Made my first cuts tonight on my new system (14 ga CRS). I love it! Screwed up the current on the first attempt. Corrected on the second. My son is coming home tomorrow from his second year in Mechanical Engineering school. I predict that he and I will have a fun summer!!
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Off topic, but I was so excited I had to share
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We’ve all been there - it’s like Christmas 
Saw some ads on FB so I chimed in and asked their material. They said all of their monograms are 18g. Seems a little thin to me. Wondering how much different u guys are seeing between 14 & 16?
I bought a bunch of pieces from local shop to mess with from 16 to 12 but I’m just getting ready to begin cutting.
14Ga is probably the best for signs, anything thinner and things get feeling cheap. Its also all about the application. If your mounting the piece to wood without an offset, 16 might be ok. I just know if I went thinner the piece would warp too much.
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I use almost all 16g to keep the price down and have a decent product you can hang on a wall or hang in the yard.Only time I ever really see any warpage is in a peice that has lots of intricate cuts with basical no distance between. Keep the water table full always also.
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Was also thinking if other places are using laser instead of plasma that would also make a difference. Obviously plasma gonna get hotter and warp easier. I would think moving the cut location around would help not staying in a particular location too long.
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I got a sheet of 16 gage at my local supplier and it cost more than 14 for some reason…I didnt even ask for the price before hand because I thought it would have to be cheaper…I didnt mind because some of the door hangers get kinda heavy so I thought I would cut a few with the lighter material.
Its possible it was more expensive due to cold roll 16ga vs hot roll 14ga. But to the OP I used 14ga 95% of the time because it does not have as much flex once the sign is cut or cut out. Its kinda dealers choice but 14 just feels more heavy duty(quality) than 16, just my opinion.
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I’ve been using 14g cold roll, buying 4x10 sheets and having them sheared to 2x2. $280 all said and done. I’m basically getting anywhere from 100-200 of revenue per 2x2 sheet, depending on what I cut. Not bad for a $14 per sheet cost. Throw in a couple consumables, just for good measure, but I’m using maybe 1 every 3 sheets on the high end. Cost is nominal.
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