I am looking to order a Crossfire Pro and see mixed reviews about the Razorweld 45. I have the possibility of getting a Miller 875 Spectrum for a good price but wonder if it is a waste of money to spend a lot on a machine that will cut for more than I ever plan. I never wee doing more than 3/16 in steel for any of my projects and will usually be 16 gauge. Is the more powerful cutter far better in this situation or a waste. Will the XT60 torch cut with the same detail as the XT40 torch for my needs or is it designed for coarser cuts in thicker metal? I want the best equipment setup for clean, reasonably fast cuts on 1/8" mild steel.
I did read in one review that Miller consumables are more costly than Hypertherm and others, so that is one issue as well. Will I need a more powerful air compressor to keep up with the Miller machine? Should I be looking at any other cutters as more practical alternatives? I’m a newby on a lot of this and want to size everything to the best scenario for performance.
I did talk to Langmuir today and was frustrated that they seem to not be taking in the feedback in this forum and have no plans to even dimple the water table holes or do a single piece table or even ship things all together…all issues that are complained about a lot on their message boards.
so …if you plan to never cut heavy metal…then keep it down graded to a smaller machine.
check on the availability of fine cut consumables…I have an Everlast 62i…and that is at the limit for cutting fine with a machine torch…so I also have a hand torch so I can drop down to the .8 point…possibly a .6…can the miller go down that far in tip size for finer cuts?
or are you possibly limiting yourself to wider kerfs at higher amperage?
Compressors…as long as you meet the requirements for thatplasma…most need 3.5 to 5.5 scfm at 90PSI…mot single stage 50-60 gallon compressors can handle it.
most of us will disagree with the statement that they are not taking in feedback…they take it very seriously…many of us are the ones that have been through the growing pains with the tables…and the software…they play a big part in the forums in learning from the trials we put the machines through…the glitches we find in the software…and recently the problems with certain plasma cutters.
Langmuir seems to be making changes and following up with ideas that make the tables better and stay on a good price point.
What I figure is that they knew people would put their own drains in the table no matter what they did…you add a few dollars to a table dimple it adds up to millions of dollars for really nothing that would be better spent on other development.
A single piece table I bet was researched for shipping costs…2 pieces are cheaper to ship…both from a supplier and then cheaper shipping to costumer…again saving millions for a small flange that many do not even bother welding or doing anything about it.
if 100,000 tables are sold and it costs $5 per table to add a dimple vs. a the plug they installed…that is a $500,000 savings…
Think on smaller terms…you are asked to cut 1000 pieces al the same…you price it at $5/piece for cold rolled steel as it is cheaper and less cleaning…you loose the job to a guy that charges $4.75 because he uses hot rolled but spends $.15 per piece on chemical cleaning…it may only be $.10 per unit…but on 1000 it is a $100 savings…I would rather keep the $100 for something that does not make a huge difference.
If a company acted on every complaint they would never get a product out or make it affordable…and you would still end up with the issue of…
You can please some of the people some of the time…but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.
Thanks for this feedback. What machines might you recommend…or is the Razorweld offered by Langmuir the right choice. I see they have removed the Primeweld Cut60 from their recommended list.
My 2 cents worth, I’m going with the Spectrum 875 Autoline cutter on my machine, ( I’m still trying to figure out how to install the automation kit though), If you can afford the Miller, I’d say go for it, there are a lot of guys who went with less expensive machines who have had problems, not saying that they don’t work and by no means am I knocking no ones decision on what cutter they chose to go with, but for my purpose, I want a top of the line quality machine. Who knows, you might find yourself wanting to cut thicker plate later on as you get comfortable with the table.
Toolboy always makes a lot of sense in his replies, he doesn’t just rant/post useless info on this site, I’ve come to respect his opinion on all the topics on this forum. He wont steer you wrong. Listen to him.
I do admit to spending a lot of time here…but I read a lot of threads and get informed as much as possible.
heck…a little over a year ago I knew nothing of plasma cutting with a CNC…
I am an amateur welded…mostly a grinder…
And been playing with a plasma torch for a couple of years…
I have burned through a lot of metal…made a lot of mistakes…but from mistakes come the quest for knowledge…and from that come frustration…hahahahahah
I do like the thoughts toolboy had on being able to finecut. I see there are finecut tips for the Hypertherm machines, and this may not be the case for the XT60 torch…at least not to the same extent. I am sure it would just quickly cut everything, but will it do good detail work on 16 gauge metal? Is this the case where a big tractor can pull huge amounts but will not have the maneuverability of a fiat 500?
I wish I would have bought the 875 i have the 625 and I have put in a lot of work with it but the 875 would be nicer for 3/8 and 1/2 the 625 can do it albeit a lot slower but I do a lot of 3/16 with the 625 so no doubt the 875 will handle with ease and im sure have a better duty cycle with that size and cutting time!
Heres some mostly 3/16 cuts and some 1/4" cuts done on my 625
That reminds me of a question I posed to my boss/owner of a machine shop i once worked many years ago. Why such large machine ( it was a large horizonal boring mill ) Answer: On a little machine I can do only little jobs. on the large machine I can do BIG and little jobs. He was right you never have enough restate or horsepower to do a job.
This is some 3/16 cutting on my 625, I love my Miller cause everything else I have is Miller as far as my TIG and MIG and this plasma machine but I think if I upgraded I’d probably go HT for the plasma
Well yes you could. But the kerf of a 20 amp tip is 0.65mm/.025" and the 30 amp is 0.8mm/.030". The 20 amp tips work best on plasma cutter that go down to 10 or 15 amps best and on metals 18,20,22,24 gauge.
Good info… I’m also looking for best setup for fine detail down to 14g. I have the PRO to start assembling this moth and an XR coming in Oct. HT is looking better. I hadn’t thought much about hand vs machine torch… never used a machine torch. I’m going searching for details now…
Miller has 40A and 60A tips for the 875 Spectrum XT60 torch. Their 30A tip only works on the 625X with the XT40 torch. Would the 40A be good for all my needs? https://store.cyberweld.com/miplti40amp21.html
already had an 80 Amp Lotos that’s a solid machine, so picked up a 1.1 machine torch for it. That’s gonna go on the big XR.
Decided on precision over power for the PRO… So ordered razorweld 45 and some extra 0.6 and 0.8 consumables.
Question for anyone who ran razorweld with handheld vs machine torch… was there any functional difference between the two? Cut quality, speed, thickness?
