Hypertherm is a good unit to have we had one at work. I like the smaller units as they are much more versetal for cutting lighter materials like 16,18,20 gauge sheetmetal. Like one fellow said they can be expencive to use especially if you have never used one before as you can screw up tips like crazy. with light metal you can cut really fast and clean with very little clean up. If you use clean metal they work great on it but dirty stuff that is when you have problems. There are several good machines on the market now days that will cost you around $1000.00 to $25-$3500.00 depending the thickness of metal you want to cut. Personaly for the home hobbiest I would not buy a unit that cuts over 1/4" or 3/16" material. I have a friend that uses a Snap ON unit and he likes it very much cutting tailpipe material off cars and trucks and even makes metal design's every day.
62Blue
Don
