I finally bought a $1,200 plasma cutter on a whim and it either saved me or screwed me depending on how you look at it

Last month I pulled the trigger on a Hypertherm Powermax 45 XP from a shop in Tulsa. Cost me $1,200 flat out of pocket, no financing. On one hand it cuts through half inch plate like butter, made a job at the refinery go way faster than using a torch. On the other hand my old oxy-acetylene setup still works fine for most stuff and now I'm out that cash for something I only used twice. The plasma leaves a cleaner edge but the consumables add up quick, already spent $60 on tips and electrodes. For me the time saved on that one big job was worth it but if you're just doing small repairs I'd say stick with what you got. Anyone else drop a chunk of change on a tool and wonder if it was actually necessary?

2 comments

2 Comments

cole99414d ago

Man that's a rough one. A buddy of mine did something similar with a big compressor, spent like eight hundred bucks on some industrial unit because he thought he needed it for sandblasting... used it twice then realized his old pancake compressor ran his blast cabinet just fine for small parts. He ended up selling it at a loss a year later because it took up too much floor space and the electric bill jumped like crazy. The thing just sat there mocking him every time he walked past it. Sometimes the shiny new tool itch gets you good, especially when you're standing there in the store and the guy says it'll change your life. At least your plasma cutter actually paid for itself on that one job though, that's more than he can say.

alex30713d ago

But what if it actually was necessary and you just haven't realized it yet? I mean, you used it twice and it saved you time on that refinery job, right? That time savings might have kept you from being late on a deadline or something, which could have cost you way more than $1,200 if you lost that client. And @cole994, your buddy's compressor story is different because he bought something that didn't really do anything his old one couldn't, but a plasma cutter cuts way faster and cleaner than oxy-fuel on thicker stuff, so it's not the same. The consumables cost is annoying, sure, but $60 is nothing compared to the money you probably made off that one job being done faster. Sometimes we're too quick to call something a mistake just because we didn't use it every day... tools like that are about having the capability when you need it, not using it constantly.