At first, my main concern was that the laser wouldn't cut. The secondary concern after cutting was that the plate could be bumped during cutting. My cutter thought 3-5" each side to secure the plate would be enough, but being that it's his first time, he didn't really know. How could he have, he was doing me a favor, going out of his comfort zone and cut a smaller than normal sheet (he typically does 4' x 8' sheets of stainless steel) of something he'd never cut before. He did me a huge favor by even letting this metal into the shop. For all he knew, it could have downed his new laser cutter, and I hope he gained some knowledge out of this. However, it's put a real sour taste in my mouth about how everything has gone down.
JD, it sucks that you're plate was messed up. However mkawas water jet may face similar problems, it's only his second time cutting Ti.
Edit: If I really wanted to make money on this whole ti business, I would have just made switch tools. They would have been easier to cut, if there was an error, I doubt it would have mattered too much. But I instead wanted to do something cool, make plates, for little if any monetary compensation, and for that, I guess I'm sorry. Lesson learned, don't make cool/innovative/or risky stuff anymore, just cover yourself.....