Cheap Tig and Plasma cutter review

[EVLXX]

Some time ago.... around last Halloween I think, I purchased an Eastwood Tig 200 welder and a Versa Cut 40 Plasma cutter.

See here... http://www.eastwood.com/welders/plasma-cutter.html

First I used the Tig 200 welder... some time ago on a handrail project...Aluminium.... It works good, and you can make great welds with it, but it has one downfall. The foot pedal that comes with the unit is Not Variable, it's an On/Off switch. That's my olny big complaint with the unit... beyound that it works Great. For the Home hobbiest... it's a great piece bang for the buck. The amperage control is a dial on the face of the unit.

The Plasma Cutter... it was a package deal with the Tig, and this weekend I finally got it up and running for another project. The quick responce is... Plasma Cutters are Fucking COOL! YA! COOL!

Again, for the home hobbiest, its a great buy, but as I learned this weekend, not everything is simple. Things you should know before hand...

You Need Dry Air, which means you need a very very good air drying system for your air compressor before you start. I did not know this... I originally bought a small inline deseccant filter, which worked great for about 15 minutes worth of cutting. I'm now in the process of building a much bigger and better air drying system.

Secondly, you need to buy consumable tips... right from the start, and lots of them. If you have miosture in the air, any moisture, your cutting tip will last about 5-10 minutes, Not long at all. If you have a good air drier, and a steady hand, so that your not "Streching the arc" your tips will last about 1.5-2 hours.

Fun Stuff... for sure.

[SwampNut]

One of the big differences in plasma cutters is the consumables. I looked at cheap and higher end, and determined that with some usage, the higher end can end up less expensive or at least close. I chose a Hypertherm 30 for about $1k. It's a contact unit, so you're not screwing up tips if your hand isn't steady. I don't know how much time I have on it, but I've never worn out a tip set. I replaced some of the stuff just because, but pretty sure they were still serviceable.

Being AZ I can't compare air drying problems. I went with a basic desiccant unit at the cutter end, and have a generic water separator on the regulator. The desiccant seems to run forever before it changes color.