Yes, the holiday season will soon be upon us, and visions of large, heavy,
gift-wrapped boxes under the Christmas tree are floating in our minds.
With the spouse off on the traditional mad shopping rush the day after,
Thanksgiving, it's time for me to consider a present for myself.... =8^)
I'm going to be doing a bunch of autobody restoration this winter, involving
a fair amount of sheetmetal rust repair. Other future projects will include
building a bunch of racks and modifying some items made of hitch steel.
While I do have a cut-off wheel, angle die-grinder, and oxy torch, it seems
that a plasma cutter would do a much nicer/cleaner job. One big problem
I have with cutoff wheels is the fine metal dust that gets generated and
spread on everything.
I have both 120/220 in the garage, as well as a 6hp/60g compressor; that
should be enough for most any hobby type plasma cutter I think. Have any
of you bought one that you would recommend/disparage? My local welding
shop has a "hobby line" (I can't recall the brand, but the low end one
had some cheesy dragon (looks like it was copied off bad Chinese fireworks)
on the side) that was fully self-contained (air too). The specs looked good
relative to the ESAB one (much more $$$$). I'm looking to cut sheetmetal,
and maybe 1/4" hitch steel; I was told I could cut thicker metal with multiple
passes like a mig welder. The other one I was considering was a mail-order
unit from Daytona Mig. However, any brand recommendations are appreciated
(as well as an idea of price).
Finally, is there a good source for spot-weld cutters? The local shops don't
have them (I get blank stares).... Mail-order or chain store is fine. BTW,
I am in Portland OR, if anyone knows of a local place (the welding shop is
Pacific AirGas for you local types).
Thanks, and have a great Thanksgiving everyone!
Mike
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