Moving sheets of steel

[AZ_guy]

I’ve decided I’m officially tired of wrestling sheets of steel on and off my table. I do a lot of cutting in 16 ga, so a 4x4 sheet is not only heavy enough to be annoying but also thin enough to be floppy. I still do cuts in thicker stuff too so I need an option that works for it all. I just have a small home shop but I do have a forklift so I can make whatever kind of attachment I need.

What do you guys use to load and unload?

[SegoMan DeSigns]

On my 6x12 table build I will be using a stinger off the forklift with a spanner bar / 4 way hook system.

On your smaller sheets maybe one of these modded would work:

https://www.harborfreight.com/500-lbs-c ... =lift+cart

[weldguy]

I second the lift cart, works good for me. Drag the sheets out of the truck onto the cart, roll it to the table, and slide the sheet on. Sometimes I will lay down 3 lengths of 3/8 rod across the cutting deck to make it easy to slide the sheet across the table. Get the sheet where it needs to be and pull the rods out

[acourtjester]

here is a link for doing things with sheet metal that Sean P posted with videos some time back. Slick ideas
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19897&p=115044&hili ... er#p115044
in this link there is another link for other videos he did too.

[djreiswig]

We use a cherry picker and a short chain with 2 big vise grips welded to the ends. We lift mostly 3/8" & 1/2" 4x8 sheets this way. Grab the sheet on the center of the long end & lift it vertically over the edge of the table & slowly let it down letting the cherry picker roll under the table as the sheet goes down. Maybe not the quickest method, but it works.
Might not work the best for thin sheet, but we don't do much of that so we just throw it up there by hand.

[AZ_guy]

I second the lift cart, works good for me. Drag the sheets out of the truck onto the cart, roll it to the table, and slide the sheet on. Sometimes I will lay down 3 lengths of 3/8 rod across the cutting deck to make it easy to slide the sheet across the table. Get the sheet where it needs to be and pull the rods out

If I’m just sliding off the truck onto the cart I’d rather just use the forklift. What I’ve been doing is sliding the sheets off the truck into the forks then driving over and sliding off the forks onto the table. It isn’t horrible doing it this way but I’d like something that’s holding the sheets from the top to lay on the table

[AZ_guy]

We use a cherry picker and a short chain with 2 big vise grips welded to the ends. We lift mostly 3/8" & 1/2" 4x8 sheets this way. Grab the sheet on the center of the long end & lift it vertically over the edge of the table & slowly let it down letting the cherry picker roll under the table as the sheet goes down. Maybe not the quickest method, but it works.
Might not work the best for thin sheet, but we don't do much of that so we just throw it up there by hand.

That sounds interesting, any pictures of the setup you guys are using?

[AZ_guy]

here is a link for doing things with sheet metal that Sean P posted with videos some time back. Slick ideas
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19897&p=115044&hili ... er#p115044
in this link there is another link for other videos he did too.

That’s a good idea. Even just using the piece of tubing to roll across the slats is a great idea.

[djreiswig]

I can get a pic next time I'm out at the shop, but it might be the weekend. It's pretty simple. Just got some Harbor Freight vise grips and a hunk of chain maybe 2-3' long & weld the end links to the one jaw of the vise grips. Hang the chain over the hook on the cherry picker & center it. Clamp the vise grips to the long edge of the sheet roughly centered and fairly far apart. Jack it up & roll it over the table and align the lower edge to the near side of the table and slowly lower the cherry picker. When the sheet touches, nudge the top away slightly so it lays down the right way and keep lowering. The sheet should lay down and roll the cherry picker as it goes.
Then I just use a bar to lift the sheet enough to get the vise grips out.
We put an air over hydraulic cylinder on the cherry picker so it goes up a lot faster.

[Welder Kenny]

if you have a forklift I just use a c clamp on the end of the sheet and tip it back, use the kiss method.. be careful out there people..

[djreiswig]

Here are some pictures of how we lift a sheet of 3/8" steel. The cherry picker didn't raise high enough so we had to shorten the chain a little.

1 Sheet chain.jpg

2 Sheet chain hooked.jpg

3 Sheet lifting.jpg

4 Sheet lowering.jpg

[Rex]

Here is my set up I built a small jib crane and bolt it to the wall with a harbor freight winch and a 600 lb magnet works great

[Jeepn2]

I did a similar thing but used a HF pickup bed hoist with the hydraulic jack, anchored it to the floor close to the center of the table, it will swing and reach to the center of my shop open area, pick up the sheet with magnet and swing to the center of the table. Only improvement will probably be a 12v ATV winch but works fine as is and was cost effective..

[daddog]

I welded 2 pieces of 3" channel iron on the bottom cross-members of my plasma table frame (EZ-Router). Then, I made a pull-out "drawer" from 2" x2" angle iron with 4" square tube legs with castors welded to the bottom of the legs. The front legs are longer than the rear legs as the front legs roll on the floor and the rear legs roll in the channel iron tracks. I pull the drawer out, back my truck up to the drawer and slide my sheets into the drawer. My material then stores flat under my table. When I need a sheet, I just drag it out of the drawer. I welded small casters across the front of my water table. This helps a lot in dragging the sheets. In the future, I may add clamps to the gantry to allow the machine to pull the sheet onto the bed itself. Works for me.