We are considering purchasing a plasma cutter to use on the farm. We have steel pipe for fence building and need to finish one corral and start another. I was hoping for advice/info on what you have used, good or bad. Thanks.
I have a ESAB 1125 and it is a beast, had a thermal dynamics and I didn't like it much, it used a lot of consumables and had to cool down short duty cycle. I have never had my ESAB kick out of it's duty cycle, used mine to day and it sliced through 3/4" steel for about 5 hours, only used one torch tip, and cut there was a lot of heat. Hope this helps here is the link http://products.esabna.com/EN/home/...nual_powercut®_1300_plasmarc™_cutting_package
I wouldnt want one to build coral with unless I was close to a shop. Scince they need electricity and an air compressor going all the time. We had an esap in school and it worked pretty slick. Out of curiostity our you using pre fab pannels?
I can see where a plasma cutter would be useful on a farm, but I'm trying to figure out cutting pipe with it. Why not a pipe cutter? Or even a portable band saw? :cool2
i have a 75amp miller, and use a oxy/accetelyne torch 10times more than the plasma, if your not making cuts in sheet steel often dont waste your money IMO. Forgot to ad, there is no "plunge" cuts with a plasma like there is a torch in heavy steel, it just burns up extremely expensive consumables Pj
alot of guys around here use old guard rails from state surplus, and a plasma would work good for that but, not on pipe.....i am with ATCOEQUIP totally on the portable saw Pj
I never thought about a band saw, but you could run it off the welder and have a pretty slick cutting machine. I would have to say bandsaws are my favorite way to cut metal besides a torch.
LoL...I probably use our Milwaukee Porta-Band as much as any power tool we have. It's a handy tool.
Probably saddling the pipe. Any that we cut off square we just weld the top and bottom, then a few licks with a sledge on the sides before welding it up. Anyone using electric cable and sucker rod clips on your pens?
Yep, I was thinking about that roddyo. But the more I thought about it, to cut the saddle notches and to have the pipe the correct length, just sounded too time consuming. I like your idea better. Cut it to length, flatten the ends with a sledge, and weld it in. Quick and easy.
Don't ask how long it took to figure that out. Kinda like tryin to weld sucker rod to pipe. It's a lot cheaper to just buy the clips. Plus you don't have to weld on your coral every time you want to get your cows up.:Banghead
LoL...it would probably be more accurate to say "don't ask how many curse words it took to figure that out".
It is very easy to just flatten the ends of the pipes and than weld them to the posts. Time consuming also, not to mention tired arms. I built a little machine out of some scrap flatbar and a hydraulic cylinder that crushes the end of the pipe to the same dimensions evry time. It is run off of either a portable hydraulic unit or off the tractor hydraulics.It is just a matter of cutting everything first, doing the crushing and then welding. It just separates out all of the steps so you dont have equipment spread all over the shop. I would post pictures but I dont have any at the moment. If you're interested, I can do so. That little unit saves me large amounts of time when I'm building panels.
Sorry it took a while to get back. Yes saddle cuts is what I'm doing. Getting a clean fitting cut with torch is a challenge. Thought plasma would do better job. However, I do have to make several plunge starts. The demonstration I have seen at the Tulsa Farm Show was so damn fast. I think I like the thought about flattening the ends. Don't want to start in middle of my job. Will suggest that to son when we start on his. Did look at place where I get my O2. They had Hypertherm 35 for about $1500. Should be able to run from my welder. Don't know about my little portable compressor(cfm).
cutting I have a TD50 and I love it, but for pipe I would use (as suggested) band saw/porta saw. My thought would be a metal chop saw, they are fast.
I use a metal chop saw also very quick and you can cut any angle you need. I also bought a jig that clamps on pipe to cut saddles with torch it is specific for the size of pipe you use. These work great better than marking with soapstone making several cuts and still not fit. Got it a local welding supply.
