacity.
    I would only consider a quality unit and not an ebay special as I believe you would definitely be disappointed with a cheap unit.

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    I did have a look at cutters that required air feed as I wondered whether the cost of a compressor plus unit would be less than the cost of a unit without compressor. However, when I looked at the cfm required it turned out that I would need a reasonably sized compressor (that is, something $500 to $1k and upwards) rather than one of those $150 compact direct drive units.
    Taking to WESS (probably one of the largest welding equipment suppliers here in SA) their recommendation for a small plasma cutter was a Hypertherm Powermax30 but that would have needed the compressor. I did ask about integral compressor units and the Lincoln PC210 was mentioned - apparently they sell a lot to high schools and don't get returns on them so they must be reasonable.

    Anyway, armed with this information I remembered that Marc advertised a Lincoln unit a while back in the for sale section and as it represented a considerable discount on a new unit, took the plunge.
    It arrived on Thursday and today I plugged it in and had a play with it (fittingly while adapting my welding trolley to carry it). I haven't used plasma before - previous cutting has been either with mechanical devices (shears, angle grinder etc) or occasionally with oxy. The cut was clean and a lot faster than I thought it would be even though it was only 2mm wall RHS that I was cutting. I decided that I need to work on a steady hand though as some of the cuts were a little wobbly.
    I'll need to practice with the unit a bit to get used to the settings and what they do. One interesting thing with the compressor is that it is "on demand", so when you first pull the trigger there is a slight delay (a second or less) while the compressor starts and the cutting arc establishes. When the trigger is released the compressor carries on for several seconds cooling down the electrode.
    I down loaded a copy of the manual from the 'net, but as with most of these multi-language things there are lots of safety warnings but not much in the way of useful information on settings. Does anyone bother adjusting the settings for these machines or do you just move the torch faster? I'm tempted to not run on full current so I get a better duty cycle from it but I'm not sure that there is anything else to be gained (eg consumable life). Any thoughts?

    Michael

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