In the last 10 or so years the "entry level" machines have become popular.machines priced at under $20,000 with great ing a standard office PC (computer) as the CNC control, and a low cost air plasma system as the cutter.
There are over 90 worldwide manufacturers of cnc plasma cutting machines worldwide.they start in price at around $3000 for a 2 x 2 entry level machine and go to well in excess of a million dollars for a shipyard machine that could have a cutting bed of 50' x 350'.with four 400 amp plasma torches and full bevelling capability.
It is a non commercial webinar that talks about the wide variety of manufacturers, machine sizes, capabilities and price for cnc plasma cutting.
This webinar can be found on the Hypertherm | Plasma Cutters | Plasma Cutting Equipment | Metal Cutting Equipment | CAM Software | Fiber Laser Cutting Equipment site under education, when webinars. I did a webinar a few months ago (for Hypertherm) in regards to "small format cnc plasma tables. Heres it cutting a plate i made for another TBN member. I have a 4x8 table.At times i wish i went 5x10 though I hear good stuff about the torchmate though I too have heard alot of bad things about the plasmacam.and i mean alot. Enroute cost me $1,300 so im in no hurry to change it out. Im sure some of the software that Dynatorch offers nowdays would be easier to use, but back in 2005 this is all they had.
The great thing about Enroute, lets say i need 20 of these weird brackets made, i can tell it i need 20 and the program will automatically arrange the cuts to waste the LEAST amount of metal. I then import it into Enroute and this program also only takes 10-15 seconds. Vextractor takes about 15 seconds to convert. I draw it in Coral, i convert it to a BMP (5 seconds) and import this to vextractor. Say i want to create a plate with 9 different sides, all lengths known. I know it sounds complicated, but after a little practice, it becomes really east. After i save this, i send it to my plasma table to cut. This program automatically cleans up the image and sets the start and exit parameters for the cut. I import this DXF file into a program called Enroute. Since i didn't buy their software, all i have to do is convert my coraldraw art to a BMP (very easy) then import it to a program called Vextractor to create an image of the outline (as you cut the outline of your design). When i started i was using CoralDraw for my artwork (I have Autocad but it takes too long for th stuff i do). They offer alot of different software packages.
I use it because everytime i upgrade it, i get alot more choices and control over my machine.
Their software is continually being updated, but you have to pay for a yearly subscription update if you want it.
There's a guy named Leon that will spend whatever time you need on the phone to assist you.even 6 years after the purchase. The tech support at Dynatorch are FANTASTIC. The learning curve for me was a little long, as i had no previous experience with the machine. I believe their equipment will only run with a machine head on the plasma cutter (at least mine is that way). Since then i have upgraded it with their DASH system (a laser guided material locator that allows cutting without the cutting head ever touching the stock), a powered laser locator (for viewing where the cut will actually take place on the metal) and a collision avoidance device to protect the head. Its not really a hobbyist machine and was in the $11,000 range (not counting plasma cutter machine).