Years ago I was the lead person in the steel fabrication shop at a company were we made lawn equipment for the golf course and we had a portable plasma cutter. We also had a oxy-acetylene torch with templates but once the plasma cutter came in the oxy-acetylene was never used again. Ours would work really good up to 3/8" thick steel. Trick was to keep your tip 90 degrees to the surface, keep it clean, and watch the speed you drag it across the steel as the thicker the steel the slower the speed. Once your part is cut it only took a couple of taps with a hammer on your work to knock the slag off. I would change tips at least 2 to 3 times a day if I had a lot of work to do. I always wore a mask as the black crap the plasma cutter puts out is nasty to breath.
