Going to start floor pan and other repairs. I want to buy a plasma cutter for the shop with out breaking the bank ($400). Probably only going to use it for the repairs on my car at this point. Product seems to have good reviews and is the pilot arc model. Seems all the low end stuff is from China with different names on them. Anybody using this plasma cutter?

Yes, No ?

No but interested on topic.

No, but if you get it you will just start cutting stuff for fun and you may end up with a lot less car.

I've never used a plasma cutter, but it seems like using this to work on sheet metal would be similar to bringing a steak knife to perform plastic surgery. it's just not delicate enough.

Yes .......... the Tool Whore has the same one.
Works great. I'm not very good with it. Usually too hot. I hope to build some sort of compass gadget for it.

Circle cutter is available for about $50 on Ebay.

only ever used them on clean steel,rusty stuff ...1mm cut off wheels are pretty good,or a die grinder with small disk.
I don't see them used widely but that's not to say they don't have there uses.

I've got one. An outstanding bit of kit. You can be quite precise but requires a guide. Excellent for chopping floors out and getting rid of large chunks of metal.

Is it made for the Lotus (copycat). I saw the one at Eastwood, but I never measured the pink cone to see if it matched. I think it will get some use on my $75 parts car.

I have one, its way fun to play with... When I got mine I was told the key thing to keep them working and getting good results is DRY air. I run a paint shop in line Desiccant filter on mine. When its not being used the filter is removed from the line and the ends are closed so it does not absorb moisture from just sitting on the shelf.

When I was basically done with my car, I had it on a lift to do some final tweaking before paint.
I found a spot I missed and wanted to weld in a small patch.

The shop owner introduced me to the wonders of pneumatic snips or shears.

Could have saved s lot of time overall and a much cleaner and safer process than cutting discs. Not sure what their maximum sheet thickness is, but I would think 16 maybe 14 ga would be it.

This one from Northern tool says 20 guage max.


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They do a pretty good job of cutting Formica as well.

I have an import Longevity combo unit that looks a little like that...

http://www.longevity-inc.com/plasma-cutters

So far so good, mine does Arc, plasma cutter (5/8" steel no problems) and AC/DC Tig.

I have owned a miller plasma cutter for a few years and it's great for bulk cutting metal like rebar or thick steel but for floor pans etc I get a much cleaner more precise end result with discs or an air powered body saw. It might be op error on my part but try one out on thin sheet metal first and see how you like it. It's fast and easy but leaves an irregular edge that needs to be dressed anyway before welding in a patch panel cleanly. It would make quick work of cutting up an entire car if you were in a wrecking yard or something like that. Just my opinion FWIW

Shears :

The HF electric pair does a good of cutting thru our 18 gauge. Much better than our Old Milwaukie pair. How long they'll last, that's the question?

Sounds barbaric, but I was able to cut out a section of my floor plan very easily and cleanly with a sawzall and appropriate blade.