I have a friend using a 100 AMP plasma (sorry don't know model #) on his plasmacam table. He would like to know if there is another torch out there he can convert to because of the high cost of the miller consumables?
Reply:The cost of consumables is one thing... life is another. How many inches of cutting is your friend getting between changes?I normally expect to get at least 800 to 1000 inches. Not sure if that's good or bad. I've toasted them in a lot less. I'm cutting mostly 0.25 to 1" plate. I did 800+ inches in 1" plate the other day before changing part of the consumables for example. I do find that if I keep an eye on the electrode length my nozzles and shield cap lasts a lot longer... If I don't keep an eye on it... then the whole mess goes. Still even with the consumables... it's generally cheaper than buying oxygen. I'm running a Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster 151 on the table. I've heard that my consumables are more expensive that Hypertherm but I have no basis of comparison. I figure my cost per inch on consumables averages around maybe 5 cents.Maybe some others will chime in.