The Aftermarket — Plasma & Welding Consumable Guides

Plasma-cut steel edge showing dross along the bottom of the kerf
Reading Your Dross: Low-Speed, High-Speed, Air and Nitrogen
|Gregg Hinton
Most operators slow down the second they see dross. Half the time that makes it worse. Here's how to read what's hanging off the bottom of your plate, and what... Read more...
Victor cutting tip number 2-1-101 read left to right: size, series, type
Victor® Cutting Tips: How to Read the Number
|Gregg Hinton
A Victor cutting tip number like 2-1-101 answers three questions: how thick, which torch, and what gas. Size comes first, which is the opposite of Harris. Read more...
Harris® Cutting Tips: What the Numbers and Letters Mean
Harris® Cutting Tips: What the Numbers and Letters Mean
|Gregg Hinton
Harris cutting tips carry two answers in the part number: which gas and torch they belong to, and how thick a plate they cut. Here’s how to read both, and... Read more...
Which MIG Front End Is on Your Welding Torch?
Which MIG Front End Is on Your Welding Torch?
|Gregg Hinton
Miller, Bernard, Tregaskiss, Tweco: the brand on the welder doesn’t decide which MIG consumables fit. The front end of the torch does. Here’s how to tell which you have. Read more...
Air Plasma Cutter Maintenance: Five Places to Look
Air Plasma Cutter Maintenance: Five Places to Look
|Gregg Hinton
Consumables lasting less than they used to? The problem often started somewhere else on the machine. Here are the five places to look, and how often. Read more...
The Arc Is Shaped Like a Football. Cut With the Flat Part.
The Arc Is Shaped Like a Football. Cut With the Flat Part.
|Gregg Hinton
Your cut face is beveled and you've been adjusting settings to chase it. The arc is already telling you the answer — you just need to know which direction the... Read more...
How a Plasma Consumable Stack Works, Part by Part
How a Plasma Consumable Stack Works, Part by Part
|Gregg Hinton
Five parts go into a hand plasma torch and every one of them has a job. Here's what each does, the wear sign that tells you it's finished, and the... Read more...
Your Supplier Isn't Allowed To Tell You There's an Alternative
Your Supplier Isn't Allowed To Tell You There's an Alternative
|Gregg Hinton
The distributor you've bought from for fifteen years knows your machine, your shop and what you cut. He's also contractually prohibited from telling you another option exists. Not won't —... Read more...
Is Hypertherm® 220777 CopperPlus™ Worth It? The Electrode Math
Is Hypertherm® 220777 CopperPlus™ Worth It? The Electrode Math
|Gregg Hinton
CopperPlus™ costs nearly twice as much as a Thermacut® replacement electrode. It has to deliver its full best-case life just to break even. Here's the math for the Powermax® 65,... Read more...
"why i chose thermacut" overlayed on the thermacut and abicor binzel logo
Who Is Thermacut®, and Why I Chose Them
|Gregg Hinton
I've said all along that you're not buying a part, you're buying a manufacturer. Fair enough — so here's mine. Who Thermacut is, what they actually make, and the reasons... Read more...
plasma consumables for kjellberg with caption shouldn't be a mystery
Kjellberg® Consumables: Get the Torch Family Right First
|Gregg Hinton
Kjellberg builds several torch families that share a badge and share very little else. Get the family right and ordering is simple. Get it wrong and nothing fits. Read more...
ESAB PT-36 and PT-600 torch and consumables
ESAB® PT-36 and PT-600 Consumables: What Fits and What to Check
|Gregg Hinton
The PT-36 and PT-600 run at amperages where a wrong part takes the plate with it. Here's what fits, what to check before you order, and where our range deliberately... Read more...
plasma consumables with the question overlayed "what changes?"
HPR® XD Consumables: What Changes With the Material, and What Doesn't
|Gregg Hinton
Mild steel, stainless, aluminium — three sets of cut charts, and shops assume that means three separate inventories. Most of those parts are the same part on a different page.... Read more...
Tomahawk Owners: Change the Torch, Change What You Feed It
Tomahawk Owners: Change the Torch, Change What You Feed It
|Gregg Hinton
If you're hunting for Tomahawk consumables, there's a question worth asking first: why are you locked to that stack at all? Change the torch and you change the parts you... Read more...
