Curious what people have been doing to clamp material down.
I have found that with detailed cuts, 14g material will warp and either catch the torch or drag the tip across the material blowing out the electrode and or nozzle. Both occurrences costing a fair amount…
So far I have used squeeze clamps from the top of the slat bed to the frame rail but sometimes it is tough to fit them.
I tried ratchet straps around the entire table as well but they simply dont have the staying force of a real clamp and material can still warp upward inside them.
Without the water table its obviously easy to clamp anywhere but the water table is definitely a significant obstacle…
The best way is to use two bars at least 33” long a piece, clamped over the “CROSSFIRE” tubes such that they run parallel to the slats. Doing this requires 4 C-clamps and holds the material down very securely,
The best and most reliable way is babysit it, get a welding glove and watch for warping. All I cut is thinner gauge and its a pain in the ass. I see the benefits of THC.
Yep. I have 2 pieces of 1.5"x1/4"x36" flat steel stock I can clamp to the Crossfire support tubes. Standard stock at the big boxes or your steel supplier (I use onlinemetals but Puck up locally to save on shipping).
I’ve had good luck just using a bunch of heavy pieces of scrap to weigh down the areas where the torch won’t be traveling. Just make sure the scrap is over a slat so it is holding the material down instead of actual bending it down and causing any lift in another spot.
