Viewer Question: Should I Buy A PlasmaCam?

[@netwizzard]

I'd love to hear what you think now that you've had it a few years? I just was given one that is out of date with no computer. Plasma Cam wants $7,000 to update it, and provide me the software. They won't just sell me the old disk.

[@jeffreysanto]

My PlasmaCAM is resting in a shallow grave in the scrap yard. I moved into more industrial projects and it was never a high production machine. I used it until it died, used the legs and other material and made two benches. The shop has been down for a little over a year as we are moving things around and I started working full time. We are planning on moving to a new piece of property with a larger shop within the next three or four months. Once I get that set up I am planning on investing in a Torchmate 4800 plasma cutting system.

[@philipprigmore8723]

You did it the smart way. You knew what you wanted to do, but you also looked at the potential for things other than what you wanted to do. You applied the potential and now you have made it work. Excellent. (And no, even though I didn't ask the question, I know I don't need one, nor do I want one. I am a hobbyist, not a business.) Have a great Christmas and New Year. See you in the next video.

[@BadChadification]

Great video, great honesty. Thanks for all the info.

[@ironhead65]

Love the way you ended the video! Always makes me smile! I made a steel rose for my wife using your video as a guide, went over very well! So, thank you rose guy!

[@jeffreysanto]

Thanks Dan! Its like I've said in the past if you can't have fun doing what your doing go find something else to do :) Happy to hear you made your wife a rose, it always means so much more when you can create something from the heart and will last forever. Take care and have yourself a wonderful weekend.

[@ihf7265]

Qap'La! The first and only thing I ever made when I got my hands on a plasma torch at a friend's shop was a Bat'leth. For this reason and many others I have subscribed to your channel.

[@ZILAwelds]

great video !!!! we have very similar takes on things .... I try not to push one model or one brand ... and I also point out the same thing - there are always good and bad things ... and a specific machine can be right for one guy but not suitable for the next guy ... you have VERY good points

[@jeffreysanto]

Thank you, I watched the back and forth between you and ChuckE2009 about the plasma tables. He has a very strong opinion about certain things, most of the time I watch his videos wondering how he has not lost a limb yet. You made a lot of good points in your response to him.

[@johnnywilson8532]

kinda screwed up between you two guys I was subscribed to one of you and was going to join yours but I think not I think you both are a**** I'm a welder too I was an electrician before that

[@Volusiaev]

You always give sage advice.

[@fatmaxcat4761]

the first nice guy I've seen on KZbin in weeks. and solid advice

[@jamesharrell5115]

Sounds like a straight forward guy. Can a water table be rigged up for that one. I'm looking at one but I have a small area and need to keep down the mess and fumes.

[@jeffreysanto]

I have seen others build a custom water table for the plasmacam, but honestly after using it for a number of years now I am looking for something different. These days the best machine on the market is made by Torchmate. Lincoln bought them a couple of years ago and really made a stand out high quality machine. It literally arrives ready to use out of the box with everything you need and ready to run.

[@Powerharp62]

I appreciate your transparency. Too bad more folks don’t follow that model of communication.

[@vicben1]

nicely done Rose Guy! :)

[@thorvoldk]

Great video as always. One of these days I'm going to have to pay you a visit.

[@jeffreysanto]

You've said that for years... come on down already. :)

[@jamesjusick1462]

I have owned one for 10 years. I did not appreciate how well it works until running bigger, expensive commercial machines at several of the shops I do CNC programming for. CNC plasma cutters are 50% science, 50% voodoo. You get that down to 80% science and 20% voodoo if you read a lot about the science AND use the machine a lot. You can't beat the speed/height/power/pierce time settings in the Hypertherm book. It is your plasma cutter bible. Nice job on video.

[@eric4946]

Customer service is terrible, the software is narrow BUT. Its so damn fast to just do stuff with it and you can teach a kid to run it in a day or two. Its so easy to use when it works which is most of the time honestly.

