plasma needs air?

[hllon4whls]

Does a plasma cutter need a compressed air source to work?

 

[Camman]

yes

 

[dastang2]

i want one badly, i used them in the ag shop at in high school and they cut much cleaner and faster than a torch. yes they need air but i don't know why

 

[Ray III]

the air is what cuts the metal

 

[TIMMY2734]

http://science.howstuffworks.com/plasma-cutter1.htm

 

[Rick 91GT]

We finally bought one this year when we started my 25.5 chassis, awesome tool I'll never use a cut off wheel again.

 

[Musclecarfan88]

http://science.howstuffworks.com/plasma-cutter1.htm

Best site ever! Theres so much awesome stuff to read about on howstuffworks.com!

 

[mob]

arent they really really expensive? i saw a show once they said it cost there shop like a few hundred thousand maybe it was some special kind

 

[85GTlover]

arent they really really expensive? i saw a show once they said it cost there shop like a few hundred thousand maybe it was some special kind

You can get them for much, much, much less than that, I can assure you that, I am only guessing, but a few grand and less for a shop one for sure. A good one would be a few grand. I am a union ironworker and our union hall trade school shop has one and if they cost that much, I assure you we would not have one. They make some great cuts, makes fitting and doing a nice job much easier. But a cutting disc does the job too, for much less money. But if I could afford one I sure would love to have one.

 

[blk92stangg]

You can get one for around a grand or so.

 

[mob]

that site was incredibly awsome ive learned so much in just 10mins i learned how an engine works which i didnt really know exactly what it did awsome site

 

[hllon4whls]

On the price you can get one for 1500. I just never realized that they needed compressed air. I wont be getting one anytime soon. I just spent $1000 getting my whole mig setup. Then I did not do my car like I planned. Still not a waste. I love to get out in the shed and fuse some metal together. For those of you that dont know, that bed rail that comes with mattressess is some strong stuff. Good for most household projects. Dont try to make anything more than a go-kart frame out of it though.

 

[hllon4whls]

http://science.howstuffworks.com/plasma-cutter1.htm

Thanks, I did not think to look there even though I use the site often.

 

[Ray III]

some company has a robotic plasma cutting table that you make an image on a PC and it cuts it out for you. About $5000. I can't remember the website for it