New toy in the shop...

Self Made Knives

Self Made Knives

Well-Known Member
I'm still not sure the extent that I can use this with making knives, but I think it will come in handy at least for roughing out material. Man this thing cuts fast!

[video=youtube_share;t422fkQWB28]https://youtu.be/t422fkQWB28[/video]
 
Outstanding video, Anthony. Man, Harris really did you right, didn't they? It's tragic to see your local welding supply be so unhelpful. In this day in age it just boggles my mind when a local store doesn't understand that they live and die on customer service because they simply cannot compete on price when they are competing with the internet. I'll pay a little bit more for the local store who's willing to provide helpful advice and service, but I'm not about to pay more for less just because he thinks he's the only game in town. "Town" is anywhere that ships, in today's market.

I'm sitting here drooling over that plasma cutter. I spent all weekend sitting at the bandsaw cutting out my next batch of blanks. I remember the days when I wished I had a real metal bandsaw, so I'm not completely ungrateful for what I've got. But the whole time I was sawing all I could think of is that I could do in about half an hour what took me several hours sitting on my HF bandsaw, not to mention getting that many more blanks out of my steel.

Congratulations on your new cutter!
 
Outstanding video. Great commentary and demonstration.

I don't know that I really need one of those for anything.....but I sure want one now!
 
Oh yeah!!! A Plasma cutter is one of those things you may not use everyday, but when you need one.....boy, oh boy are they handy!
 
Thanks guys for the comments guys, I wasn't sure anyone here would care about a plasma cutter. I'm still amazed at how it works and how well it cuts. I was going to cut some brass and copper in the video, but got distracted and forgot all about it. I've got a belt grinder design all drawn up in cad that I hope to be able to cut out one of these days with a cnc table. It's a variation/improvement on the EERF grinder that I was hoping to be able to offer as a kit. This cutter is just step two of that project, now I've got to start saving up again for the cnc setup.
 
Man, that thing is sweet. if I just got that I'd probably be calling friends asking if they needed any steel cut. "what are you talking about they'd say...never mind I'd say, just get over here and bring some steel that needs cutting!
 
Sweet toy! I'm guessing it cuts up to 5/8"?

I have a Miller Spectrum 375 X-treme, good to about 3/8". They are wonderful tools, great for the thicker odd shaped material and especially nice for sheet metals and plate. After you have one it's hard to imagine living without it!
 
Yeah, I don't see the old oxy-acetylene rig getting used much anymore, except for heating up something. This one has a rated cut 3/4" with hand torch and severance of over an inch. On a machine torch, cnc setup, it's rated for 5/8". I'm curious how it will cut titanium, but I only have some little scraps on hand right now.
 
Great vid. A plasma cutter has been on my wish list for some time, but right now I could more use a good stick welder and then maybe more an O/A rig for what I've been wanting to do. Eventually I would like to grab one, though it may not be that nice.

It's kind of sad to hear the local shop was completely unwilling to work with you. It always amazes me how people would rather make ZERO dollars, vs drop the price to a reasonable level. More often than not, they'd still be making a little money on it, but instead of making $50 (which turns into a return customer, future service calls, etc..), they'd rather make $500 bucks. Then again, when your price is $500 higher than everyone else's, you're not gonna sell nearly as many, if any.

At any rate, congrats on the new toy! Looking forward to seeing the CNC table come together.

Speaking of CNC.... how's that mini mill? :biggrin:
 
Oh! The mini mill! I get harassed daily as to why it's taking so long. I said it was a spare time project in the first video, but people are impatient, lol. I've just got too many projects going. Speaking of, tried cutting a little sign tonight with the cutter. Will definitely need practice!
 

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Self Made Knives said:
Oh! The mini mill! I get harassed daily as to why it's taking so long. I said it was a spare time project in the first video, but people are impatient, lol. I've just got too many projects going. Speaking of, tried cutting a little sign tonight with the cutter. Will definitely need practice!
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I completely understand about having too many projects... I don't even know where to start anymore!
 
That Hypertherm torch will give a life time of service. We use a 1650 at work that gets used all day everyday. It has been in service for seven years and the only maintenance that has been done to it is replacement of the torch lead from being drug a crossed our cnc table. Our table runs 2 gantries each running off of Hypertherm HPR 400 power supplies. Ty
 
Anthony, that is a really good plasma. I have the 65 as well that we stepped up to after the magic smoke rolled out of our old thermal dynamics cutmaster. I really like the Hypertherm. One thing I have found is it cuts aluminum a lot cleaner than the cutmaster did. Did you buy one with the CPC port already installed?
 
Yeah, I ordered it as a machine torch package so I could get the cpc port. I'll just be using a hand torch for a while, but I'm hoping if things work out just right, I can get a cnc table next spring. This is my first plasma, so I don't have any reference, but I'm really liking it so far. Well, except for one thing, it uses too much air for my small compressor. I'll have to upgrade the air supply too. Never ending....
 
Yea, we run ours off of a 7.5 HP IR type 30 and it will use some air. I would like to see one in a CNC table. It's not in my budget for a while but I ordered ours with the CPC port in it as well for that reason.
 
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