PlasmaCAM Samson 510

[suttoncnc]

My brother in-law is looking at a PlasmaCAM Samson 510 that is about 7 years old. It comes with a Thermal Dynamics 151. The machine and plasma cutter have less than 20 hours total time on them. He would be using this for light industrial work commonly cutting .5 material and occasionally cutting .75 and 1 inch. The owner is asking about 1/2 of the original investment.

Does anybody have direct experience with this machine and would offer an opinion about it? Does PlasmaCAM offer good support? Is the machine generally reliable? What about the TD 151? Any insight would be appreciated.

[jimcolt]

The Samson is a great machine....even better if it has all of the Design Edge software updates. If your friend plans to do cutting on .5. .75 and 1" thickness....I would not call that "light industrial" cutting.

The TD151 is a decent plasma cutter, producing 100 Amps of cutting power at 40% duty cycle (when operated on single phase input). It can pierce up to 3/4" using special piercing techniques. Anything over 3/4" will require an edge start or a predrilled hole to edge start on.

I have had Plasmacam tables for 17 years. Great reliability, great support. The Design Edge software is easy to learn, easy to use.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

[suttoncnc]

even better if it has all of the Design Edge software updates

What version/upgrades should he inquire about before purchasing?

Thank you for the response.

[jimcolt]

As a minimum it should have the advanced machine control and advanced height control upgrades. On a new machine these upgrades would add about $3k. The upgrades are worth every penny in terms of cut quality, consumable life and productivity. Jim Colt Hypertherm