Plasma cutter question

[Jlwright]

I may buy a plasma cutter and have never owned one. Is there a reason to pay $1,300.00 to 1,500. for a name brand like Hypertherm or Thermal dynamics over a Simadre that is Chinese made I'm sure that sells for $400.00? There a a lot of these out there and consumables are available for them. All I am going to use this for is to cut thin parts for aircraft and automotive parts and occasional use. I can live with a smaller duty cycle since this won't be used for production work but do want a unit that will operate as it should. Here is a link to the Simadre unit I'm looking at.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Simadre-Plasma-Cutter-50DP-Pilot-Arc-50-Amp-Dual-Voltage-110-220V-CNC-Compatible/171278992941?_trksid=p2045573.c100034.m2102&_trkparms=aid%3D555012%26algo%3DPW.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D21023%26meid%3D5742023329993228760%26pid%3D100034%26prg%3D9336%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D181361331945

[Bugsmasher]

The problem of not having a well known brand...Miller-HTP-Thermalarc -etc. is that consumables may have to be mail ordered to you. You probably would not be able to get them at your local welding supply. That in itself can be a deal breaker as some tip and nozzles out weigh the cost of a higher cost/quality machine in time. We have a used ESAB and it has worked flawless. I prefer to cut most brackets out on the band saw though.  No slag to clean....plus if I need 4 or 6 of the same thing I will cut bigger squares, stack them, weld at least 2 corners of the stack, and then band saw them leaving the welded edges. Grind off the weld on the edges and your done.  Not trying to talk you out of it...Craig's list might be a thing to look into. Most of the new inverter equipment is gaining a good reputation though.  My .02

[Jlwright]

You are probably right about band sawing the parts. I have a wire edm machine that will them perfect and may just do it that way but it is slow and a waste of expensive equipment. I stack thin parts and tack the stack together with the tig welder and that works pretty well. I guess I'm just looking for an excuse to buy another tool. I would probably find other uses for it too if I had it in the shop. Thanks for your insight.

[weasel]

I bought the older model of This works good for me.

AC tig for alum. 
DC tig for chromoly
DC stick for general purpose welding
Plasma cutting.

China made.    

bought enough consumables mail order so that I dont need to look locally. 

[liteflyt]

Just a little user info, I have all my small pieces of 4130 cut out of a sheet with a water jet. saves a bunch of saw blades and
leaves a clean edge.. Not very expensive of you can lay out a bunch of them in a CAD .dxf  to send to a water jet job shop.
 I just had a 24" x 36" sheet of 28 gage, 316 CRES  cutout with 27 pieces, containing 48 cut out patterns for less than $50 ..

 Now that's a lot of sawing........

[Murray Randall]

The saw I like for all aircraft parts is a cut off saw raised with base plate made up to act like a band saw. I use 1/2" .020 18-22 pitch blades.  I have a Miller 375 Xtreme plasma cutter but I grinding off the edge slag is slow and laborious.   I have never made an aircraft part using the Miller 375. Attached are pics of my band saw, and some objects made with the plasma cutter. The Miller 375 Xtreme is a $1,000 but is light, runs fine on shop air.  My Dana P5 "piece" is sitting on the band saw as I just made some new trigger lock parts and know all you Texas dudes with the big iron would get a chuckle at what we MA blue state guys call a gun.  

[Jlwright]

Looks like I won't be buying a plasma cutter. They leave a lot worse edge than I thought it would. I took a sheet of .090 to my nephew's shop and he cut all 8 landing gear brackets in under one minute. It's amazing what a million dollar laser will do. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. The quarter inch holes measured within .003 of nominal.

[Rich Snyder]

Looks like I won't be buying a plasma cutter. They leave a lot worse edge than I thought it would. I took a sheet of .090 to my nephew's shop and he cut all 8 landing gear brackets in under one minute. It's amazing what a million dollar laser will do. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open. The quarter inch holes measured within .003 of nominal.

 jl you are a lucky man. I just spent all day making mine. Got some great help from a Metal fabricating business close by. After I center punched the spot where the  longeron fits in the brackets, they just put the pieces on a punch and made holes in the .090 like it was paper. I don't have a 5/8" drill and grinding my first bracket was a pain. Then I brought the pieces home and went from there. Came out good but I bet those laser cut pieces are purty! Here's mine all paired up for installation. Rich.