Welding Tips and Tricks

Hello,
I was wondering how you guy move big plate and parts either flat or boxes? what type of material handling clamps and magnet you use?

Tractor and engine hoist are my go-to.

On occasion I hoist from the ceiling from anchors I put up there when I remodeled the barn into a shop.

Fork lift, overhead crane and jib crane with various gear including chains, magnet and plate dogs,

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=plat ... %3B197also these things,

alright I didnt know if there was one you use more than the others... the magnets just seam like they cant lift much weight

Scrapyards use electromagnets almost exclusively

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

how do those magnets work on alum or SS?

Jason_alex wrote:how do those magnets work on alum or SS?

they don't.

You got me lol. That's why you have to unload your own aluminum at a different gate!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

HAHA that is true... I just was thinking inside a plant more so you dont have to worry about a battery staying charged or dropping a load.

Hey

Our magnets we use in house have a "throw over" switch (for want of a better term) where you lower the mag down on to the plate, and throw over a handle to "turn on" the mag. No electricity needed. Like the strong hand mags and the mag earth clamps.

http://en-au.eriez.com/Products/Index/Liftingmagnets

also there are vacuum lifters available for non ferrous metals and steels that cannot tolerate any extra magnetic disturbance.

Mick

I have a big "yellow wrench", it does everything but dentistry. A case 580K tractor/loader/backhoe is the most versatile tool in the world. When that won't work I call Sean, at 6'5" 300 lb, he can lift a big block Chevy engine.

well there are electric and non-electric magnets. I used to borrow a small one from an old tool & die guy that would lift 2+ tons, but my loader will only do 1000# - it was eas to attach, and one handle lifted it off, kinda like the mag vices on a grinder.
But there is also Plate Clamps and Plate Lifting dogs (http://www.liftinggeardirect.co.uk/plate-clamp.html) . Most of the metal supply places around me use the Plate clamps. One place (Miller bridge builders) used them to maneuver 1" thick steel plates for bridge sections. They also solve the non-metallic issues

We had those clamps for clamping from 75- 100mm and i have seen two used on an 18 tonne plate.... Solid.

Aluminum and some stainless steels are not magnetic, so for non magnetic materials pick-up magnets won't work. Permanent magnets are made from materials that hold their magnetism and act as indicated in an earlier post: they clamp on until a lever or something is actuated to push the material away from the permanenet magnet or visa versa.

Electromagnets (the pick up magnets used in junk yards and the like) are coils of wire around iron or similar material cores. When DC passes through the coils, a magnetic field sets up and the core becomes a magnet whose strength is proportional to the current and number of coils. When the DC is turned off, the magnetism mostly goes away, which is why some stuff still sticks but heavier stuff falls off the magnet. In serious production applications, the DC is not only turned off but replaced with AC, which kills the magnetism completely.

No matter what don't lift with a magnet over or near something (or someone) that might be harmed by sudden release of the suspended material