Do you need a cutting tool for occasional repair and maintenance work? Have you recently embarked on a new project that requires higher cutting volumes? Or are you looking for a new alternative to your current mechanical saw? All these scenarios provide great reasons to investigate plasma cutting. With the cost of machines on the decline, smaller-sized, portable machines flooding the market and technology offering increased benefits and easier usage - it may be time to take a serious look at plasma for your cutting applications. The benefits of plasma cutting include ease of use, higher quality cuts and faster travel speeds.
How does plasma cutting compare to oxyfuel cutting?
Plasma cutting can be performed on any type of conductive metal - mild steel, aluminum and stainless are some examples. With mild steel, operators will experience faster, thicker cuts than with alloys. Plasma cutting makes far cleaner cuts on the material than oxyfuel cutting.
Oxyfuel cuts by burning, or oxidizing, the metal it is severing. It is therefore limited to steel and other ferrous metals which support the oxidizing process. Metals like aluminum and stainless-steel form an oxide that inhibits further oxidization, making conventional oxyfuel cutting impossible. Plasma cutting, however, does not rely on oxidation to work, and thus it can cut aluminum, stainless and any other conductive material.
While different gases can be used for plasma cutting, most people today use compressed air for plasma gas. In most shops, compressed air is readily available, and thus plasma does not require fuel gas and compressed oxygen for operation.
Plasma cutting is typically easier for the novice to master, and on thinner materials, plasma cutting is much faster than oxyfuel cutting. However, for heavy sections of steel (20mm and greater), oxyfuel is still preferred since oxyfuel is typically faster and, for heavier plate applications, very high-capacity power supplies are required for plasma cutting applications.
What can I use a plasma cutter for?
Plasma cutting is ideal for cutting steel, and non-ferrous material less than 20mm thick. Oxyfuel cutting requires that the operator carefully control the cutting speed to maintain the oxidizing process. Plasma is more forgiving in this regard. Plasma cutting really shines in some niche applications, such as cutting expanded metal, something that is nearly impossible with oxyfuel. And, compared to mechanical means of cutting, plasma cutting is typically much faster, and can easily make non-linear cuts.
What are the limitations to plasma cutting? Where is oxyfuel preferred?
Plasma cutting machines are typically more expensive than oxyacetylene, and, oxyacetylene does not require access to electrical power or compressed air which may make it a more convenient method for some users. Oxyfuel can cut thicker sections (>20mm) of steel more quickly than plasma.
