[austinblake92]

Hi im building a cnc plasma cutter this is my 3rd cnc machine i've built. its 5 ft by 9 ft im finished with the machine and im to the point to where im ready to mount somthing to it. I found a inexspensive plasma cutter on ebay for $450.00 with a cnc feature. when it comes to plasma I am a complete newbie and I am in some desperate need of guadiance. the plasma cutter i have found is a SIMADRE 50DP PILOT ARC 50AMP 110V/220V PLASMA CUTTER CNC compatible. what im wondering is how well will this work on my machine and what would i have to do to get it running or if it will even work at all on my cnc. heres a link Simadre 50DP Pilot Arc 50amp 110V 220V Plasma Cutter CNC Compatible | eBay

[jimcolt]

If you choose to purchase a low cost Chinese plasma.....just remember that its performance in terms of cut quality, consumable life, and reliability are not a good reflection on Plasma cutting systems performance from the major manufacturers such as Hypertherm. Units like the one you are looking at will have very short consumable parts life, which over time will make them more expensive than the industrial units. Service and parts availability will be issues as the unit gets older, and there will be no good comaprison in terms of cut quality.

If you have a very limited budget, first determine what type of power level you need by determining the maximum thickness of metal that you need to pierce on your cnc machine. Piercing is different than edge starting....and a good rule of thumb is to take the plasma suppliers maximum thickness and divide x 2, so most systems can pierce 1/2 of their rated max thickness capability. A Hypertherm 45 amp system can pierce 1/2" when used with a height control, this is similar to the pierce rating for most of the 60 amp low cost imports. The Hypertherm units will come with detailed cut charts listing pierce height, pierce delay times, cut heights, arc voltage as well as cut speeds for almost all thicknesses and types of material....the low cost imports generally will leave all of this to experimentation.

Once you determine the pierce thickness required start looking on the used machine market for a major brand unit that meets those specs. In most cases the used major brand will perform better, last longer, be serviceable and will have a similar price to the low cost imports.


Jim Colt

[ssutton]

I am installing a Longevity 41i on my machine now. I spent the majority of the day wiring up the MP3000 THC from CANDCNC. No question that Jim is correct about what he says. However, my budget did not allow me to purchase a proven major brand unit either. The 42i is the latest plasma from longevity and has supposed to have addressed many of the earlier issues that longevity plasma cutters had with CNC operation. We shall see. The build quality of the unit is very impressive, I will post info as soon as I am up and running, however this may be a while, I have orders waiting for my machine to come back up in router mode so plasma will have to wait.

Scott

[jimcolt]

Should cut metal just fine. Keep us posted on the progress!Show us some cut pictures...


Jim Colt Hypertherm

I am installing a Longevity 41i on my machine now. I spent the majority of the day wiring up the MP3000 THC from CANDCNC. No question that Jim is correct about what he says. However, my budget did not allow me to purchase a proven major brand unit either. The 42i is the latest plasma from longevity and has supposed to have addressed many of the earlier issues that longevity plasma cutters had with CNC operation. We shall see. The build quality of the unit is very impressive, I will post info as soon as I am up and running, however this may be a while, I have orders waiting for my machine to come back up in router mode so plasma will have to wait.

Scott

[LeeWay]

Most of the issues I read about with cheap machines has to do with them not playing well with either Mach, the computer or the THC.

Several years back I did buy a cheap one and a THC300 I think it was. It worked, but wound up selling it complete. Then when it came time for a new machine, I saved the bucks and caught a Hypertherm PM45 on sale. Still a chunk of change, but worth every penny. It has paid for itself in the speed of cut department a couple times already in less than a year.
I can cut enough parts on it in one day to last us through two weeks of production.