[@5364310gb]

I have had terrible a experience with customer service. I have taught half a dozen people to use their plasma cam but won't reccomend the product anymore. I would never have used a different machine if they would have been more helpful. Just got a torchmate after 15 yrs with plasma cam. Machine is easy to learn and use but customer support sucks

[@charlesbrowning5441]

I watched your video and what type of cnc program runs on the plasma cam I'm not good with computers and was think about that end of it thanks for the help Dewayne

[@jeffreysanto]

It comes with their own software called Design Edge. This video was made 2 years ago and my thoughts on the PlasmaCAM have changed. They really have not improved all that much over the last 8 years, I am looking to upgrade to something bigger. If I had to do it all over again and I had the choice, even in a 4' x 4' machine I would go with a Torchmate 4400 over the PlasmaCAM. The 4400 comes fully assembled, has its own controller, and comes with the plasma cutter. All three components are made by the same company and are designed to work together. Going by modern CNC standers I would say that the PlasmaCAM is almost below entry level at this point. I am planning on moving within the next year, once I am in a larger shop I am upgrading to a Torchmate 4800, their 4' x 8' model.

[@24vignettes94]

@@jeffreysanto I looked into plasmacan years ago. I still occasionally receive something from them. I looked them up on KZbin, and their newest review videos are several years old. The video that they put out shows an old CRT monitor that looks like the Apple IIe that we used in high school.

[@AudioHouseOnline]

Yep, I Said Ninja Star! Thanks for the vid.

[@citizen1970]

I found your video helpful thanks

[@dannygaspard5641]

Robert Roberts

[@Regalmetalworks]

Solid advice!

[@kaleip]

Does plasma cam sell the controll box separately

[@jeffreysanto]

I'm not sure, I never needed to order one by itself. I will say this though, the control box is old tech. It uses an older 36 pin printer port for communication with the computer. So you'll need a computer with that port, you can not use a USB adapter because a USB will only send or receive information at one time. When I bought the machine it was explained to me that the 36 pin port allows for sending and receiving at the same time which is what the machine needs. More modern controls solved this problem by using 2 USB ports, one for sending and the other for receiving. When I do upgrade which I hope will happen in the next two years I will be looking only at USB interfaces.

[@kaleip]

Jeffrey Santo thanks for the info have heard they were simple to get going but I don't think plas ma cam wants their box to be used on other tables

[@bryancameron8787]

my plasmacam has been a nightmare and has never worked correctly. zero customer service!!! problems with every part of the system from the height control to software to wiring issues etc.....some good advice from a plasmacam owner, RUN!!!

[@TheRealCreepinogie]

They rely upon their user forum which is controlled and moderated by them for their customer support. Once you own one and become part of the forum, you ARE part of customer support. Unfortunetely, there's been some very helpful people who have been kicked off the forum.

[@tactilianbrazilian8756]

Can anyone help ?? I bought a new plasma cam and I wanna know a specific compressor and dryer to buy with it. I just got a little hypertherm powermax xp 30 amp??

[@smjones4238]

You have to consider what your needs are as far as air is concerned. The PlasmaCAM will require, allowing for some headroom, 80psi of air to run. The xp30 doesn't use nearly as much air as a lot of machines. I have a PowerMax 70 that uses a bit more. I have a Coleman badged compressor that is rated at about 12.5 cfm @ 90psi, 5hp / 80 gal tank. The cycle of the compressor is that it turns off @ 135psi and kicks back in @ 100psi. I have a Speedaire refrigerated air dryer that I put in line after the 80 gal tank feeding thru a check valve into a 60 gal storage system consisting of two 30 gallon propane tanks. I have the tanks feeding a 1/2" regulator set to 90psi. The air goes through a dessicant dryer attached to the back of the PowerMax, I got the desiccant dryer from USA Weld. It is one that can be emptied and the desiccant replaced or dried in the oven. I think that I quite possibly over built the system as I have NEVER run out of air while cutting. This system has been in operation since 2011. Use the lowest power consumables that you can, they will make the 'sharpest' cuts and use less air while doing it. Most of what I cut is art of one form or another, so high definition is what I am going for. When your consumables start getting wallowed a bit you can still use them for cutting heavier metal or faster cuts that don't require razor edges. The highest priced item for its size in this string is the refrigerated air dryer. You can build a reasonable air dryer from several lengths of copper tubing (see KZbin). I got my dryer from a shop that upgraded to a much bigger system and got it real reasonable, at the time it was about $900 @ Grainger. I honestly don't think that it would be necessary most of the time here, the air is so dry. NE Colorado. Cheers! Have fun with the 'Cam, they are a kick. Michael in Co.

