Learning generally boils down to "Repetition or the avoidance of pain", some people learn by doing, some by watching and some just have to pee on the electric fence.
Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right. Henry Ford
More work but I like to cut my own material as well. I was able to have less waste with a 4x10 plate of 0.25 so ordered two of them. Discovered really quickly that they are just too big and heavy for a single guy in a small shop to handle. Think I’ll stick with the standard 4x8in the future....