I’m brand new here. I’m working up the courage to click “Order Now” on a CrossFire ProMax with a Hypertherm 65 SYNC in the cart. These kind of dollar amounts make my heart skip a beat, so I’m second guessing myself and I would love some community input.
My goal is to start a small fabrication shop out of my garage with the intention of moving into a larger space once business has outgrown it. It will be a side business at first and I’ll continue my day job until I can get enough income to justify going full time.
That Hypertherm 65 SYNC is SURELY up to the task and could grow with the business for a long, long time. I can swing it, although it would be a very painful dent in my wallet. Do you think it makes sense to go with something that big now, or should I start small and trade up later? Keep in mind that at the moment, I’m doing everything with a super cheap Chinese plasma cutter from Amazon and cutting by hand with a straight edge and templates… if you’ve been there, you know my pain. Fine for an occasional hobby piece, but I can’t run a business doing that!
I would appreciate either (a) being talked down, or (b) gently encouraged to YOLO
I’m looking forward to joining the Langmuir family!
The Hypertherm 65 sync is the best that you can buy
Period. However, it is a pricey item. I have been using an Everlast 82i for 5 years now without any issues. I like the higher-amperage cutters, which give you more flexibility. Now you can buy 3 Everlast 82i for the price of a Hypertherm. Make no mistake, it is the best.
You will need to consider your power needs. Does your shop/garage have the power to run this cutter? I use a 50-amp breaker, but you will need to find out the unit’s amp draw.
I’m putting my ProMax together as we speak. I have used a Crossfire Pro in a fab shop setting for the past 5 years now.
Any questions, feel free to PM me or post them here. We have some very talented people here to help.
If you can see yourself cutting for many hours on end, especially thicker material, the 65Sync is well worth the investment. Personal friend of mine ran the dog shit out of his running some 8 hours per day, 5-6 days a week for over a year before switching to laser.
It ran flawlessly and he’d average over 2,000 pierces per cartridge.
With that said, there are plenty of other plasma cutters on the market that will give you 90-95% of what the Hypertherm can do for about 1/3 of the price.
I tell people this as I ran a PrimeWeld CUT60 (2nd generation) successfully for some years before I moved up to a Hypertherm 45XP.
I hated that people assumed my ‘great’ cuts were the result of using a Hypertherm only to post ridiculously nice edges and square cuts been done on my old PrimeWeld.
Dialing in your setup, both for a personalized cut chart as well as developing your own tools for CAM, will net you amazing results on any popular plasma cutter you choose.
I say this having seen really shitty cuts done on a Hypertherm connected to a more premium CNC table which goes to show, more money doesn’t automatically mean you get an ‘EASY’ button.
Here are some old pictures of stuff I cut on my old PrimeWeld CUT60, using the old PTM-60 torch and Chinese consumables that PrimeWeld sells.
The steel here were remnants I’d buy at a small shop and this was done on the small Crossfire table when I first got into CNC.
Thanks for your reply, and to @Bigdaddy2166 too! Good ideas all around. Maybe the Hypertherm isn’t the best choice when I can get 90% of the way there for a lot cheaper.
I’m pretty lucky, I got to run power myself when I was finishing the garage workshop area, so there are two dedicated 50A circuits with very short 6/2 wire runs from the 200A main panel. One is like 3 feet, the other is under 6 feet, both with 50A breakers and NEMA 6-50R sockets. One is dedicated to my welder(s), the other is for plasma. No, I probably won’t run them both at the same time anyway
I should say, I absolutely love PrimeWeld. My TIG welder is a PrimeWeld TIG325X, and it is a very serious beast that came with an incredible price. The only reason I didn’t immediately consider the PrimeWeld CUT60 was because I read about so many problems with THC voltage divider feedback during my initial research. Do either of you know if this is still an issue, or has it largely been addressed by PrimeWeld?
I’ve also heard some really good things about Everlast, so I’ll put that on my list to evaluate.
While myself and many others have had success, this was with the 1st and 2nd Generation machines.
The issue stemmed from some weird inference stemming from the 1st Gen, and voltage issues running divided on both generations.
The latest (called Gen 3/4) has a newly designed voltage output for CNC use, but people have been reporting odd issues with using the machine in general. Not specific to divided or anything, so keep in mind anything you see and read is outdated stuff.
It’ll keep coming up because people keep asking about it even though it’s not applicable. And the subject is always the same “can I run divided”
If it were me, I’d probably buy an Everlast and run it raw unless you can find a 2nd Gen CUT60. Unless you’ve got the money to burn, then just buy a Hypertherm.
This is really where I’m leaning. I do see that some people have had good luck with the PrimeWeld, but given the variables at play with the multiple generations, the Everlast really looks like the better choice for my specific needs. I’ve spent the last hour or so reading up on them and I haven’t seen anyone with a bad Everlast experience.
I pulled the trigger and placed an order for a Crossfire ProMax bundle plus a machine torch holder, but without a plasma cutter direct from Langmuir. I’m 99% sure I’m going to get an Everlast PowerPlasma 82i, just need to make sure of a few more things before I go ahead and get one to go with the table.
I’m thrilled. I’m really looking forward to putting the table together, dialing it in when all the pieces get here, and actually starting to run a real home business! LLC paperwork is happening next week, then insurance and accountant… nervous, but excited nervous
Glad to have you. If you do decide to order the Everlast. I will provide you with an accurate cut chart and directions on hooking it up to the raw voltage from inside the machine to the VMI box.
It’s all a foreign language now, but you will know it all to well.
I bought my table with a Razorweld 45 3 years ago and have had no problems with it and it worked well. It worked even better when I converted the machine torch to a Hypertherm torch. I would get avg of 1000 pierces. It would cut 3/8” but not very well, but it cut up to 1/4’ very nicely.
I just purchased a 65 sync as I need to be able to cut 1/2” other wise I would just keep what i have.
I went with the razorweld 45 because it was plug and play.
I agree with Kwikfab, Getting the settings dialed in is key
I bought a 45xp, not because I had money to burn but because I wanted something to simply work — and it has pretty much flawlessly. I am an infrequent user of my Pro. It sits idle in an uninsulated pole barn for extended lengths of time sometimes. While others probably have similar experiences with non-Hypertherm cutters, I am an adherent of “buy once, cry once”. I have no regrets.
Fantastic! Thank you! In a previous life I did a lot of soldering for electronics repair and design, so the connections should be a piece of cake (I hope).
Pin 1 and 2 on the back are the torch on and off.
Wire the machine to RAW voltage. Red is the work clamp. Black is the torch. I get a big wire ring term and cut the end so you can get it over the torch bolt and hose.
The next thing is you need a minimum of 70 psi with the torch purge button open. I run 74 psi. Any higher than 80 psi will cause a plasma cutter error.
I swear by shielded consumables. No Amazon or Plasmadyn crap. @mechanic416 is a guy on the forum who owns a plasma welder repair shop. The guy has the good Italian parts and is a freaking plasma savant. I buy all my stuff from him.
