Plasma cutters have their origins in plasma welding.
During World War II the need and demand to build planes quickly for use in the war was tremendous.
Conventional welding of the time was slow, by comparison plasma welders are faster and produced stronger joins.
The machines were developed by refining the techniques of plasma welding into creating a plasma by using the heat from electric arc to cut through metals.
Until recently, a couple of years ago, plasma cutters could only cut materials which conducted electricity such as: copper, silver, and gold.
In addition graphite and salt which are not metals but can conduct electricity could also be cut using this modern equipment.
In recent years this technology have been further developed and can also cut non-conducting materials.
The key difference between the old and new technology is in the ignition spark.
In the older technology the spark is created by completing an electrical circuit through the work surface.
The new technology generates an ignition spark in the torch head.
Metal cutting is still their principal usage although their uses extend to almost any type of material.
Plasma cutters give a very clean cut and leave the area around the cut unaffected and undamaged by the act of cutting, this is in contrast with oxyfuel cutter which can get either melting or thinning in the metal adjacent to the cut.
By super heating the plasma to thirty thousand degrees Fahrenheit at a high velocity this equipment can slice through metal easily.
By combining plasma cutters and computers you can program them to cut any shape you want.
The process is simple and straight forward, simply upload the design and the computer controls will do the rest.
You can add depth and texture to any project as new machines can give a beveled finish of up to forty five degrees.
Plasma cutters are available to almost anyone and can cost as little as US $700 today.
You can get more information by following the link in the resource box below.