My Plasma Cutter Review Experience

A picture of the plasma cutter in all of its glory!

Now, anyone who knows me well knows that I am a big do-it-yourselfer. I love home improvement and nothing makes me happier than spending a nice weekend day out in the shop working on a new project. For awhile now I have had my eye on a plasma cutter. If you hadn’t heard of these, you aren’t alone – basically they are high-tech blowtorches that only recently have been scaled down to the size where a guy like me could get one for the shop.

Since I love gadgets, I knew I had to check out some plasma cutter reviews to figure out what cutter was right for me. I settled on the Lotos LT5000D and couldn’t be happier. It really came in handy over the weekend when I was cutting out some supports for my new patio. Now I can say I am the only guy on the block with a steel-reinforced patio, which is pretty nice.

Now that I am done gloating over my own handiwork, I have to say again that I cannot get over how cool plasma cutters are. The technology itself is amazing – the cutter moves pressurized air at an extremely fast speed, and then runs an electrical arc through the current. The pressure and speed of the gas combined with the electrical current causes some of the air to pull electrons from surrounding molecules and become what is known as plasma. Plasma then forms a semi-solid “material” – not quite a liquid, but not quite a gas – truly a fourth state of matter.

Now given the speed at which this gas is being expelled, the plasma actually ends up flowing at a rate of over 9,000 miles per hour (not even a DBZ joke – that’s really the stats!). This plasma can then cut through steel.. and let me tell you, it’s like a hot knife through butter. The speed of the plasma actually really does come in handy, because it blows the molten metal away from the cut so it doesn’t stick to the piece you are cutting. You get a lot smoother cut that way for those that have never welded.

I would say the only downside to the plasma cutter is that you have to wear a mask. Of course, you have to wear electrical protection when you are doing any sort of welding – I am only complaining because it has been extremely hot and dry in New Mexico lately, and putting on a welder’s mask and working over a hot flame in the midst of summer gets a little tiring after awhile!