I just went through a ton of research before buying a plasma cutter. I found some great help here and special thanks to WeldPro for his help via email.
The attached spreadsheet should be useful for anyone looking to spend around a grand on a Plasma cutter. Some of it is my opinion and it is a "paper" review. Not actual testing so YMMV 'cause marketing guys can be full of BS. I did my best to compare things that I felt were important and to see through the marketing BS. Use it or loose it if you don't like it.
It is an Excel file. Too much crap to fit in a post here. **Right click the link and save to your HD b4 opening it. **
http://home.houston.rr.com/shrake/images/Docs/Plasma Comparison.xls
Others gems from my scrounging:
There is a Miller 701 for $1450 here. Factory refurb, full warranty, new torch. This is a killer deal. It is a 50A beast. W/ tax it was just too much for me. Also a little big for my small shop since it is a transformer machine.
http://www.affiliatedmachinery.com/
The ESAB price came from here. I'm sure he will sell them at the reserve price all day.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1749443684
I was gonna keep that bit of info to myself until I bought it tonight, then I found a Hypertherm 380 for $1000 brand new and bought that. I still think the ESAB is sweet, but the $300 will come in handy elsewhere. This was just too good a deal to pass.
The attached spreadsheet should be useful for anyone looking to spend around a grand on a Plasma cutter. Some of it is my opinion and it is a "paper" review. Not actual testing so YMMV 'cause marketing guys can be full of BS. I did my best to compare things that I felt were important and to see through the marketing BS. Use it or loose it if you don't like it.
It is an Excel file. Too much crap to fit in a post here. **Right click the link and save to your HD b4 opening it. **
http://home.houston.rr.com/shrake/images/Docs/Plasma Comparison.xls
Others gems from my scrounging:
There is a Miller 701 for $1450 here. Factory refurb, full warranty, new torch. This is a killer deal. It is a 50A beast. W/ tax it was just too much for me. Also a little big for my small shop since it is a transformer machine.
http://www.affiliatedmachinery.com/
The ESAB price came from here. I'm sure he will sell them at the reserve price all day.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1749443684
I was gonna keep that bit of info to myself until I bought it tonight, then I found a Hypertherm 380 for $1000 brand new and bought that. I still think the ESAB is sweet, but the $300 will come in handy elsewhere. This was just too good a deal to pass.