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Ran my torch into a show banner at a fair in Abilene and now I clamp everything
Two summers ago I took my little 2x2 table rig to a county fair in Abilene to cut name signs for folks, $15 a pop. I had a thin steel banner hanging an inch off the back of my water table to draw people in, and about an hour into the day the torch caught it on a rapid move and sliced the whole thing in half mid cut. Sparks rained down, a guy in a cowboy hat yelled "son, your sign is falling," and I stood there holding a half burned piece of 14 gauge while a kid asked if the sign was supposed to look like that. Lost maybe $10 in steel and a lot more in pride that afternoon. These days I tack a stop block at both ends of every sheet and keep anything flappy at least 6 inches clear of the gantry. Anybody else learn their work holding lesson the loud way? What do you clamp down first when you are cutting in a hurry?
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colemartinez17d ago
Laughed at the cowboy hat guy yelling about your sign falling, that is some real county fair energy right there. I learned mine with a piece of 16 gauge that grabbed the nozzle and turned into a metal taco, so now the first thing I clamp is the sheet itself with two welder's magnets plus a stop block on the lead-in side. Anything loose within a foot of the gantry gets zip tied or pulled, no exceptions. Takes me an extra 30 seconds and saves me from looking like a guy who cannot hold his own work down.
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