The war between plasma cutter vs torch is not something new. This is a highly debatable topic, and people are yet to settle with one of them. As the topic is a bit ambiguous, there is really no clear winner when it comes to oxy-acetylene vs plasma.
However, this is a topic that most of the newcomers struggle with. The ones looking to get into the process of fabricating metal workpieces tend to be in a dilemma between the two. And even though we are not here to state a clear winner, we will provide information.
By seeing how one compares against the other one, you should have a clear idea about the two of the tools. And hopefully, by the end of this article, you will be out of the predicament that you are in now.
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Oxy-Acetylene Vs Plasma In Detail
As we have mentioned above, the debate between both of the tools is pretty dated. Likewise, we have both of them for a long amount of time, and we have extensively used both. Our experience with the tools is quite enough to provide important pieces of information about them. And that is exactly what we will do.
Plasma Cutting
Any of the welders that require accuracy and versatility demands a plasma cutter. It is one of the plain and simple tools that are in the welding industry. That is why many newbies tend to start their welding adventure by picking one of them up.
Some of the models also offer a higher level of adjustability, which makes them adequate for the intermediates and pros. In fact, you can finely tune some of these to a great extent. However, that is not all that a plasma cutter has to offer. There are more things that this tool can offer. They are:
- Precision
Like we mentioned, the tool is well-known for offering a higher amount of accuracy. In fact, the amount of accuracy that you will get from the device will let you get the exact cuts on the workpiece you are working on. As a result, the workpieces are going to end up looking the exact way you wanted.
Aside from that, the accuracy will also become evident when you are cutting aluminum. As you know by now, aluminum is pretty lightweight. It is not that dense. So, cutting tools can plow right through it. However, you can get highly precise cuts on aluminum workpieces for the control that you will have.
- Clean Cuts
One of the main selling points of the plasma cutters is that they offer clean cuts. Any of the cuts that you will make with this will not require any sort of cleanup. This tool achieves such a capability for being highly accurate. It will leave a minimal amount of slag behind, which means there will be less mess to clean.
Even the kerf of your workpieces will be exceptionally clean. And this is something that the other cutting tools can not generally offer. That is why the welders who want clean cuts on their projects generally pick one of the plasma cutters. And they are usually more than happy with the results.
- Versatility
Another factor that makes plasma cutters great is the versatility. These can do a lot of things other than just cutting. You can do piercing jobs using this. Also, some of the other metal fabrication works can be carried out using this specific tool. There will be no need for you to pick any other dedicated tools for most of the tasks.
Pros
- Exceptionally versatile
- Can offer clean cuts
- Provides a higher level of precision
- Keeps the kerf clean
- Easy to handle
Cons
- Can not cut the thicker metals
- The controls on most of the devices are pretty basic
Oxy-Acetylene
One of the top dogs that are in the metal fabrication industry is oxy-acetylene. And this one achieved that position for being highly powerful. However, like the plasma, this is just one of the factors that make the buyers pick this up. It has to offer a lot of other things. They are as stated:
- Power
As we have already mentioned, the main selling point of this one is the power. The power that it packs makes this one ideal for most of the cutting tasks that you might have to do in your worksite. That means you might not find it necessary to get something that is more powerful for handling a cutting task.
And because of packing a high amount of power, this one is highly capable as well. You can cut thicker materials without any issues at all. To be exact, you can cut through the metal workpieces that are up to two inches in thickness. So, you can rely on this fully to handle the workpiece you have in hand.
- Affordability
You would expect something that packs a high amount of power to be expensive, right? Well, that is not really the case for this one. Even though these pack a good amount of power, you will find them under the budget range. You would not have to spend too much of your hard-earned money on one of these.
However, there are plenty of high-end models out there. Those would be a bit higher in price in comparison. Nevertheless, we believe they would still be well within your budget. And thanks to being this affordable, these are available in most of the hardware shops. Finding a well-performing unit will not be that hard.
- User Experience
Usually, when you are purchasing an oxy-acetone kit, there are not that many parts. The number of parts will be pretty low in number. That means both carrying and storing a kit will be pretty easy. The only thing that you need to worry about is the gas can.
Pros
- Packs a high amount of power
- Affordable
- Easily accessible
- Can cut through metals that are up to two inches thick
- Highly capable
Cons
- Can not handle aluminum and stainless steel
- Requires a lot of cleaning
Final Words
To conclude, there is no clear winner in the fight of plasma cutter vs torch. You should decide the factors that you need and pick one. That being said, we hope that we could provide enough information about the topic oxy-acetylene vs plasma and made it easier for you to pick one.