Plasma cutter vs angle grinder: which job is which

The bracket blank is on the bench, the angle grinder is already plugged into the garage socket, and a plasma cutter keeps appearing in the basket. Plasma cutter vs angle grinder is the decision underneath that basket. Plasma takes a shaped cut in conductive metal once you can feed it compressed air and you will wear a welding filter. The grinder stays for a short notch, for cleaning a weld, and for wood, tile and stone.

Products Compared read the amazon.co.uk listings in this set, UK reviews on those pages, and public UK guidance in October 2026. We did not cut metal in a lab. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Links to amazon.co.uk use the tag pcuk26-21. Shelf prices in that file run from £67.83 to £199.00, and they move.

In short

Use a plasma cutter for shaped cuts in conductive sheet and light section, and only if you can supply air and a welding filter. Keep the angle grinder for a quick notch, weld cleanup, and materials that will not carry an arc. Every cutter in this amazon.co.uk set needs an outside compressor, none includes a helmet, and a missing disc does not make the arc safer than a guarded grinder.

The job, not the tool you already own

A plasma cutter or grinder argument starts with the piece in your hand. A curve, a slot or a bracket outline in mild-steel sheet is the plasma job, once air and a welding filter are already in the garage. A nick in tube, a weld you need flat, or a tile stays with the grinder, which runs from the socket you already use.

R-Tech Welding's UK how-to treats plasma as a cut through conductive metal, and it still requires air. The Health and Safety Executive's page on controlling the risks from welding treats the arc as a UV and skin exposure. These amazon.co.uk boxes do not include a helmet. When to use a plasma cutter is the afternoon when the shape, the metal and the air are all there. When one of them is missing, cutting steel with an angle grinder is the method that starts.

How often that afternoon happens is the limit. One pair of brackets in thin sheet can be nibbled with the disc. A run of blanks, or a sill patch with a curve, is where the compressor and the filter earn their space. UK reviewers on the Reboot CUT60 describe inner sills and steps on a 2005 Transit, 1.2 mm sheet, holes in 6 mm stainless and tops cut from 200 litre barrels. Those are amazon.co.uk reports, not a lab test.

Where plasma earns the compressor and the mask

Plasma earns the extra kit on a continuous edge in conductive metal. A plasma cutter for sheet metal follows a scribed line, including a curve a disc fights. A SUSEMSE reviewer wanted a neater edge than a petrol saw on 10 mm channel. That is one buyer's channel, and the grinder still cleans the weld afterwards.

Setup is the price of that edge. The cutter starts when a compressor is connected at the pressure that listing prints, the earth clamp sits on bright metal, and a welding filter covers your eyes and skin. No listing here prints a shade number, so none is given. Choose a filter that meets a British or European standard for arc work. How to use a plasma cutter is the first hour on these inverters.

Touch start adds a step the grinder is good at. The Reboot CUT60 lights the arc by contact, so paint and mill scale have to be cleared until the tip and the clamp see bare metal. That window in the coating is grinding, and the torch takes the line after it. The pilot arc or touch start page separates those start types. A pilot arc still needs the compressor and the filter.

On a long sheet line, once the air is up, plasma is why people buy the machine. On a cut shorter than unwinding the hose and putting the helmet on, the grinder is the faster tool in the room. Call that a rule of thumb. One verified review of the Reboot CUT60 says a 13 A fuse blew, and another buyer moved to a 16 A supply for heavier metal. The socket limit is on the 13 amp supply page.

Where the grinder stays

The grinder stays where plasma is a poor fit or a slow one. A quick notch in tube, bar or the edge of a plate is the ordinary Saturday cut. The guard is already on, and you do not wait for a tank to catch up. Angle grinder for weld cleanup is the other daily job: a bead that sits proud, spatter beside a fillet, and dross on the back of a plasma cut. The joint you are about to paint still needs the disc.

Wood, tile and stone stay off the plasma cutter, because they do not carry the arc. This page will not tell you which disc to fit or how to take one off. Leave the guard in place and wear eye protection made for grinding.

Grinder sparks versus plasma is a difference of process. A disc throws a wide shower and metal dust. Plasma throws a tighter stream, then dross, UV and fume. Nibbling a curve in sheet leaves a faceted, hot edge. After several brackets you are on a line the arc would track in one pass, if the air and the filter were already there. If they are not, the disc is still the honest choice.

What neither tool is for

Calling plasma safer because there is no disc ignores the arc. HSE's welding controls exist because UV and skin exposure come with striking it. Covered skin and a proper filter are the response. Plasma still needs conductive metal and air, and the grinder still needs its guard.

Fume sits beside the light. Painted, galvanised or oily steel puts a plume in a garage with the door half down. That control is plasma cutting fumes. A welding filter does not extract it. Keep the air moving, and stop if you cannot.

Thickness is the other stop. A clean-cut figure and a larger severance figure are different jobs. The Reboot CUT60 title states a 12 mm clean cut, and a bullet adds a 16 mm maximum. One neater 10 mm channel in a SUSEMSE review does not move every machine to 10 mm. Clean cut versus severance pulls those figures apart. Plate past the clean figure you trust belongs with plasma or oxy-fuel. The grinder will groove that plate and overheat the edge.

These remain garage inverters. The Reboot CUT60 bullet prints 35 per cent duty on that 60 A description. One review states 60 per cent, and that number belongs to the review. A long cut still pauses. A notch that takes moments stays on the grinder.

Where to look if you do buy a cutter

If those shaped cuts are actually yours, the next page is the table. The Stahlwerk plasma cutter comparison holds the eleven amazon.co.uk listings, with shelf prices from £67.83 to £199.00 when the file was read. Stahlwerk's own catalogue is a different set. Inside this file the strongest UK review evidence is the Reboot CUT60, model RBC6000-29UK, at £132.04, with 4.6 from 28 reviews.

That is the top pick for occasional garage and body cuts on bare or corroded steel, if you already have air. Skip it for a long thick cut from a 13 A socket, and clear a patch before touch start on paint. Trade names such as ESAB, Hypertherm and Lincoln sit outside this set, and we did not test them.

The carton is an inverter, a torch and an earth clamp. Air is printed as 30–70 psi, and the compressor is yours. The included list has no helmet. One buyer wanted a larger reservoir once the metal got heavier. A plasma cutter when you have no compressor is that gap. The buying guide puts supply, the lower thickness figure and start type ahead of the model name.

Leave the grinder on the bench after the parcel arrives. Plasma takes the shaped conductive cut. If your list is mostly notches and cleanup, keep the grinder and skip the cutter.