Hands-On: Hobart’s AirForce 250A Plasma Cutter
By Chuck CageSummary/Conclusions
We’re thoroughly impressed with the 250A. It offers a strong balance of performance and portability, and we’d wholeheartedly recommend it as a great addition to a home or small shop. It only requires a 20A 110V circuit, which you might already have in the garage. It’s also common to find the breaker box in the garage, so if you don’t already have a dedicated circuit, it’s usually pretty easy to add one.
This is a first-class solution to cutting in a location where you can’t practically/safely store acetylene, and it’ll work in places you wouldn’t want to lug around a larger setup. Plasma cutting also adds a lot of capability to your shop, and once you have one you’ll always wonder how you got by without it.
When one of the Hobart engineers warned us that “once our neighbors discovered that we had a plasma cutter we’d become their best friend,” we thought he was kidding us. He wasn’t.
Street pricing for the 250A hovers around $900, though reconditioned units can be found for as little as $650 if you’re on a budget. Our advice: start saving now. And keep an eye out for more updates on the 250A as we apply it to various projects in the future.
The AirForce 250A Plasma Cutter [Hobart]
Street Pricing [Froogle]
Via Amazon
March 29th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Nice summation guys.. I’d been looking for this review since you guys discussed it on the podcast. One thing, it would have been nice to see some close-up shots of the cuts after you were done with them. To really see what the unit can do.
Oh, and 450×338 pixels? What kind of random dimension is that? Let me some some 800×600 at least when I click on a little image. I can’t see anything in those tiny pictures.
March 29th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Rick: Thanks as always for the comments. We shoot ‘em at 7 MP, but 450 px is the limit for TM’s three-col format, so it’s the biggest we publish.
March 29th, 2007 at 3:25 pm
it might be worth mentioning that plasma gives you the option to cut non-ferrous (aluminum etc.) metals. which you can’t do with oxy-acetylene.
April 1st, 2007 at 3:12 pm
The pictures are actually scaled to 399×300 (at least for me) when clicked on for the first time, then 450×338 after the second click. Seeing as the second click brings you out of the format of the webpage and simply displays the picture alone, I dont see why they cant be bigger?
April 1st, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Not sure if you do much welding/cutting/brazing and the like, but you should really be wearing not flammable clothes that cover large parts of your body, i.e. legs, arms, and chest. You only have to get a bit of slag in your shoe once to find out you need to wear pants.
April 2nd, 2007 at 8:43 am
Thanks for the story, but I have one quibble: I’m surprised and dismayed to see pictures of someone using a plasma cutter wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt. Is that really good safety practice?
May 28th, 2007 at 11:48 am
I am realllllly surprised to see any positive comments about the Hobart Air FArce 250A Plasma cutter,I have owned 2 of them and they wouldn’t make a pimple on a real plasma cutters hiney.I bought a reconditioned unit from Harbor Frieght,after trying to use it I figured it just wasn’t reconditioned good enough and returned it,I then bought a brand new one from our local welding supply house,and it cut just as crappy as the recon unit.This is one experience with Hobart,don’t get me started on the Hobart 140 Mig welder.A word to the wise.buy quality equipment.Hobart used to stand for quality,but since Miller bought them out,you may as well buy Chicago Tool.
October 20th, 2007 at 7:29 am
don’t worry about the clothes. how can you see what you’rte doing with a welding helmet on??? i find shade 5 torch glasses to be sufficient eye protection.
as for the performance of this unit: i have used larger ones (rated for 1/2″ or better) and this unit, IF NOT USED BEYOND CAPACITY, will perform. the key here is to cut not more than 1/8″. just because it can “severe” 1/4″ DOES NOT, in my opinion, mean it can cut 1/4″. nor does it mean you should even try. if you need to cut thicker material, get a bigger unit.
btw, never buy “reconditioned” items. you’re asking for a let-down. you may get lucky once in a while, but play it safe. stay away.
January 23rd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Hobart is a chain store brand of Plasma cutters and usually they are cheap that is how they can be marketed in chain stores. If you want a real plasma cutter you need to go to a welding supply store. I prefer Thermal Dynamics products because of their reliability. Plasma cutting is what their business is based on. They just celebrated their 50th anniversary in the field of plasma cutting and their products show it. I had the privilege of cutting with their new CM TRUE 52. Now that is a serious plasma cutter, not for the faint at heart.