Air compressor for plasma cutter

Looking to buy a air compressor that will work with a cutmaster 42 plasma cutter, recomended brands and size (30 or 60 gallons) Anyone have a air compressor and plasma cutter?

 

check craigslist! i promise you there will be tons and tons of air compressors on there for cheap once you find out what brand/size you want.

 

I was just cuirous if theres anyone out there with a plasma set up and what kind they have ect. Thanks for the help

 

I run a hypertherm powermax 65 on my cnc table, it has a Ingersoll 60gal 220v compressor feeding it air. The compressor is rated for something like 11.5cfm and its about perfect unless you have use for more air in the shop.
Wouldn't want to try an air tool with the plasma running on mine.

 

I want one that can power the cutmaster 42 and when im not cutting i can use a paint gun, air dremmel, air grinder ect, basically metal fab tools. Thanks for the input ill look into the compressor. I found a $400 home depot 30 gall and a Ingersoll Rand 60 gal for $600, i tend to see the Ingersoll brand alot more in fab shops and ranches ect ect.

 

Check and see what kind of CFM you are using. HVLP guns can eat some air. My Sata Jet 400's require 15 CFM. It doesn't work well when trying to spray with a 33 gal 9.x CFM compressor. When I buy a big one it will probably be an Ingersoll. The main thing you need to know when buying is make sure your compressor can feed the max CFM the most hungry tool will use. Always better to have a little extra.

 

Well the ingersoll should work well for you then, if you can afford it. IIRC they rate it for 10,000hrs running use before it needs rebuilds/etc. if maintained correctly.
Some air tools really suck a lot of air, so go as big as you can afford. Check CFM ratings for the tools and make sure the compressor can power them, if the tool requires more CFM, just remember that means you can only use the tool intermittently while the compressor builds pressure again.

 

my buddy has a miller plasma cutter and a 60 gal (cant remember the brand) commpressor, it does perfectly fine for any work he does with it

 

Im looking at the 60 gal one at tractor supply, its not a industrial sized plasma, just a farm/medium duty plasma, cuts as big as 1/4 inch.

 

A quarter inch isn't very thick. I would go bigger..just a thought

 

I ended up getting the plasma cutter itself for
Free so i just need a compressor for it, ive got a heavy and medium duty acetelyne torch for thick ass stuff

 

I finally bought the compressor! A Ingersoll Rand Garage Mate thats about 2x more than what i need for my plasma cutter and i can run other tools on it as well.

At northern tool all loaded up




The first compressor i was looking at was at tractor supply and a ingersoll rand that was a 20 gallon and about 4x what i needed haha a little overkill. I was able to get the garage mate and accessories for just under the compressor itself at tractor supply.

 

Good luck with the new purchase and go register it on ingersoll's site in case you need warranty work... looks like mine does. This week it was barely keeping up with my plasma cutter that draws about 7.5cfm and getting really hot, so something isnt right.

 

My plasma says its gonna be using 3.2cf, mines just a little thermal dynamics haha and i did a warrenty deal when i bought it from northern tool today, a three year deal if the motor burns up or whatever they give me a brand new one no questions asked. Not gonna be using it constantly but i will next weekend for my new bumper. Maybe ill make a new badge too And i will be pming you about some products because im second gen shopping now and will want some stuf... Right now thinkin headahce rack, maybe sliders ( Bolt on). Seeing what i have hte money for at the moment lol

 

Hey eric could you get a couple pics of your compressor set up? Left northern tool yesterday with the guy saying everything was there when the compressor was on display... everything but the manual so i needa get that And i also got the glass water catcher that hooks up so you dont get water in the line and i need another connection for that. Do you only run the ingersoll rand oil in it? Shit was expensive for one quart... Havent hooked it up to the plasma yet and should be using it labor day weekend.

 

I can try and snap some pics and upload when I get a minute.
I run a filter setup with dual coalescing filters, and a desiccant dryer combo to keep air/oil out of the plasma cutter.
I picked up the Ingersoll maintenance kit for my compressor with 2 jugs of oil and 2 spare air intake filters. It was like $35 off Amazon, so not too bad.

 

Ah okay, and i have another question bout the headache rack you make, can you sell just the bed caps and tailgate re enforcement plate? Trying to save weight on the second gen and just do the bed bar again but if i wanna add the rack later could you sell just the rack itself to add?

 

Yeah I could sell them separate no problem. You'd just have to weld the rack to the rails later on.

 

Thats no problem at all, i weld on the side, and im going to college in january for welding haha so thats not a big deal, Thanks for all the help im just trying to think about what i wanna do to this one mod wise and your the vender i want to go with because you supply stuff other than bumpers and sliders (i want a rear bumper!) so i will be placing orders soon once i get the truck and money ect. Along with decals haha

 

Sounds like it would work out just fine.
And if you're interested in a rear bumper, but want to save a few bucks, I'm thinking of selling bumper kits in the future so there would be short lead and less money out of your pocket. I include decals with all orders.