We have I believe the exact same machine and have been using it since 2012.
If you look at our 2012 robot you can see a robot made almost entirely on the cnc plasma cutter.
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/photos/37782
I can't talk to the electrical cost, as we replaced an existing welder which was already well ventilated. No new drops were needed.
We did the assembly installation ourselves.
We don't have any gas bottles to run the system we use our shop air, which we also already had.
The tips last a reasonable amount of time. We replace them when the plasma loses focus and they only cost a few dollars at the local welding supply shop. We use 3 or 4 per season at most.
The biggest thing is with trial and error you will learn how much finishing you need to do on other machines. We can do most of our drive train side plates on the Plasma cutter.
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2011 Championship Finalists/Archimedes Division Championships w/ 2016 & 781
2010 Championship Winners/Newton Division Champions
Thank-you 294 & 67
2009 Newton Division Champions w/ 1507 & 121
2008 Archimedes Division Champions w/ 1124 & 1024
2007 Championship Winners/Newton Division Champions w/190, 987 & 177 The Wall of Maroon
2006 Galileo Division Champions w/ 1126 & 201
www.bobcatrobotics.org
"If you can't do it with brains, it won't be done with hours." - Clarence "Kelly" Johnson