Portable Plasma Cutter or Robotic Plasma Cutter?

In the world of plas­ma cut­ting, there are sev­er­al dif­fer­ent devices avail­able to get the job done. Some shops go the way of man­u­al portable plas­ma cut­ters, while oth­ers decide to auto­mate with a plas­ma cut­ting robot. There are advan­tages and dis­ad­van­tages with each method.

So, before we get start­ed, what is plas­ma cut­ting? Plas­ma cut­ting is an appli­ca­tion that is used by sev­er­al dif­fer­ent indus­tries to cut met­als of vary­ing thick­ness­es. The torch uses inert gas blown at a high speed that is elec­tri­fied, which turns some of the gas to plas­ma. Since the plas­ma is very hot, it melts the met­al work piece, and the melt­ed met­al is blown away by the gas.

As men­tioned above, there are sev­er­al dif­fer­ent ways to achieve this lev­el of cut­ting appli­ca­tion, and some com­pa­nies decide to go with a portable plas­ma cut­ter. These portable machines are fair­ly inex­pen­sive, some cost­ing under $5,000, and they are able to cut medi­um-sized com­po­nents and can be used by fab­ri­ca­tors and hob­by­ists alike.

How­ev­er, when it comes to speed and accu­ra­cy, a work­er oper­at­ing a portable plas­ma cut­ting sys­tem is at a loss. No portable plas­ma cut­ter on the mar­ket can match the speed and pre­ci­sion of a robot­ic plas­ma cut­ter. These robots are pro­grammed with a repeata­bil­i­ty that can­not be achieved by human hands. Also, by speed­ing up the process, robot­ic plas­ma cut­ters increase pro­duc­tion for man­u­fac­tur­ers, which saves time and money.

Cost may be an issue with a robot­ic plas­ma cut­ter though, espe­cial­ly to a hob­by­ist or a small man­u­fac­tur­er. Some robots cost over $40,000 per unit, which may make com­pa­nies with small­er machine bud­gets shy away from automation.

But, before these small to medi­um-sized com­pa­nies com­plete­ly turn their heads from robot­ics to choose a plas­ma cut­ter that is portable, they should know that there is anoth­er option – an option that com­pa­nies like Robots​.com offer to com­pa­nies all the time.

Robots​.com, a cer­ti­fied inte­gra­tor of Fanuc, Motoman, ABB, Uni­ver­sal Robots, and KUKA robot­ics, offers com­pa­nies the option to buy used but like new robots at a great­ly reduced rate. We buy robots from com­pa­nies, and we put them through a com­pre­hen­sive recon­di­tion­ing and inspec­tion process to make them look and work like they just came off the pro­duc­tion line a few days ago.

If you are look­ing to pos­si­bly auto­mate your plas­ma cut­ting sys­tem, con­tact Robots​.com online or at 877−762−6881. Our team of experts will work with you to build you a sys­tem that fits with­in your budget.