Plasma Cutter

[Pringles]

Will the Plasma cutters at the "budget" end of the available list be able to be used for thermal heating of seized bolts etc?

I was hoping that if we were to splash out and buy a Plasma cutter then hopefully I could tell BOC to ram their annual rental charge somewhere painfull.

I have been looking at clips on youtube with one clip showing a guy heating a bolt until it was cherry red then undoing it, this was using an Oxford cutter, I'm quite keen as they are british made and Welding Supplies who are on here sell them, but they are fairly strong money.

P.S. It would be for basic farm workshop tasks.

 

[agrimax]

Don't think you'll find a budget cutter with the thermal heating function. Only seems to be the Oxfords that have it and they're not in the budget range...

 

[David.]

I have a budget one with a drag torch, and it does a job, but my advice is buy the Oxford or similar; buy once, cry once.

 

[TripleSix]

I've only seen the Oxford with that function.

It looks a bit slow though...

Consider rent free bottles from SGS gases?

 

[Nearly]

Propane and compressed air through a regulator?
Don't underestimate the plumbers' blowtorch etc.

 

[Barleymow]

I've used a propane bottle torch but not as hot as oxy set up .I also have a small plasma cutter great fun to use ,and I recently went down the oxygen propropelene route with non rental bottles

 

[Munkul]

After getting a Tecarc 65 plasma cutter, the oxy-propane set just sits in a corner with a "pepper pot" nozzle for heating. I use a 20l hobbyweld O2 bottle and a 19kg Calor bottle. No rental

 

[Classichay]

Oxy propane here with the right propane tip just effective and cuts just as well. Can braze but not weld,

 

[box]

A cheap 3 in 1 TIG Arc Plasma machine would happily heat a bolt to cherry red (and beyond) using the TIG function and a balled tungsten (but you're still going to need an argon bottle).

You can't really beat an oxy acetylene/LPG/propane set though.... just get rid of the BOC account. "Buying" my own bottles is the best thing I ever did, the ongoing rental used to do my head in.