Miller plasma cutter questions

[Roospike]

Sup guys !? Gotsa question 4 ya . I'm now looking into getting a Miller plasma cutter and have had many hours of search on the forum but have the big ??'s As we all know the hype of the millermatic 210 welder has been a big one and many , many people have them as my self for steel up to 3/8" and is very pouplar welder . Now when looking into a plasma cutter the big hype is going with the Miller Spectrum 625 plasma cutter size cutter vs the Spectrum 375 size cutter . Now the 375 is rated quality at 1/2" so why so many people going with a bigger plasma cutter over the Spectrum 375 , speed ? I would guess that if Soooooooo many people have gone with the Millermatic 210 rated at up to 3/8" that why would any one want to plasma cut steel over 1/2" ?? If ya cant weld over 3/8" why the need for the cutter rated (quality) over 1/2" ?? Is this just a "over buy" bigger than needed hype thing again ? I'm needing to do 90% cutting of 1/4" steel and some 3/8" at 2" cuts like flat bar steel just like the size welder i have (mm210) so does not the Miller Spectrum 375 fit into this size ? Are the people buying the 625 size really cutting 1/2" and 5/8" steel ? I would think if this was so than the MM251 would of been the more pouplar size welder . Help me out there bud'des" .

[TJJ]

Roo
I have the Spec 375 here and it's done all I needed to do in the last few years. It does a fine job on 1/4" and will easily cut 3/8 although a little slow. I've even cut up rusty 1/2 bar stock and does ok. Sometimes I wish I had jumped up to the 625 but that may be a weenie thing (bigger is better). Now if I did the welding gig for money then I would have gotten at least the 625 just for the sake of cutting speed. Just look over the cutting speed graphs for the machines and see which one suits your desire. With the price of metal these days it's not like I'm going to be cutting up stacks of thick sheets anyways.

tjj

[Sundown]

I agree with TJJ, and besides if I would have needed the capability of the 625 I would have needed to upgrade my compressor ... which I really didn't want to do.

[stang]

hypertherm will save you a few dollars, they make the miller guns for them. same service and warranty, they dont have the overhead miller does, with all the bikes, and promo cars etc. just an option,

[67Charger383HP]

Sup guys !? Gotsa question 4 ya . I'm now looking into getting a Miller plasma cutter and have had many hours of search on the forum but have the big ??'s As we all know the hype of the millermatic 210 welder has been a big one and many , many people have them as my self for steel up to 3/8" and is very pouplar welder . Now when looking into a plasma cutter the big hype is going with the Miller Spectrum 625 plasma cutter size cutter vs the Spectrum 375 size cutter . Now the 375 is rated quality at 1/2" so why so many people going with a bigger plasma cutter over the Spectrum 375 , speed ? I would guess that if Soooooooo many people have gone with the Millermatic 210 rated at up to 3/8" that why would any one want to plasma cut steel over 1/2" ?? If ya cant weld over 3/8" why the need for the cutter rated (quality) over 1/2" ?? Is this just a "over buy" bigger than needed hype thing again ? I'm needing to do 90% cutting of 1/4" steel and some 3/8" at 2" cuts like flat bar steel just like the size welder i have (mm210) so does not the Miller Spectrum 375 fit into this size ? Are the people buying the 625 size really cutting 1/2" and 5/8" steel ? I would think if this was so than the MM251 would of been the more pouplar size welder . Help me out there bud'des" .

Excellent question! I'm on the fence myself and feel I only need the 375/380 model. I also have a MM210!

Thanks for asking this question. After hearing the replies so far I think I'll be going Miller 375 or more likely 380 Hypertherm. The speed of the cut should not be an issue for me, and the thought of working with bigger than ¼ steel (this is a hobby of mine) seems unlikely anyway. Biggest I plan in the near future is a bumper replacement for my truck that will be ¼ and 3/16. I wonder if I’ll need to go ½ for the bumper to frame, and could the 375 or 380 do that in a pinch well enough for that purpose?

Later

[TJJ]

I used my Spec375 to cut up some 1/2 x 3 flat bar once. It did ok but kinda slow. O/A would probably have been faster.

[PJinNJ]

I agree with you on the size, I went with a Hypertherm 380 and love it. Does everything I want and can do more if I slow down.

[MAC702]

My Spectrum 375 impressed me for my first plasma cutter. I plan on a 2050 when I get a new one, just for speed, but the 375 did all I asked it to when I needed it. And I severed 3/4" when it had new tips.

[garth]

I have the 375 spectrum and love it cuts great if I need to cut a lot of big stuff I go to the O/A.

