What is plasma cutting?

what's the difference bettween the laser cutting machine and plasma cutting machine?

• Answer:

  With plasma, you can cut anything very fast... and very thick cuts too. Downside to plasma is: The rough surface it leaves behind (thicker the cut, worse the finish) and poor size control. (most likely will need to add a machining processing step after plasma to finish dimensions and to achieve the finish surface requirements) With laser, one is limited to WHAT can be cut, The depths of the cut and the time it takes to cut is very significantly increased over plasma. Upside to laser is: Much better size and surface finish control; can cut very small details accurately. bottom-line: What are your needs. If thinking of purchasing one, consider what you need it to do... Then go to a dealer and arrange a demo on both types set-up to do what you want it to. If you are just outsourcing, talk to the vendors and get quotes from both methods...chances are, depending on what you need done, you will only get a response from ONE of them, as the other is not set-up to do that particular type of work.