Gary,
Stick with the guidlines. You need the cfm. You'll need it. Our cfm ratings are quite conservative. One thing that most people fail to realize, is that you also need reserve. I just had a customer call in to tell me about the unit would quite working periodically while he was cutting. I asked him what size compressor he was using. He said a 4 gallon pancake compressor. It was barely putting out 2 or 3 cfm. He was only cutting in short bursts and the low pressure switch would stop the unit because of the lack of reserve and the compressor would not keep up.
As for "lowering" the pressure, I don't want to get a rumor started here. Lowering pressure is helpful in some circumstances, but our torches run a relatively low pressure to begin with. Most people make a mistake with running too low of pressure. The torches cannot cool themselves and electrode life gets shortened if operating too low of pressure. Typically, never go below 50 psi, and most applications will require 60 psi.
Lowe's has a 110V twin cylinder 5.7 cfm @ 90 psi with 30 gallon capacity. Its portable and works quite well. I personally use this with up to 80 amp cutters...It does run a lot, but it can keep pace in most circumstances.
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