# ESAB PCM-875 plasma cutter



## TJ Hendren

I came across one of these the other day, a lady whos dad had passed away is wanting to sell it to me for $550.00, it looks in good condition. I know nothing about plasma cutters, however I have been thinking about getting one. We are planning on moving back to the home place within the coming year and have a lot of corners' and corrals to build. I don't have a torch just always borrow one from a buddy. I could power it off the welder for remote use. Just looking for opinions on whether this would be a good investment or not for what I'm wanting to do with it.


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## KYhaymaker

Not familiar with that model but have used miller cutters. Whichever one you get, You absolutely must have clean, dry air. Here in the east its a real problem and you need to run the compressor air through a good air drier before the cutter or you will tear it up.


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## SCtrailrider

You should make a few test cuts with it, also see if the tips are easy to purchase... is it 110 or 220V... or both..

How thick of metal will it cut?

I use a larger one at work, not sure about that model....

Price doesn't seem bad IF it works well, and yes you need dry air for them....


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## Gearclash

Looks like a 50A machine, 1-1/4" sever. Should do a lot, and priced right. New they are $4K. I have a 27A Hobart that I have a rather tepid opinion of, will sever 5/8 but doesn't cut real neat over 1/4". Handy tools to have though. Better than an oxy/fuel torch for a lot of things.


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## KYhaymaker

If its in working condition that sounds like a good buy.


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## somedevildawg

Ya, I would probably buy it....can they ship? Lol, just pulling ur chain....


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## farmersamm

http://www.esabna.com/eu/literature/plasma%20equipment/cutting%20packages%20-%20systems/manual%20(only)%20cutting%20packages/domestic/pcm-875_f-15-335-e.pdf

At 60amps it oughta do pretty clean cuts on 1/2" plate.

I'm running a Cutmaster 52 (60amp machine) regularly on 3/8 and 1/2, and it does a good job when running manual cuts with the standoff consumables. Only thing that can be a problem is maintaining a steady cutting speed when running these cutters by hand. They do much better on a plasma table.















Drag marks are due to slight variance in cutting speed when running a manual cut.









Ratings are pretty much a lot of blue sky on most machines. It might sever stuff that's thick, but might not do quality on the thicker material.

For pipe, I'd rather have an O/A set up, but that's just me. You can get into some pretty nasty stuff when working with pipe.









If the ESAB cuts, it's a good deal. You can't go wrong with it, just don't expect it to solve all your cutting needs.


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## stack em up

Oxy acetylene torch and plasma cutter, both useful items, not interchangeable. We have a Thermal Dynamics PAK5XR plasma cutter that doesn’t get much use. Torch to me is 10x faster and less maintenance. Torch tips are cheap, nozzles and caps for plasma are not.


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## TJ Hendren

Thanks gentlemen, all good answers. I done some research and decided that it wasn't a right fit for me. Decided to go with a torch instead. So Dawg its wide open go get it!


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