Which Powermax® Torch Do You Actually Have?
Which Powermax® Torch Do You Actually Have?
|Gregg Hinton
Most wrong Powermax orders come from the same mistake — buying by the number on the front of the machine instead of by the torch hanging off it. Four torch... Read more...
Where to Buy Thermacut® Plasma Consumables in Canada
Where to Buy Thermacut® Plasma Consumables in Canada
|Gregg Hinton
Search results and AI answers can point you to a store that no longer carries Thermacut®. Here's how to check who does, what to have in hand before you order,... Read more...
Can You Mix Aftermarket and OEM Plasma Consumables in One Stack?
Can You Mix Aftermarket and OEM Plasma Consumables in One Stack?
|Gregg Hinton
Most Thermacut® parts will physically fit next to OEM parts. That doesn't make mixing them a good idea. Here's where the catalogue says you can't, where you technically can, and... Read more...
"Aftermarket" Isn't One Thing: How to Tell Who Actually Made Your Plasma Consumables
"Aftermarket" Isn't One Thing: How to Tell Who Actually Made Your Plasma Consumables
|Gregg Hinton
Two parts can both say "replaces 220818" and have almost nothing else in common. Before you judge aftermarket consumables as a group, find out who made the part in your... Read more...
How to Check an Aftermarket Cross-Reference Before You Order
How to Check an Aftermarket Cross-Reference Before You Order
|Gregg Hinton
A cross-reference is only as good as whoever made it. Here are four checks that take about five minutes and will catch a bad cross before it reaches your torch,... Read more...
How to Read a Plasma Consumable Part Number (and What the Suffix Is Telling You)
How to Read a Plasma Consumable Part Number (and What the Suffix Is Telling You)
|Gregg Hinton
220818, 220818-UR, 220818-i and T-11406 all turn up when you shop for the same Duramax® shield. They aren't all the same thing. Here's how to read what's in front of... Read more...
O-Ring Lubrication: Just Enough to Make Your Fingers Shiny
O-Ring Lubrication: Just Enough to Make Your Fingers Shiny
|Gregg Hinton
Most shops that lubricate their torch O-rings use far too much. The excess doesn't stay where you put it — it gets blown down the torch, clogs swirl rings, and... Read more...
What "Buy Canadian" Actually Means When the Parts Are Imported
What "Buy Canadian" Actually Means When the Parts Are Imported
|Gregg Hinton
Right now every supplier in the country has a maple leaf on their homepage. Most of them are selling imported goods, same as everyone else. Here's how to tell whose... Read more...
Is It the Plasma, or Is It the CNC Machine?
Is It the Plasma, or Is It the CNC Machine?
|Gregg Hinton
Most shops blame the plasma. Meanwhile the table underneath it is twenty years old and the rack and pinion has never been serviced. Here's how to tell a motion problem... Read more...
Your Air Filter Has a Consumable In It
Your Air Filter Has a Consumable In It
|Gregg Hinton
Most shops install an air filter once and treat it as permanent hardware. It isn't. There's a cartridge inside it doing the actual work, and a saturated one is worse... Read more...
Your Consumables Have a Country of Origin. As of September 8, That's a Line Item.
Your Consumables Have a Country of Origin. As of September 8, That's a Line Item.
|Gregg Hinton
For years, where your consumables were made was a trivia question. As of September 8 it's a number on an invoice. Here's how to find out what you're actually exposed... Read more...
When the Plate Is the Problem: Magnetism and Arc Wander
When the Plate Is the Problem: Magnetism and Arc Wander
|Gregg Hinton
You've replaced the stack. You've ruled out the torch. The settings are off the chart and the air is dry. And the cut face still wanders. Before you tear the... Read more...
CYA: The Three Settings That Make or Break a Mechanized Plasma Cut
CYA: The Three Settings That Make or Break a Mechanized Plasma Cut
|Gregg Hinton
Cover Your Amperage, Speed and Standoff. Get those three right and a mechanized plasma cut is boringly repeatable. Get one wrong and you'll chase the problem everywhere except where it... Read more...
