Use of Plasma Cutters in restoration

[Phil Waterman]

Thanks Stuart for starting this thread-

I've been using a plasma cutter for years, but the links you brought in showed/told me something new, that is the impact of high-frequency arc start on many plasma cutters. Namely that computers don't like it, I often had my shop computer shut down, reboot, etc, if the plasma cutter was plugged into certain outlets in the shop. Now I know the cause.

The Miller site is particularly interesting as it is talking about the smaller size plasma cutters and how much they really can do.

One comment that I would make for any one considering buying a plasma cutter is to look at the tip of the cutting head some of them are made with a cone shaped tip and some are cylinder shaped. The cone shape is much harder to cut to a template as the tip tends to ride up. The straight sided cylinder tips are easier to to follow along a template.

Speaking of templates when cutting complicated shapes out of thin sheet metal I often cut my templates out of refrigerator magnets. You would think that the heat would burn the magnets but in reality you can get a number to parts cutout with the same template.

Cheers