- Hobart AirForce 250ci lightweight plasma cutter with air compressor, powered by standard household current
- Designed to cut up to 1/4-inch mild steel; uses an electrical arc and compressed air to cut steel, aluminum, and other conductive metals
- Use it for a more precise cut, thinner kerf, and less slag to clean up with faster cuts than oxy fuel
- Includes 16.5-foot heavy duty work clamp, 7 -foot power cord with 115 VAC plug, extra replacement tips, and a convenient cable management strap
- 10-by-7-1/2-by-13-inches at 27-pounds; backed by Hobart limited warranty
Perfect little machine for the home hobbiest. I bought this machine for sheet metal work and the ocassional 1/4" chunk. Cuts like butter through thin steel, takes a little more time on the 1/4" stuff. But its alot cheaper to operate on sheet metal and mild steel than oxy-acetylene. Best feature of this unit is not having to adjust a single thing, no air pressure, no amperage adjustment. Just pull the trigger and cut away.
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I bought this Plasma cutter for cutting sheet metal and various Rusty parts off my 76 Trans Am and I must say for the size of this little box and the cost, I'm very impressed. The unit is like they say plug in and play. I found it very easy to fit into my Hobart upright cart along with my Hobart Handler 140 (also an awesome welder) so if you're concerned about size, don't be, it's about the size of 2 six packs. Key features I like about it are that I don't need to use my air compressor on it, it has one built in. This way I don't have to adjust the regulator or any. Also, it only throws sparks about 1-2ft, I've heard horror stories of Plasma cutters throwing sparks for 4-6ft. I'm working in a small one car garage and I don't like having to worry about fires and such when working. Now as for cutting depth. The book states it can do 1/4in thick steel. I believe if you have perfect conditions it can do this with a pass or two. I have found in my own experience that it will at least cut 1/8th to 3/16th. (I had to cut off my rear frame off my car and it worked great.) And as for 20-22gauge steel, it'll cut through that like butter.
Now the cons, he ground cable isn't very flexible. It seems almost as if it were solid wire instead of stranded. I'm comparing this to my welder's ground cable and it is much more flexible. Another con is that I'm not very good at it so it keeps turning on and off and when it turns off you have to wait for the compressor to refill (3-5sec) before you can start again. Not a huge con but annoying if impatience is a character trait. It does however run rather quiet, I can talk over the sound of the compressor. Other than that I can't really thing of other draw backs. They do come with a 3 year warranty from Hobart, I called hobart up and I talked to one of their repair technitions and he said he barely ever gets plasma cutters in, they mostly get welders that have been on the job site for 10-15 years. So I do agree that hobart is an AWESOME BRAND. So I my point with that is don't be afraid to purchase one used for a couple bucks less. It's worth it! I guess that about wraps it up.
Final Notes: I would recommend this to a friend for medium to light duty cutting. I would not recommend this to a daily use shop. I would suggest a size a bigger than this.
Biggest Con: Ground Cable flexibility
Biggest Pro: Aircompressor built in and uses 115v 20amp circuit.
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What truly sucks about this is that I waited too long to get it. All of the money spent on cut-off wheels, all of the time wasted at the grinding wheel fine tuning the parts... Bottom line; it will save you time, money, and provide you with that warm and fuzzy feeling we all strive for.
The good:
Built-in compressor. Turn on and go.
Small, lightweight, easy to move around.
Looooong hoses.
Mine doesn't have the stiff ground cable somebody else complained about. Don't know if this is a recent change.
Fairly good resale value.
The bad:
Make no mistake, this is a home unit. It will cut 1/4" steel, eventually... If you only cut thick pieces occasionally it will work fine. Clean cuts at 1/8" but still fairly slow.
Dinky guide, basically a folded thick wire. You will get good at using it but it will take time and in the process you will ruin some metal. If it had a better guide it would cut down the learning curve significantly.
Cool off period is annoying at first (you hit the trigger by mistake; you have to wait for the gun to finish blowing cool-off air before you can use it again). You get used to it.
Tips:
You may not be able to run it on a cheap extension cord. Mine kept going off. Plugging it straight into the wall fixed that.
Keep the opening end of the dinky guide pointing down (same direction as the hoses) and cut in a pulling motion, keeping the gun parallel with the cut. At first you think in some cuts it would be easier to flip the guide sideways and cut left-to-right. This inserts a new variable that makes accuracy much harder.
-Learn to relax your grip. two-handed, light touch will help you get better at it faster. Practice this with the gun off.
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Bought refurbished model from Toolking and am very happy. Arrived promptly in like new shape. Cuts very well on smaller stock like 1/8 inch. Lag time for tip cooling after cut but very functional for the price and what I use it for. Would buy again or recomend for fellow hobby builder.
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I was greatly disapointed with this. I had difficulty cutting even 14 gauge steel. I had to go extreemly slow, and got a very sloppy cut, because the power was so slow. It came with a extreemly cheap tip guide, made of a piece of bended wire. This kept rotating as it passed along my straight edge, causing further frustration. I guess you just expect more.
I wouldn't recommend buying this to any person, for any application.