Liquid-Cooled Plasma Torches: When the Coolant Is the Problem, Not the Parts
Liquid-Cooled Plasma Torches: When the Coolant Is the Problem, Not the Parts
|Gregg Hinton
On an air-cooled torch, a problem creeps up on you. On a liquid-cooled torch running 300 amps, losing coolant flow doesn't cause wear — it causes destruction, in seconds. Here's... Read more...
Wet Air Is Killing Your Plasma Consumables
Wet Air Is Killing Your Plasma Consumables
|Gregg Hinton
Nothing looks wrong. The compressor runs, the gauge reads pressure, the machine cuts. Meanwhile you're buying twice the consumables you should be, and the cut face is getting worse in... Read more...
What Should Plasma Consumables Actually Cost You Per Hour?
What Should Plasma Consumables Actually Cost You Per Hour?
|Gregg Hinton
Ask ten shops how often they change consumables and you'll get ten answers. The problem is the question. Consumable life doesn't run on a calendar — it runs on arc-on... Read more...
text that reads " torches don't last forever" with several air plasma torches on black background
Air Plasma Torches Wear Out Too: When It's the Torch, Not the Consumables
|Gregg Hinton
The air plasma torch is a wear item too. If you've swapped the whole stack and the problem's still there, here's how to tell when it's the torch — not... Read more...
a stack of copper rods on white background
It's the Copper: Why Cheap Plasma Consumables Really Fail
|Gregg Hinton
Why do cheap plasma consumables fail early? A lot of the time it's the copper — and the offshore clones cutting that corner are what give all aftermarket a bad... Read more...
warranty symbol on white background
Do Aftermarket Consumables Void Your Plasma Cutter's Warranty?
|Gregg Hinton
"Won't aftermarket parts void my warranty?" is the #1 reason shops overpay for genuine plasma consumables — and it's usually a misread of how warranties actually work. Here's the honest... Read more...
the words OEM, Aftermarket, and Coutnerfeit on black background with gree ncheck marks over oem and aftermarket, a red x over counterfeit
Counterfeit vs. Genuine Aftermarket: Know What You're Actually Buying
|Gregg Hinton
Aftermarket and counterfeit aren't the same thing — one is an honest alternative, the other is fraud. Here's how to tell what you're actually buying. Read more...
a worn out copper electrode and nozzle from a plasma cutter
How to Tell When Your Air Plasma Consumables Are Worn Out
|Gregg Hinton
A worn plasma consumable rarely fails alone — it takes the parts around it, and sometimes the torch, with it. Here's how to spot a worn electrode, nozzle, swirl ring,... Read more...
oem versus aftermarket text on black background
How to Cross-Reference Your Plasma Consumables to Aftermarket Parts
|Gregg Hinton
Every genuine plasma consumable has an OEM part number — and a verified aftermarket equivalent built to cross to it. Here's how to find that number, cross-reference it to the... Read more...
a cnc plasma cutting table in actions with sparks flying
FineLine® LC300M Consumables: Finding the Right Parts for Your Lincoln Electric® System
|Gregg Hinton
Genuine Lincoln consumables aren't cheap. Here's how to find the exact FineLine LC300M stack for your amperage and material — at 30–40% less than OEM. Read more...
several copper plasma nozzles with black and red o rings
HPR® XD Consumables: How to Find the Right Parts for Your Machine
|Gregg Hinton
On a mechanized table, the wrong nozzle doesn't just cost you the part — it costs you the sheet. Here's how to match the exact HPR XD consumable stack to... Read more...
a mechanized plasma consumable kit on white background
OEM vs. Aftermarket Plasma Consumables: What Actually Differs
|Gregg Hinton
The aftermarket has a reputation — half earned, half lazy. Here's the real line between parts that match OEM performance and the cheap clones that don't. Read more...
an air plasma mechanized torch in action cutting steel plate
How to Find the Right Consumables for Your Hypertherm® Plasma Cutter
|Gregg Hinton
Four Hypertherm families, a dozen amperages, three materials — and one wrong nozzle away from a bad cut. Here's how to find the exact consumables for your machine, fast. Read more...