• Scam Alert. Members are reminded to NOT send money to buy anything. Don't buy things remote and have it shipped - go get it yourself, pay in person, and take your equipment with you. Scammers have burned people on this forum. Urgency, secrecy, excuses, selling for friend, newish members, FUD, are RED FLAGS. A video conference call is not adequate assurance. Face to face interactions are required. Please report suspicions to the forum admins. Stay Safe - anyone can get scammed.
  • Several Regions have held meetups already, but others are being planned or are evaluating the interest. The Ontario GTA West area meetup is planned for Saturday April 26th at Greasemonkeys shop in Aylmer Ontario. If you are interested and haven’t signed up yet, click here! Arbutus has also explored interest in a Fraser Valley meetup but it seems members either missed his thread or had other plans. Let him know if you are interested in a meetup later in the year by posting here! Slowpoke is trying to pull together an Ottawa area meetup later this summer. No date has been selected yet, so let him know if you are interested here! We are not aware of any other meetups being planned this year. If you are interested in doing something in your area, let everyone know and make it happen! Meetups are a great way to make new machining friends and get hands on help in your area. Don’t be shy, sign up and come, or plan your own meetup!

Search results

  1. J

    First "lunchbox size" plasma cutter experience

    Oh gosh! THAT sounds even scarier to me. I had a friend who tried to impress his girlfriend by using a chainsaw to prune a branch off a tree in her backyard, and ended up with a huge and ugly scar on his face after a very stressful trip to the ER. He was lucky it did not kill him. That pretty...
  2. J

    First "lunchbox size" plasma cutter experience

    David_R8 also said: I would not want to free hand rout aluminum. Template only and never climb cut. Yeah, I'm not attracted to the idea of using a router for cutting patterns in either aluminum or stainless steel. Call me a wimp if you like! :) Jim G
  3. J

    First "lunchbox size" plasma cutter experience

    I think I agree. But there may be specific cutting situations where, for example, a very thick cut, where the air CFM needed is higher than the available compressor can provide for. The Argon cylinder then be a substitute air source. Or, maybe work being done in a place, or a time, when the...
  4. J

    First "lunchbox size" plasma cutter experience

    Another website https://kerfdevelopments.com/type-of-gas-for-plasma-cutter/ says: ARGON For materials that are greater than ½ an inch thick, argon is good to use. Argon does not react with metals when cutting, which is why it is classified as an inert gas. For aluminium cutting...
  5. J

    First "lunchbox size" plasma cutter experience

    Hmm. I don't think I'll be doing enough plasma cutting to justify a Nitrogen pig. I can see where it would be a HUGE advantage in a production shop. Jim G
  6. J

    First "lunchbox size" plasma cutter experience

    What I have read is that Argon-Hydrogen is BETTER than pure Argon, but pure Argon works fine and is apparently much less costly. Here's one source of info that says Argon alone works...
  7. J

    First "lunchbox size" plasma cutter experience

    About using Argon instead of compressor air for plasma cutting: Airflow can be measured with different units, the most common ones being CFM =cubic feet per minute, and CFH cubic feet per hour. These 2 units are of course radically different: For the same number, CFM is 60 times larger than...
  8. J

    First "lunchbox size" plasma cutter experience

    trevj: I love the idea of exploring use of Argon as the air supply for plasma cutting. I already have an 80 cu ft Argon cylinder for my TIG welding training, and it has a quick disconnect to the TIG welder, so could easily be snapped onto the plasma cutter's QD. The plasma cutter suppliers do...
  9. J

    First "lunchbox size" plasma cutter experience

    The current Amazon.ca price for that unit is $349 with zero shipping cost if you have Amazon Prime. The router idea is a reasonable one I had not thought of, and I do have 2 routers, one large heavy duty one and one smaller one! However, I find it relatively hard to do precision curved cuts...
  10. J

    First "lunchbox size" plasma cutter experience

    I know you guys recommend using circular saws and bandsaws for cutting aluminum, and I agree - when the cuts are straight line cuts. But my plans include lots of curves, and some of curves will be INTERNAL cuts (i.e. they would not start at an outside edge of material), and a bandsaw cannot do...
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