Hold material while cutting

[wferguson]

I am cutting some 1/2" thick metal with dimensions of 6" wide x 38" long, and having some issues with the metal moving on the table while it is being cut. I have the Pro 3x4 table and am cutting at 45 amps with the Hypertherm45xp. I have monitored the cutting with a tape measure during the cutting process and it is moving up to 1/8". I am cutting the perimeter of this part and also some in the middle…so I can’t really put dummy bumper pieces around? Any thoughts?

[TinWhisperer]

Tack it to your slats with the MIG welder, if it’s super critical.

[wferguson]

I guess there are only so many options…but in my case, I don’t know that tacking edge to the slats is doable, since sometimes I am shaving less than 1/8" off of the edges.

[Heath]

Black paper clips maybe?Clamp the slat and push it up to your plate on two sides to trap it.

[wferguson]

I don’t think those will be able to hold a piece of metal this heavy and large in size…I don’t think I will be able to do anything other than try to stack metal on outside edges that are not being cut…there are a few corners I can use for this.

[ds690]

That seems like a seriously heavy piece of metal to be getting pushed around by a plasma stream. Something is not right here.

[wferguson]

I have held my tape measure on the edge of the part while it is being cut…and I can see it move 1/16" which maybe that just needs to be acceptable??

[ds690]

I doubt that something that heavy is moving from the plasma cutting. It’s more likely that the part is expanding from the heat build up in the metal from cutting. A 3 foot long part could probably grow by 1/16" from thermal expansion.

[wferguson]

didn’t think about that…man this whole metal and heat concept is a pain…in welding as well.

[CEB]

this is what I use for small material

but I’m open to ideas

[CEB]

I bolted a short piece of angle to one of the slats then drilled and tapped it

[KX9M]

Here’s another idea from back a while… Worth a look…

Clamping down material - binder clips!

I just finished a project cutting 22 gauge steel on my crossfire. The warping was so annoying, Ugh! All my previous plasma experience was using thicker metal and warping was never an issue in the past. My final solution was to use modified office binder clips to hold down my 22 gauge steel sheet and it worked GREAT. I’m sure someone has done this before me, but wanted to share this technique that I discovered for clipping down thin metal. The binder clips eliminated all my warping issues! As y…

[wferguson]

This is what i ended up doing…mounted a piece of metal on the back of my table…then on the top of the table I can use the long pieces of metal to rest up against my cut material secured with clamps…this gives me a secure place in the back and then on top it is fully adjustable jist by loosening the clamps and sliding the top oieces forward or backwards.