Plasma Cutter, 50 Amp 240V Dual Voltage Plasma Cutting Machine, IGBT Inverter Metal Plasma Cutter Max Cutting Thickness 20MM

Very good machine

I am very much more of a woodworker than metal worker, however, over the past year or two I have been occasionally venturing into the dark side and tinkering with metals. Compared to wood, cutting metal is a much more complicated process; as such I had had my eye on a plasma cutter for some time (despite knowing almost nothing about them) so when I spotted this one I took the plunge.I wasn't aware that in order to use a plasma cutter, you require an air compressor, so I duly borrowed one and set about learning about plasma cutting. It appears that the compressor is required as the plasma is created by ionising the stream of air (who knew?)In operation its actually fairly simple but initially a bit scary but relatively straight forward - plug it all in clamp the earth lead to the workpiece making sure its on clean metal and use the torch head to cut away. Theres a trigger on the torch that controls when the machine is activated.I have a few terrible attemps before I got the knack - or at least got less bad at using it. You are not meant let the nozzle touch the workpiece, so getting the right distance above it is part of the knack. The other parts of the knack are the speed you move the torch across what you are cutting - this is the hardest part to get right. Initially I had the power set too low I thnk so the cut was horrible - all over the place with losts of globs stuck to the underside and the edge very rough. Eventually I got frustrated and turned the cutter up full and the results were much better...I wouldnt say good, but much better. I was cutting a bit of sheet steel that was about 3mm thick and the cutter went through it like butter as you would expect.The set comes with a bunch of spare nozzles as it seems these wear out but I have only made a handful of test cuts so theres no wear to speak of yet. I fully intend to get the hang of the cutter eventually, I probably need a proper project to use it on rather than just chopping up odds and sods of metal that I had lying about. As it stands though I like the machine, it is not expensive as plasma cutters go, and it appears to have the potential of working well with some proper practice (and watching a bunch more youtube videos too).

I have wanted a plasma cutter for ages but couldn’t justify the cost for the amount of use it would get so I was really chuffed to get the opportunity to review this item. Firstly I am a complete novice so first it was off to Youtube for some instructional videos. I only have a tiny compressor but it meets the requirement for four bars of pressure for operation but does not have the flow rate for continued use, as such I can only use it for small jobs. You cannot use this plasma cutter without a suitable compressor, so bare that in mind.The video is my second ever cut on mild steel bar and as can be seen it went through like a hot knife through butter, what I learned was use full power and air and control the cut with speed of movement of the torch. The slag on the edge of the cut just chips off with a hammer. I am well impressed with this unit, I went on to cut some 5mm aluminium plate which it did with ease but with not such a neat edge, but as for steel well I have heard people say that you can get a cut edge that just needs a light sanding to finish and I can well believe it. I would have got one earlier if I knew how good they were.