[@tactilianbrazilian8756]

SM Jones Thank you !! I just bought a nice Mikita 5.2 gallon.. but found out my Hypertherm 30xp was never designed for a plasma table. The torch tip isn’t right . And everyone who uses these on tables must alter them to make them work . I think I’m returning it for the 45 . Even though I’m only cutting 12 gauge steel .

[@TheRealCreepinogie]

You can run a Hypertherm hand torch on a plasmacam.

[@quietmale00101]

interesting opinion and you fogot one in the can of worms the one with the symbol shaped like a pentagon lol. i work around a bunch of pipe liner rig welders and while in public they thumb thier noses at millers, when you get them away from the crowds a big majority of them say they learned on a miller and are great for shop type or structural work the big down fall i see with the lincoln engine driven welders is there are a lot of them that will only run DC specific power tools and the welders dont understand this so they end up giving tools away because they think it is a bad tool or ask me to fix a tool thats not broken im an expediter/repair man that has a fair knowledge of welding and know quite a few people in this induustry that have no respect for tools they didnt have to buy and its not just the welders but fitters and boiler makers too maybe the company should charge them for the repairs after they break a tool.

[@erikrsantos1757]

How much experience do you need to run one of these?

[@jeffreysanto]

Like anything else there is a learning curve. There are a lot of really good "how-to" videos on a DVD that comes with the machine. Like anything else the more you use it the better and faster you'll get. Learning a program like Photoshop is also very helpful for creating drawings you can import to the machine. There are a lot of silhouette images online but the higher the resolution the easier it is to import. Low definition graphics can be imported but the software has an issue with them, you need to do a lot of work adjusting the cut paths to get what your looking for.

[@71volare]

You said it at :10.20. CAN YOU USE IT EVERY DAY TO MAKE YOU MONEY?

[@jeffreysanto]

Yeah, provided there are people with paying projects every day...

[@jamesdodd7404]

I would like to know what you think of plasma cam now that you have had it 6 years? I can tell you I would not give you a nickel for a dozen of them.

[@jeffreysanto]

I had it for 4 years at the time the video was made, around year 8 I started running into a lot of problems with the motors, I saved the metal from the table itself and scrapped everything else.

[@pennybehm1001]

No!! and no! they will not let you upgrade your software, they will keep improving it and will not let an owner upgrade for free or even at a reasonable price.I have owned one for over 10 years lots of problems its not consistent,lots of software problems drawing is very limited scan and cut is a joke I have asked for fixes money times there answers is always we can fix it if you spend $ 3,000.00+ for our upgrade .

[@808breaksbad.]

At 1:37, it also looks like you cut out a Klingon bat'leth. Qa'plaH.

[@danradusinovich332]

I can say that I love my PlasmaCam DHC2. The DesignEdge Advance software is fantastic. Running a Hypertherm Powermax 1000. Great machine

[@jeffreysanto]

I'm going to be making a video hopefully by mid February the latest, I have an idea to re design the consumable grate system with something that should never need to be replaced. It would allow you to start off with a fresh surface to cut on anytime you would want too... and the kicker is you'll be able to place bigger sections of square tubing and channel iron that are to big for the torch to clear. Sound like something that would interest you?

[@danradusinovich332]

Jeffrey Santo yes, that sounds very interesting. Could have used that feature last week. Keep my name on file I am interested