When I looked at plasma cutters I was doing welding trade courses and was able to try out many different sizes and types.
Get the best plasma cutter you can afford.
Single phase ones with the internal air compressor work OK for small jobs, like cutting the roof off the top of a car..............but not really good for cutting 6 mm plate quickly and cleanly.
I purchased a miller single phase 15amp............top quality thing and never looked back................it will cut cleanly 12 mm plate and much more if I am prepared to go slowly.............the problem was it cost me 4.5 k at the time.
I had problems with tips until I really learnt how to use the thing.
I rarely replace tips now.
I ended up swapping over to Oxy /LPG.
The problem is the cost of buying LPG tips and burners/cutters to convert your existing gear to suit.
Core gas supply rent free Oxy/acet bottles and may work out more cost effective.
I think Core gas is the people who supply Bunnings.
With Oxy/LPG you will still need the Oxy bottle .
A normal 9 kg barbeque works Ok for the LPG side of things.
Performance of Oxy/LPG is not much less than Oxy/ acet if the correct tips are used.
To add to the above...
To convert oxy DA to Oxy LPG, you'd need to consider replacing:
Regulator, Hose, And cutting tips to suit.
You can reuse your old blowpipe, mixer, cutting attachment and flashback arrestors as required.
Details are outlined in AS4839:2001
Oxy LPG is fine for Cutting, heating, brazing, soldering but NOT oxy/fuel welding due to the lower flame temp and higher water content in the combustion process.
Coregas do supply Bunnings. Coregas is owned by Wesfarmers, as is Bunnings, so that's the magic link there. Wesfarmers also own Kleenheat on the west coast, but east coast kleenheat operations and distribution was acquired by Elgas in '15, with some of the business divested to Supagas (owned by Taiyo Nippon- No longer "100% Australian"- their slogan). Interestingly, Elgas (Of BOC / Linde group ownership) supplies the LPG Swap and Go scheme via Bunnings on east coast, deep in the retail heart of the wesfarmers conglomerate. Go figure eh? It's an interesting industry.
Anyhow, the coregas offer is a deposit model with a first fill model, and a refill price thereafter (on an exchange basis).
There are offers with Speedgas (high cyl purchase price- like 400 clams), but offer does not include acetylene.
BOC has a D and G size offer, with included fill for a price per anum.
Power 10 gases (iirc total tools) have an offer as well, but I'm not familiar with it (not in my patch).
Then there is the mail order ebay mobs where you can post (YES, POST!) a cylinder to get filled. Good luck sneaking that past the clerk at the Aus post desk!
TL;DR
Know your usage, know your cyl volumes, and weigh up your options for the work you want to do. ANYTHING is going to be expensive (low perceived value) if you have incur a cost and have no use for it...
-Mitch
'El Burro' 2012 Defender 90.
Thanks but that is all overkill for what I need - just the little bottle kits will do me fine though I might change my little propane bottle over to a MAPP bottle and that will do most of what I want where just a bit of heat is concerned and the addition of O2 for a bit of brazing.
As far as the plasma cutter is concerned - this is just a replacement for my angle grinder with a cutting wheel in it so a simple setup is all that is required. Anything more and I pay a welding shop to do what I want.
Thanks for all the options - is great to consider what is available.
Cheers
Garry
REMLR 243
2007 Range Rover Sport TDV6
1977 FC 101
1976 Jaguar XJ12C
1973 Haflinger AP700
1971 Jaguar V12 E-Type Series 3 Roadster
1957 Series 1 88"
1957 Series 1 88" Station Wagon
I am in the process of buying a plasma cutter too. One thing to look for is High Frequency (pilot arc) start, and a torch fitted with a drag cup so you can drag the torch nozzle on the surface you are cutting. If you have a TIG welder, why not use that for brazing. If you don't have a TIG, but do a reasonable amount of brazing then one of the cheaper units will do. There are combi units that will plasma cut and TIG, check Edisons (Welding Machines | Rossi | Available Online at Edisons) for a Rossi unit.
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