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From Pens to Plasma Cutters

Miller plasma cutter

Miller Electric brought in a semitruck load of welding equipment for fabricators to try out.

The Miller staff verified that their insurance premium was up-to-date, crossed their fingers, and allowed me to try manual plasma cutting and GTAW.

I used the new 18-pound plasma cutter, the Spectrum 375 X-Treme™. It uses either 115 or 230 volts. The company wanted to offer the user a choice in amperage at 115 volts, so it designed the unit to work on the more-common 15-amp service rather than 20-amp service. I had never done plasma cutting before. It's not difficult by any means, but you have to pay attention to the direction the sparks are going to know if you're cutting all the way through.

I used the Passport™ for GMAW. GMAW isn't hard, but again you have to pay attention—in this case, you have to be careful when starting the arc. The GMAW unit has a few features that make the arc starts smooth. At one point I goofed it up and had far too much wire sticking out of the gun, and the wire had a big ball of metal at its tip. Instead of stopping and cutting off the excess, I just tried it again and got a nice, smooth start.

The lesson I learned here is that an editor is more comfortable with a pen than a welding torch or plasma cutter.

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About the Author
FMA Communications Inc.

Eric Lundin

2135 Point Blvd

Elgin, IL 60123

815-227-8262

Eric Lundin worked on The Tube & Pipe Journal from 2000 to 2022.