Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello ya'll. I bought an Eastwood Plasma 60 cutter. Returned it for a replacement because of issues, plugged in the new replacement, having more issues, so I'm about to approach Eastwood for a refund and go elsewhere. I like the 7/8" thick metal cutting capacity and would like to stay in that area (3/4" would likely work as well).
The question: I will buy another plasma cutter, leaning to either Miller or Lincoln but I'm open to suggestions. What do you suggest if you were buying a new plasma cutter?
I'd also like to hear of your thoughts on your existing plasma cutter and the pros/cons of it as well.

Thanks everyone in advance for your thoughts/help.

RP

First choice:
https://www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.com/ ... pkg-083270
Next would be the Thermal Dynamics 82
Lincoln makes a great machine, Miller too.

All these will be vastly better boxes than Eastwood puts out.

Thanks for the reply, looking into all of them now.

BUYER BEWARE!! FYI: If any of you are considering buying Eastwood's Plasma Cutter (20,40/60), RECONSIDER. I'm convinced the ratings they have on the Eastwood site MUST be posted by their own employees. This plasma cutter is JUNK! I bought the 60, had it replaced once, the new replacement is having issues, yet again. I called Eastwood, they offered a Refurbished unit, I declined and wanted a refund. They said even though this unit has a 3 year warranty and they claim 100% customer satisfaction, they could only offer the refub or a gift card. I chose the gift card instead of playing this insane game with them. Now I'm out almost $700.00 and will be looking for a unit that WeldMonger recommended above. Another hard lesson learned..............

Hypertherm is one of the best

Do not compare a 700.00 unit with a 3000.00 one. I bought a Hypertherm about 10 years ago.Paid 1400.00 had about 4 hours of cutting time .The last time i tried to use it it kept loosing spark called Hypertherm. tech He told me I needed a 700.00 work board.After 4 hours of cutting That is about a bit insane .It was out of warranty Went out and bought an Eastwood versa 40. 2 months ago have about 15 Hours of cutting time and it works perfect A new Hypertherm 30 amp Is 1600.00 A lot more than I could afford since retired.Blue Red Or Grey you better expect to pay.

You should have taken the replacement plasma cutter and sold it on Ebay, lol.

Hypertherm
Thermal Dynamics
HTP.

I just got an HTP Microcut 875sc and it works awesome. Coincidentally, I also have an Eastwood Versacut40, and it's bordering on being 6 yrs old. My first one was replaced at about 8months, but then the new one they sent me is at least 5 yrs old now.

Thanks for the comments. I actually never thought of selling it on ebay.com BUT I'd hate to sell something to anyone where I suspect (and know) from my own experience that's it's defective junk. The plasma they wanted to send to me was a refurb unit. Glad you have had a good experience with your model 40 but that has definitely not been my experience. My new HyperTherm PowerMax 65 unit is slated for delivery tomorrow, can't wait to try it.
Thanks again..............

Maybe you can do a short review on the hypertherm once you have it & will be interested on which table you opt for & how that works out - it's a shame that buying Chinese is always a lottery as I also have a generic 40amp plasma bought years ago only really as an occasional use unit small enough to cart around on jobs but it's used daily as my go to cutter for moderate thickness material & has cut thousands of feet of metal including day long constant slashing 8foot sheets into strip with the torch hung on an old track cutter ( BOC pug ) original torch could be used but is pretty beat up but a new one from Ebay was very cheap & gave me the chance to get a longer hose so I have no complaints about it - the guy importing them was decent - knew about the product & had been out to the factory that produced his batch to check on quality & provided good warranty if needed so going import can be a good deal - in context my unit cost £179 & has been reliable cutting anything within or just over it's rated capacity I tried including rust / paint dirty metal - mate spent about 10 times that on a small Lincoln unit & it's never worked right from day one - been back & forward to supplier till it was out of warranty - on a good day it once managed to cut some 1/8" leaving a finish worse than I can do with oxy - now it sits on a shelf as an ornament !

Thanks for the reply. Hypertherm was consistently recommended by everyone I spoke to on many forums and personally to people in fab shops so my hopes are very high it will work flawlessly.
My research on tables is just now beginning and what I've learned so far is that there is MUCHO more to buying a table and the repercussions of making the wrong choice could be severe so I anticipate this will be a longer term research project than for the plasma torch.
But when I make my final decision, I'll post it here.