Plasma Cutters

Generally what Mfr. will give you the best bang for the buck? He does mostly thinner material for older car restorations like the 62 Impala SS he's currently doing a ground up on, but figures up to 1/2" capability would be nice. I am interested to know if the duty cycles vary between MFR's greatly and if they vary regarding material thickness( if this even matters ) and or what are the important specifications to be concerned with. He won't be using it 8 hours a day, like a fab. shop, but it certainly won't collect dust.

I've got a Miller NT 251 trailblazer that can power this and the next model up, for the most part it will be used and powered in the shop. Do appreciate any input, don't know squat about these, like what they do though. We have a good connection at the welding supply house, he carries Miller, but in plasma's he's got Hypotherm, was looking at a Powermax 380 model in their line up, similar in size.

• Miller 375

As you already know, each major manufacturer has both strengths and weaknesses in their product lines. Thermal Dynamics (is that the same as Hypertherm?) and ESAB plasma cutters have good reputations. I haven't heard anything good or bad about Miller plasma cutters, but I was advised by the best possible (and most unexpected) source to stay away from Lincoln units until they figure out how to get their plasma cutters to slow down on consuming consumables. I'm a huge fan of Lincoln Electric even though not every one of their products is the best in its class, so I hope their plasma cutters are a lot better by the time I'm ready to buy one.

All the best, Stan