[Roospike]

Well after many hours of reaserch on different forums of the different size plasma cutters i ended up going with the Miller Spectrum 625 and not the Spectrum 375 . I read too many people say the spectrum 375 was " O.K." ," its alright" , "fine for the home user" , "does what i need it to do", "should of up graded" "works ok for a first plasma cutter" ect....ect .... But didnt read of enybody having an issue with the 625 size . The responce of the 625 was more like ... "WOW" & "This thing is great!" , "Fast" , "Very happy with it!" ect ....ect.....The final straw to make me go with the Spectrum 625 over the 375 was the IPM ( inches per minute cutting speed ) on 1/4 steel of what i would use the most of my cutting. 1/4" is the thinest steel i normally use up to 1/2" The 375 comes in at 25 IPM and the 625 comes in at 65 IPM . big difference for me . The Spectrum cutting at just 25 IPM just did not win me over being any real big advantage over my O/A torch set up . Yeah , the Spectrum 625 is about $600. more but when you figure over a 10 year span it dont look so bad . The 625 will more than likely last me the rest of my life but figured 10 years to weigh out the numbers . If anybody is looking at geting a plasma cutter its NEVER just the cost of the plasma cutter , I droped $1800. + or - on the plasma cutter and the motor guard filter and some other small add on's , then come the 3 stage filters for dry air and the regulator x 2 ( one set on the plasma cart & one set on the compressor ) 3 stage filter set me back about $400. + another $70. for all the stuff to make the plasma cart , so I'm setting about $2300. to get this plasma cutter going . I already have the right size air compressor so that didnt set me back on this deal . Well anywho here are a fuw pictures if anybody is interisted of the out come of the Miller Spectrum 625 .

[Roospike]

[TJJ]

Congrats on the 625 Roo.

Yea, I wish I coulda, shoulda, woulda a 625 too.
But the money just aint there. Neither for the Dynasty 300 either.

Enjoy!

[Sundown]

Wow, I forgot to say "I love my 375, it's better than sliced bread", all kidding aside the 375 works for me, but if I needed to cut the stuff you do then I would have gone bigger for sure. Very nice cart and filter setup looks like lots of thought went into it. I used my 375 for the first time since I changed the power coord to a 20ft 10ga SOOJ and a 50 amp 230V plug and added the filters ... made a big difference I think.

[Roospike]

Wow, I forgot to say "I love my 375, it's better than sliced bread", all kidding aside the 375 works for me, but if I needed to cut the stuff you do then I would have gone bigger for sure. Very nice cart and filter setup looks like lots of thought went into it. I used my 375 for the first time since I changed the power coord to a 20ft 10ga SOOJ and a 50 amp 230V plug and added the filters ... made a big difference I think.

George , Your was one of the first cart i looked at ans was based of your and others of the same style . The 625 is a little bit bigger over all size machine so rethought had to go into it . As you can see in the first picture its the same height of the MM210 , this was my height goal . With the 625 it has the big , fat monster power cord so i wanted to get the holder at the back .The three cord hangers are solid 5/8" cold rolled steel round bar. The over all design is real tight and all business . I ancored the 625 down to the cart with four 90 deg steel brackets using the four bolts of the bottom of the 625 side panels ........ now i can use the top handle of the plasma cutter to guide the unit around . Now after having all rubber wheels on this plasma cutter i have found how smooth it rides so now i want to put rubber back wheels on the MM210 and get them hard plastic wheels off there .

[Sundown]

George , Your was one of the first cart i looked at ans was based of your and others of the same style . The 625 is a little bit bigger over all size machine so rethought had to go into it . As you can see in the first picture its the same height of the MM210 , this was my height goal . With the 625 it has the big , fat monster power cord so i wanted to get the holder at the back .The three cord hangers are solid 5/8" cold rolled steel round bar. The over all design is real tight and all business . I ancored the 625 down to the cart with four 90 deg steel brackets using the four bolts of the bottom of the 625 side panels ........ now i can use the top handle of the plasma cutter to guide the unit around . Now after having all rubber wheels on this plasma cutter i have found how smooth it rides so now i want to but rubber back wheels on the MM210 and get them hard plastic wheels off there .

Very nice job. The rubber wheels are a good idea, my fronts are rubber and the rears have a rubber tread fused to the plastic wheels. I have been looking for some 13" spoked wheels with 5/8" axels for the MM210, so far no luck but if I find some I will post some pictures. I sure you will love that cutter, I am still looking for things to cut just for grins.

Oh yeah, see about getting a cover for that whip, I already burned a small hole in the sheath by not paying close attention to what I was doing ... I ordered a custom length, zippered cover for $1.02 a foot + shipping for my 12' CK20 torch, it should be here the end of the week. If it is decent quality I will be getting a 19' for the plasma whip, another 12' for the CK9 torch, and will post pictures of it.