Use with Any Drill Motor, Hand Held or Drill Press Create Any Angle Saddle Notch on Pipe for Weld Fit-Up Uses Standard Hole Saw Blades up to 2.5" Compound Angle Adjustment up to 60 Degrees Chrome Plated Frame Easy to Read Angle Scale Long Life Bronze Bearing Holds up to 2" Pipe Weight 12 lbs Part # Description Price Buy Shipping ** SP PIPE Pipe Notcher $62.99 $10.00 ** ** Shipping Quote Via Fed Ex Ground Anywhere in the Contiguous 48 States Outside of this area additional shipping fees are required and you will be notified upon receipt of order. If you would like a quote prior to ordering call our office at 1-800-391-5419 and we will be happy to calculate shipping options. Or if I had ad a lot to do I would look into one for a Ironworker such as Scotchman, Piranha- these notchers would work in any press and would be very quick
Well for notching pipe on a farm for fence repair maybe one of these,
To be honest I would not even contemplate a plasma for your application. A torch will give far better results and you would have to do a lot of cutting to balance the cost of the plasma against your gas costs. Plasmas demand good clean, dry air and small compressors are not good at supplying this because they work too hard, not allowing enough time for the air to cool and moisture to condense. You will notice that your consumable life will be pretty miserable if you use air with much moisture content. A plasma will not handle rust or other contaminants as well as Oxy Fuel gas cutting, nor will the cut quality be as good other than on thinner materials. What they can do is handle non ferrous metals and stainless steel. If you don't have this need I would not bother. I use plasmas regularly and to be honest I have yet to find a more contankerous machine then a plasma cutter and prefer oxy every time if I cut steel over say 5/32".
I agree Karl, I can't fault your advice.
I agree with the chop saw for fastest cutting. The kind that has the carbide toothed blade.
Yair...I nfind the handiest tool around the shop is the Makita four inch grinder with the with the super tin (one mm) cutting wheels. It's my "go to" tool...often before the gas axe or the chop saw. I used to do a bit of yard building and would be quite happy to get back into it with a decent chop saw and one of these. Cheers.
A plasma will work excellant for cutting pipe like your talking about. It will go alot better if you use a guide to cut around. Jegs has one that works better than most i have used. We cut pipe for racecars the same way you are talkin about cutting pipe. For my experience a torch makes more work than it saves, the cut off saw does well but it still has to be coped as with the band saw. Before buying a plasma check and see if the consumables are readly availble. We had a Esab in the mines and overnight they got really hard to get ahold of, it was a really good machine tho. DO NOT get a cheap one! As mentioned before the air has to be dry. go to a automotive paint store and get a air dryer and all will be well wtih the world. racecar spelled backwards is racecar
We have made many feed bunks out of oilfield 2-7/8" pipe and make easy saddle cuts with the 16" cutoff saw I made. We just set it at 60 degrees and make your first cut. Cut all pipes to length with this first 60 degree cut. Then I clamp on a little jig on the back of the saw table that holds the pointy end of the cut off pipe at the right angle and distance and then cut off the pointy end. When you're done, you have a saddle made with two straight cuts that welds up nice and tight. This joint is much stronger than the squashed ends we used to use. It works for any size pipe and is cheaper than a torch or plasma cutter, (and we have used both in the past). If I have time tomorrow, I'll take a few pics and post.
Well tomorrow came and went and so did the week but here are the pictures.
I've always just used a torch and a homemade jig. I make my cuts just a hair longer than exact, and then give them a tap or two with a shop hammer. Makes everything fit nice and snug, and the pipe will hold itself in place while I weld it. If you are worried about saving money, use a wire welder. I clean my pipe before I start so I can paint it anyway, so I can use my little wire welder fine. Lots cheaper than using sticks on the Bobcat. Also produces a nice, clean weld. It doesn't work great in wind, but I usually try to weld in the mornings and late afternoons. Less wind and cooler temps make it more comfortable on me welding, and less likely I'll accidentally catch something on fire.
Oops. .. Wrong thread
I came across this thread, and I like your method. I did a test using PVC pipe and by golly...better fit than the template I made, and there is less cutting too! The question I have is do u have a better pix of the jig u made to cut the second 60 degree angle? thks.
My hypertherm powermax 45 has been great to me, you can also make plunge cuts just start at a steep angle and bring it up to a 90° it can be very hard on consumables tho. I recommend drilling a pilot if required to plunge cut.