I was welding with my Bessey clamp on my welding table, Solter Cott Inverter arc welder. I was welding some angle iron. I think I had the earth clamped onto the Bessey clamp rather than the table. I'm not sure what happened, the rod might have stuck, but I heard the arc coming from somewhere else and noticed that one corner of the Bessey clamp had welded itself onto the welding table. It was only a small weld and it came off easily, but I'm not sure how it happened. I had the earth clamp on the copper screw.
Bad contact on the earth (or via the bessey clamp) its arched across to make the contact. Once you had heard the noise I bet it started welding fine after that I would avoid putting the earth clamp onto something like a bessey, there are plenty of inferior clamps you can use if you need to
Yes it welded fine after I heard the arc. Lesson learned. When I think about it, the angle iron was rusty where it touched the Bessey clamp.
