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Posted by Bob La Londe on August 5, 2008, 1:37 am
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Ok... I am to that point where I think I need a welding table or two. What
do you guys use? I see that cheap one on Northern Tools website, and it
looks ok I suppose, although not very big. I suppose it could be workable
if paired with some roller stands or a roller conveyer to work with longer
stock.
How about a stainless steel food prep table? I know most have rounded
edges, but you can find them pretty big sometimes, and I've bought them in
the past for my folks grocery store at auctions pretty cheap. (right place
right time).
I've seen a few metal work benches, but almost all of the new ones are wood,
and even those few that are metal are pretty thing stamped steel sheet. I
can't see welding on that without blowing holes in it eventually.
A local welding shop I looked around at seemed to have 1" steel plate
supported on what looks like junk metal left over from other jobs. That is
heavy and expensive I bet.
Any other ideas?
I did a bit of work on a plastic table (looks like food prep plastic cutting
board material) today, and amazingly I didn't melt the table, but
repositioning to not do that certainly cost me some time. It did get me
thinking about getting a regular welding table.
I know... just work on the floor. LOL.
How about pouring a concrete table? It would be heavy as all get out, and
could not be used as a ground or a heat sink, but it would not melt through
either.
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Posted by Leo Lichtman on August 5, 2008, 2:44 am
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"Bob La Londe" (clip) How about a stainless steel food prep table? (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Top is thin--when it gets hot it will warp. Your welding table should be
thick enough to be rigid, and thin enough to allow C-clamps around the
edges.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
A local welding shop I looked around at seemed to have 1" steel plate
> supported on what looks like junk metal left over from other jobs. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That's the right idea, but it doesn't have to be that thick. I use 1/4"
steel plate, reenforced on the back with angle iron.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
How about pouring a concrete table?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It also fails the C-clamp requirement. If you do any acetylene welding, the
concrete will pop and flake.
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Posted by Curt Welch on August 5, 2008, 12:03 pm
Please log in for more thread options > "Bob La Londe" (clip) How about a stainless steel food prep table? (clip)
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Top is thin--when it gets hot it will warp. Your welding table should be
> thick enough to be rigid, and thin enough to allow C-clamps around the
> edges.
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> A local welding shop I looked around at seemed to have 1" steel plate
> > supported on what looks like junk metal left over from other jobs.
> > (clip)
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> That's the right idea, but it doesn't have to be that thick. I use 1/4"
> steel plate, reenforced on the back with angle iron.
In the welding lab at school, some of the tables were made with 1/4" tops.
They were all warped badly (1" variation along a short 2' edge) because the
students would allow the front edge of the table to get too hot. That was
from stick welding 3/8" steel on the 1/4" tables. People would place the
work on the table and weld from the top.
They just recently built new tables of a very different design which also
used 1/4" tops, but the new design included 1" x 1/4" bar stock (or
something like that) welded to the bottom along the edges and in a radial
patterns across the bottom to make them stronger and prevent warping. Time
will tell how well that holds up to the students. It should do much better
than the old tables which had no extra supports along the edges.
If you want to clamp your work to the table and weld on the part which is
next to the table, the table better be thicker than what you are trying to
weld. If it's not, you have to take care not to allow the hot work to rest
directly on the table. My guess is that a good rule of thumb would be to
use a table which was twice as thick as what you wanted to weld on it. If
it's not that thick, then you have to take care to prop up the work on
scrap to keep the hottest parts of the work from transferring too much heat
to the table.
--
Curt Welch http://CurtWelch.Com/
curt@kcwc.com http://NewsReader.Com/
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Posted by SteveB on August 5, 2008, 5:31 am
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> Ok... I am to that point where I think I need a welding table or two.
> What do you guys use? I see that cheap one on Northern Tools website, and
> it looks ok I suppose, although not very big. I suppose it could be
> workable if paired with some roller stands or a roller conveyer to work
> with longer stock.
>
> How about a stainless steel food prep table? I know most have rounded
> edges, but you can find them pretty big sometimes, and I've bought them in
> the past for my folks grocery store at auctions pretty cheap. (right
> place right time).
