Plasma Cutting Machine Vs Laser Cutting Machine

I cant really give a complete answer based on the information you have provided. Laser will always give a better finish, but is much more expensive. Do some research into high definition plasma, it has a great finish and is much cheaper than a laser. There are also options with water jet. Good Luck

I'm hardly an expert in this area, But with such a wide variation in thickness, I think you should add waterjet to your list of possibilities.

Plasma Cam is cheapest way to go and it produces a finish almost comparable to the laser. When the tips start to wear the cut starts leaving a little more slag.

Laser is more expensive then Plasma Cam. Mainly because the machines cost so much to purchase. We're talking about the difference between a $12,000 set up compared to a $500,000 set up. You have to Keep the laser cutter working all the time or it won't be a good investment.

Water Jet is the most expensive out of the three.

For me to get a part made outside here is a common cost comparison.

Plasma Cam - $8.00

Laser Cut - $15.00

Water Jet - $34.00

Price will vary depending on the quantity made. Generally the larger the order the cheaper the price.

Actually a recent quote I have for cutting 1/4" mild steel plate 54" long and 13" wide into a certain shape with some slots cut into it to mount bearings.

Water Jet - $210

Laser Cut - $171

Plasma Cam - $44

About the only advantage to justifying the cost of using water jet is if you have a part made that you cannot afford to have any warping to the part that the heat from the other two options can cause.

I am surprised at how little is mentioned here about accuracy over cut depth!

I had some bronze parts cut out of 0.25" plate and the price was kept low by using water jet. It had the draw back that the finished part was not the same shape along it's thickness as the water jet would diverge as it hits more and more material. In other words, as it is going through the plate, it becomes less focused and would cut a wider slit out of your plate.

For my money the accuracy would have to be in the equation somewhere as this determines final product.

Thin stuff with water jet as it is cheapest and accuracy is not so bad.

medium stuff you need to consider what is most important, speed/price or accuracy.

Thick stuff most definitely with high def plasma or laser. Also consider laser under water as this takes the heat deformation away totally. Look at ships hull manufacturing as that is done under water.

I believe you will have to do a comparative calculation with different scenarios for all aspects of the job in hand and decide which machine will give you the best saving over time opposed to hand it out to 3rd party. All other items not in your determined target group you have to contract out. Cherry pick the biggest profit in other words.

You have to specify a tolerance when you order a part and provide the drawings.

I have some vendors with a default tolerance of +/- 0.006" another one with +/- 0.004"

In my case if the dimensions that I specify for fractional numbers is +/- 1/16". If the dimension is in decimal format I use .015' if the decimal is two places and .01" if the decimal is three places.

All 3 will have the same tapering on thickness. Same goes to punching. The top will be smaller then the bottom. Only way to get away with it is to machine after.

You'll also have to consider the width of the cut. Laser is the smallest. Not sure between waterjet and plasma. With laser and plasma, the cut edge will be harden. Usually not a problem with sheetmetal but if you need to clean the edge with machining afterward, waterjet will be better.

Look at what you need to do and check out what the machine can and cannot do to see which one fit you need best.

Pineapple

All comparisons are here.

http://www.teskolaser.com/waterjet_cutting.html

Look down in the bottom of the page and you can choose other methods as well for comparison. Very useful.

Laser technique explained in simplified way. Also very useful.

http://machine-tools.netfirms.com/21_laser_versus_water_jet.htm

Which type of material do you want to cut? I suppose it is stainless steel. for thickness range 6 to 150 mm you can use plasma cut cnc machine. it will give fine result. besides, it is less expensive than laser one.

Rgds,

Kotuu2

I dont have any experience with a laser cutting machine. A plasma machine is relatively fast at cutting and when cutting on a water table is quiet also. The water table also made it that the parts could be handled directly after cutting. they would not heat up. Without the water table the plasma is loud, bright, and puts off a good amount of smoke. The plasma cutters do not cut a perfectly straight edge ( from top of material to bottom) and as the material thickens the bevel is more obvious. the "arc" or kerf of a plasma cutter is kinda cone shaped so the top of the cut is exact and the bottom of the cut is going to be slightly off. so if you are cutting a hole in a part the top of the hole is correct and the bottom is a smaller hole. Also with a plasma the tips that you use wear out faster the more you peirce the material so if you can cut multiple parts with common cuts, the tips last much longer. This does not say which is better just some knowledge for you...

Hi, Hunter dg!

Regardless of the method used, and assuming one doesn't require the cut off portion of the piece, wouldn't one angle the cutting nozzle to remove the cone effect?

Mark

Theoretically yes but....

It is not a precise science with plasma as there are several factors to take into consideration.

Preparation of the metal as it could have the hot roll skin on it which changes the behaviour of the torch. Also the type of metal cut will change the flaring effect. Last but not least you have the age of the nozzle on your torch. The older the more crap is in it and the more , unpredictable, flaring will occur. I once had a flare that went 20 degrees to one way and almost none to another. Next day the crap had dislodged and it was straight-ish again.

All in all it is experience that may help you with this but you cannot get around the problem completely. Also steel is expensive so they tend to want to save the off cuts for smaller projects.

Hope this helps.

Case491

If it is 8mm+ MS/SS

CNC Plasma -any time-your best/most- Economical bet,

Want the Plasma machine :

From my China Associates?

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You can add high speed water jet , oxy acetate torch , to your list just pointed by members out of which laser is best choice as all the features are worked out even though cost of working is quiet high compared to any other feature but sharpness an accuracy regarding quality of finished products is best as laser source can be better controlled

A bit oversimplified but:

Laser; expensive but precise. Good up to about 8-12 mm. Gets very expensive after that.

Plasma; cheap, fairly precise. Good for weldments up to 300 mm or more, especially with water table.

Water, in the middle.

Thank u All for sharing yr valuable points .

The information shared , has lightened up over this subject.

Jina

Thanks from me personally for a fascinating read in this blog!! I don't need the info for me, but it was really interesting.

When considering plasma, you may want to differentiate between standard PAC (plasma arc cutting) and Precision PAC (precision plasma arc cutting). The Precision version uses magnetic fields in the cutting head to additionaly focus and stabilize the plasma. More expensive, but it can make a cleaner cut and since the plasma is focused into a narrower beam, you get a narrower kerf.

I feel you should analyse for each range of thicness, how much work load your going to have. e.g. load for 6-10 mm, 10-15 mm, 15-20 mm and above 20 mm.

In my opinion if your more than 70% work load falls below 18-20 mm, Laser Cutting considering accuracy, speed, consumbles and other operating cost will be better than plasma in long run. While estimating cost you need to consider cost incurred in pre or post processing and cost on rejection of component due to inaccuracy.

Now a days Fiber Laser Cutting System is also avialable in the market which is 50% cheaper in operating cost compared to conventional CO2 laser cutting.

Don't know much about other cutters but,

I would suggest laser cutter, since I was using it I din find any problem in that..

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