alleyrat58, this is a great debate among fabricators everywhere I think. I have both O/A and a Thermal Dynamics Cutmaster 51. As of right now, my O/A set up makes for a nice coat rack in my garage. I havent used it since the day I got my plasma. However, it really depends on what your going to do and what your needs are. I cut alot of 11, 14, and 16 ga hot roll. I love my plasma for these cuts. There is no warpage like there is with a torch on the thinner metals. If your not going to deal with thinner material alot, the cost might be hard to justify. A torch will easily cut all of your cooker build needs as will a plasma. But, you cant heat and bend material with a plasma, so if that is going to be a need, a torch is the way to go. I have taken my plasma to a buddies house for some small work and used it with his pancake compressor, yes, it ran my machine, but it didnt run it near as smooth and clean as my 80 gallon compressor does. If your gonna buy a plasma, buy a compressor too, a good compressor. Plasma's are high $$ when you buy one and high $$ to keep cutting, consumables are NOT cheap and have to be changed alot more than an O/A tip does. Plasma tips can not be cleaned like a O/A tip can either. For the beginner, that has never had either a torch or a plasma, I would honestly say go with the O/A set up. Very versitle and reliable and quite a bit cheaper than a plasma set up,then after a while and a few projects, you can venture out and spend the money on a plasma. Believe me, you wont regret having both a O/A and a plasma sitting in your shop.
JM2CW