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Old 01-03-2020, 04:21 PM
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dataway dataway is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Saratoga NY
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Yep, I thought it would be good for careful dissection of panels for patches, but the oxide edge requires too much attention and to be honest it's too easy to make a quick error on thin panel with a plasma torch ... so I find a cut-off wheel to be better.

I think the bread and butter work for a plasma torch is cutting 16ga through 1/8" sheet for large projects. 16ga starts to become a pain with an electric shear and 1/8" is in that limbo between tool cutting or flame cutting ... perfect for plasma.

I've used mine mostly for fabrication of larger projects like blasting cabinets, large metal doors, hoppers, shields/guards etc. Originally the idea of lopping off chunks of 1/4 plate seemed attractive ... till I realized how rarely I do that, and when I do I need nice perfectly straight, clean edges because most likely it's going into some kind of welded structure .... band saw ends up doing that kind of work.

But, worthwhile tool to have. Unless you have a production shop .... better to get an off brand, or a used name brand rather than dropping the coin for a new one .... like I did