Miller 375 Xtreme

[alleyrat58]

I saw Smoker Tom's thread on the 375 and I am still asking questions about plasma cutters. I have never used one, obviously, and never used O/A either. My old man did all my O/A cutting and I about went broke paying for 4.5" cutoff wheels to cut 1/4" steel. So that being said, I had high hopes for a plasma cutter, what with all the stand off guides and circle cutters and what not that they make these days. The guy at the welding shop I go to told me that all I would need is 3 HP / pancake air compressor to run it, but I see much larger air compressors used here. Am I better off getting some different tips for the O/A torch and going that route or is it really worth the money to shell out for the plasma cutter and air compressor?

[TrailerBuilder]

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

[alleyrat58]

Thanks, TrailerBuilder! Guess I will creep over to my old man's shop while he is out and abscond with his O/A for now!

[Tom_Heath]

I love my 375 for what it is, and it does have its place.

On my current build I have used all three, maybe 3 or 4 cut off wheels, the plasme for my rough cut on my flanges, and the O/A to heat up one of the flanges when it warped a little in a direction that I didnt like.

So all three have there place. Could I do it all with cut offs and O/A???? Sure thing. With cutoffs and a plasma???? No way.

I would have to vote to borrow the O/A if you can.


I'm thinking that you all need to doctor your guards on your grinders and start running 6" cut offs.
I'm cutting 1/8" 409 stainless and getting like 4 to 6 feet per disc. Now if I hammer into it I can waste thru one pretty fast.
At work all I could get the other day was 5", I cut 6 feet of sch 40 iron pipe long ways with 3/4 of a disc.
My guys took over and they only made it maybe 16 inchs. Alot of the disc life depends on how you treat it.

If you take a wild hair and go get a plasma, I would deffinatly look toward the thermal dynamics...the 51 is an awesome machine. Blows mine out of the water, hands down.

Go bigger then you think you will ever need.

[alleyrat58]

I'm limited by a couple of things right now. I have looked at the Thermal Dynamics as the welding shop that I like here in town is mostly a Miller dealer (I'm sure they get the highest commissions from them since that is what they always want to sell me...). I'm limited on space and I'm limited on power. I am stuck with 115v power and I only have a single car garage to store all this in. So while my wife and I are looking for a larger place in general for the kids, I am hoping to find a place with an outbuilding I can make into a shop.

The cutting wheels are a real pain. I am pretty good at making them last, but I had so many cuts to make in 1/4" that I just went through em. The best ones I have found are the DeWalt brand from Lowes. The problem is that around here they used to be around $1.50 / each. Now they are around $3. C'mon Lowes help a smoker builder out!!!

So I guess I will steal my old man's O/A and hold off for now on spending the money on a plasma cutter.

[RDRASH]

If you are stuck with 115v don't even consider a plasma get the o/a.