>
> I've seen a few metal work benches, but almost all of the new ones are
> wood, and even those few that are metal are pretty thing stamped steel
> sheet. I can't see welding on that without blowing holes in it
> eventually.
>
> A local welding shop I looked around at seemed to have 1" steel plate
> supported on what looks like junk metal left over from other jobs. That
> is heavy and expensive I bet.
>
> Any other ideas?
>
> I did a bit of work on a plastic table (looks like food prep plastic
> cutting board material) today, and amazingly I didn't melt the table, but
> repositioning to not do that certainly cost me some time. It did get me
> thinking about getting a regular welding table.
>
> I know... just work on the floor. LOL.
>
> How about pouring a concrete table? It would be heavy as all get out, and
> could not be used as a ground or a heat sink, but it would not melt
> through either.
It all depends on what you're going to be doing. My three tables were all
four by ten feet, made of angle. The first one three inch by 3/8". I toned
down a bit on the second, and my present one is quarter by two angle. I
have the long rails set in one foot and eighteen inches from the side, and
that lets me make most configurations of fence. I made clamp hangers
underneath as well as screen tool holders. Also mounted a four hole AC box
to plug in tools. Drilled a corner for a vise which I put on and take off
as needed. One can also mount bending stuff, but then you might need to
anchor the legs to the deck. Like I say, it depends on use and space.
I built mine more for ornamental metal work. It still works good, though
when I just want to put something up there and have it at a good height to
work on. You do have to have space for a larger table. If you want a roll
around table, of course it would be smaller, but then you have to watch
getting the wheelbase too small and it being top heavy. There is no perfect
table, but there are tables that are good for specific purposes. I'd
experiment around, and you'll evolve into a workable table. Spend the bucks
for good casters, or get some at a salvage house or yard sale if you want it
mobile. If it is going to be stationary, make it so that you can level it.
I welded half inch by three carriage bolts to the bottom of the legs so I
can level it and have it flat to turn out flat work.
Just some thoughts. I'd identify intended uses first, and go from there.
HTH
Steve
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Posted by Jim Wilkins on August 5, 2008, 9:12 am
Please log in for more thread options > > Ok... I am to that point where I think I need a welding table or two.
> > What do you guys use? ...
> It all depends on what you're going to be doing. ...
> Steve
I don't have the space for a dedicated welding table so other things
serve temporarily. I shared a shop-made steel plate table with a pro
weldor neighbor until his side jobs took off. It was about 2' x 3' and
generally good enough. I added 2 wheels high up on the legs to roll it
around our back yards on its side like a wheelbarrow, since it was
very top-heavy. He assembled his railings and fire escapes on the
floor.
My 4' x 5' scaffold frames were set up for welding on level 2X4s in
two B&D Workmates. They only have to be level and parallel in one
direction and in this case the frames ran down a sloping driveway, but
they came out square and unwarped and plug into commercial scaffold
smoothly.
I squared up the ~7' sawmill frame the same way, by leveling the ends
of the frame on boards. The rungs of its ladder frame were milled
square on the ends so they helped instead of hindering alignment when
the clamps were tightened. Avoiding warpage was important because the
blade has to track on the wheels.
For small things I normally put some sheet metal and a few fire bricks
on a plywood table and clamp the pieces into alignment with scrap
angle iron, which lets me turn it to do all the welds in the flat
position. The fire bricks are from two lots which differ slightly in
thickness, but all the bricks from one lot are close enough to make a
flat welding surface.
I have a rusty, beat-up platform stacker similar to this;
http://www.wescomfg.com/spl683032.jpg
which makes a good work and welding table for larger and heavier
projects. The frame is handy for clamping vertical pieces in place and
supporting spatter shields (steel shelves, car ramps, etc.). A
hydraulic scissors lift table might be cheaper if you have to buy new
and about as good if you could bolt temporary uprights to the sides.
Be careful of clamps there because they jam when you lower the table.
You could put a larger object on the unobstructed tabletop, but can't
raise it as high and hang a frame over it for free access underneath.
I'm not good enough to weld all the way around a tubing joint in one
pass so I need to reposition the joint upright after tacking it flat.
"Performance Welding" by Richard Finch shows airplane frames being
welded on particle board.
Jim Wilkins
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