Hi all,
I am looking to build a space frame chassis. Long story short these is a great deal of flat sheet that needs to be cut and the steel shops charge an arm and a leg for plasma cutting. I did google search for diy plasma cutter and the obviouse answer is build a cnc machine to house a plasma torch. I dont want to spend a fortune and was wondering what these machines are like:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CT-520-TIG-MMA...d=p3286.c0.m14
They are very cheap and claim to cut 12mm steel as well as TIG. I dont know anything about Tig welding or plasma cutters for that matteer, so are these anygood? If not, what is the best priced good machines on the market. Preferably avaible cheap in Australia. Also what should i look for in a good plasma, mig and tig (as seperate machines)
thanks
jonesy
ps- apologies if you see this in another post, i only just found this forum.

Hi Jonsey, I could not get the link to open but I know the kind of machine you are talking about. Someone told me they were first developed here in Taiwan! 3 in 1 machines save space, that's for sure but after looking on line for quite a few years it seems that discrete machines are better than a combo. Let me give you an example of how these machines perform, a 220volt 40 amp plasma will cut 2mm plate steel about as swiftly as you would paint with a brush and will cut 8mm plate fairly cleanly at about roughly 10 inches a minute gobbling up 15-20 cfm of air at about 80psi.Aluminium tends to cut more slowly than steel Tig welders are great for places where you want clean aesthetic welds on fine material. All tigs will weld steel and stainless and brass and copper with an argon gas shield but you'll need an AC tig to weld aluminium. These machines are not designed to weld fast but they are very useful and nearly always come with a stick welding option which is useful. Remember that you will need to have a bottle of argon or CO2 to run your tig and an 18cfm compressor to run the plasma both of which can be a bit expensive. Research anything before you go and buy it! Good luck with your space-frame chassis.:)