New to plasma here. doing some test cuts on 2.0mm steel with a 45xp with fine cut consumables. Cut speed was 200ipm, 45 amps, 1/2 " air hose with air in auto and small shim. I had some paths pierce and cut great only to etch in some spots and not burn all the way through. I think there was a possibility that the material warped and touched the torch. Is this the symptom of the torch touching the material? Thanks Doug
I had this issue and had to move my work clamp directly to the material instead of clamping to the bottom of the water table drain.
I believe he means ground clamp. I’ve also had better luck claiming directly to the work piece.
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Except the clamp isn’t a “ground”, it’s the positive lead of a DC circuit but whatever you want to call it, stick the cable with the clampy thing on it directly to the metal you’re cutting lol
Depends. It is not a “negative ground” as we usually think of grounds in the US. But old timers probably remember 6V cars with positive grounds 
And in Britain, it’s the “earth” which is exactly what that wire is also called - the “earth clamp”.
It’s like facial tissue and photocopies - when someone says Kleenex and Xerox we all know what’s meant even if it’s not technically correct. There’s enough stuff to get your head wrapped around with all of this without getting hung up on technicalities that aren’t meaningful
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It’s not a “negative ground” in any aspect. In fact, both of those words refer to different components of different type circuits.
I call it a work clamp, not because it’s technically accurate or I’m an electrical snob, but because I weld. DC+ and DC- stick welding requires the clamp at different polarity. I typically use a multi process machine at home and when i switch from TIG to MIG, the polarity that the clamp is plugged into changes.
Feel free to call it a clampy thingy for all i care 
The world will still turn.
And my TIG it’s both
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I think most would agree that we all understand what is meant by “ Ground Clamp”. Why are we still wasting our time on this?
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The same understanding goes for “work clamp” there Scubadog so thank you for this useless exchange. 
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Sorry Dog I’m not an expert at welding or plasma cutters and had never heard it called a work clamp. So thanks for educating me.