I use a Plasma cutter every day and i think too many people give them a hard time. Been using a EZ CUT CNC 5x10 with a Hypertherm 85 for 3 years and just changed over to a new EZ CUT CNC 5x10 table with a Hypertherm 125. A plasma cutter table and give you perfect cuts almost all the time if the proper time and care are taken setting it up correctly. Almost everyone thinks that the parameters that are outlined in the Hypertherm book or programmed into the table computer software are correct. Let me tell you this...... i don't care who says that these huge companies with gobs of research and development have got the settings and parameters down to a art and they know exactly whats works best.....because they don't.
The last table took me hours and hours and loads of cuts to revise the cutting parameters to get nice cuts. Everything has a effect on the cut, speeds, amps, heights, delays ....and the list goes on. Tips can be ruined in only a hand full of cuts if the improper lead outs are set, improper pierce times, pierce heights combined with bad lead ins will also cause tips to blow very quickly.
Drawback is if your running a dry table with a downdraft suction fan it can get bad if you dont cover the rest of your table to help the air pull downwards around where your cutting. Water is better but such a mess trying to fetch your smaller parts out of it that drop thru your plate and the table rails.
I can cut 3/4" perfectly at 90 deg most of the time and some times i get a slight and i mean slight bevel. Cutting smaller holes on thicker material can be a challenge at times. My rule of thumb is if the hole dia is smaller than 2 times the material thickness your better off to drill.
These machines can be very accurate and can produce amazing results. Don't be turned off from them. Just take the time to play and change setting till you find what works for your setup.
Fumes are bad so ensure your vented correctly. If you blowing sparks all over your set up wrong. A 3/4" pierce if setup correctly should not give you a huge rooster tail but a small one that will only lasts for a second. All other thicknesses lower than that should may no rooster tails. Keep in mind tails happen if your trying to cut material that's too think for your machine to handle correctly. If a machine says 3/4" is its thickest you should stick with 1/2" max.
Just my 2 cents.
