Anyone have a plasma cutter here? I love to tinker around with stuff, some times weld up something for the house, etc. I am looking into getting a plasma cutter that will work well in my work shop and be mobile capable. I don't need anything industrial, as like i said, I'm just a hobbiest and want something that I can mess around with and work with in my home shop. I have checked out a couple of local shops and decided to go online for better pricing.
I found a couple of companies, but unlike the rest of the companies selling plasma cutters and welders out there, Longevity seems to have a great warranty, and the best all around pricing. Is there anyone here that will vouch for LONGEVITY? I'm almost ready to pull the trigger but would love some feed back on product support. and what would be the difference between a pilot arc plasma cutter and a regular plasma cutter? Im sure out of 500,000 hobbiests on this forum, someone should be able to answer some of my questions.
Longevity seems to be fine even though it will cost about $15 an hour to operate, it has the lowest cut quality and a greater chance for heat distortion vs water jet or laser, but it's also the cheapest. You can eliminate a lot of heat distortion caused by the plasma by cutting under water. Water jet over all is the best but it cost twice as much to operate and twice as much to purchase. I guess it would depend on how accurate you want your cutting to be and the sensitivity issue with heat distortion, if neither of those are an issue than get the plasm. I have feeling you already understand all of this so I'm just making useless noise.
For a hobbyist this seems like an excessive purchase, why not instead find something used and get it for at least half off the cost new?
