Who built themselves a welding table? I've found some really impressive examples on-line, but would like to keep it a little more simple. If you built something, post up some pics.
CK5
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Welding table
- Thread starter Mastiff
- Start date
I did a long time ago and have been pretty much very happy with it. It's a 1/2 thick piece of steel top 3' X 4'. I had bought a 20" length of 3" X 4" X .120 Rectangle tube for another purpose but only used a little of it so that is what I used for the legs. I had a set of old 6" lock casters and welded them directly to the bottom of the tubes. Just got lazy and didn't feel like making caster plates and doing all the bolt hole drilling. It's been together for nearly....15 years??? about. If I ever do have to replace the wheels I will make plates so I can bolt them on.
Just about a year ago I scotch britghted the living hell out of 100% of it down to clean raw bare metal. Then acetone and 91% Isopropal Alcohol cleaned it till white rags were as white as possible no matter how hard I wiped it. NOT easy to get an old dirty piece of steel that clean. Then gave it a high pressure air bath with clean dry filtered air, and painted it with good quality self etching black paint from the casters to the top edge of the table, leaving the top surface bare and just oiled and wiped clean.
This is the worst it's ever rusted in all these years in these pictures, I take care of it with regular skotch brite scrubbing and cleaning and oiling. In these pictures it had gotten left out but under a canopy for a few weeks before I really overhauled it. I can't find the right after fresh paint and freshining up pictures damit.
The one thing I NEEEED to do, which I WILL be doing in the very near future in bring in into as close to precision flat as possible. This table is being designated for my tube roller base welding fixture table, so it needs to be flatter then it is. It has an ever so slight bow in one direction in it. Maybe about 1/8 in max so no I don't use it for precision welding, I use my jig and fixture table for that.
But I know I can get the bow out of this easily, at least to where I'm satisfied with it's flatness for my tube roller stand base tolerances. I'll be happy if total table flatness is .015 or better across the 4' width. Thats only about .0037 a foot. I'll of course be shooting for much better
.
Doing the task of flattening this has been on my radar and I had the table totally empty at one point ready to deal with this issue. Then I needed a surface and that task went to poop and I havent gotten back to it yet. But it's on the list toward the top of it. I had two different vises mounted at one point on it. One broke and is waiting for a part to be copy machined for repair/replacement. Another item on the list a mile long of things to do
.
Now I'm going to possibly do the trail hitch reciever tube attachment thing underneath so I can quick pin mount different tools out off the top surface for parts/things requiring hanging to be ground on, on a bench/pedistal grinder, or vise clamped on, in a quick pin removable vise.
I like no sides or flanges underneath the table so long throat clamps will reach the work piece with no interference. It's going to have an adjustable jack screw type center setup to flatten it, and adjust as necessary. Hoping that flattens it enough. Skeptical one on center will do it, but thats the first one I'll try. If it works it's done! Also going to or want to eventually drill & tap some tooling holes possibly. Here she be.
Just about a year ago I scotch britghted the living hell out of 100% of it down to clean raw bare metal. Then acetone and 91% Isopropal Alcohol cleaned it till white rags were as white as possible no matter how hard I wiped it. NOT easy to get an old dirty piece of steel that clean. Then gave it a high pressure air bath with clean dry filtered air, and painted it with good quality self etching black paint from the casters to the top edge of the table, leaving the top surface bare and just oiled and wiped clean.
This is the worst it's ever rusted in all these years in these pictures, I take care of it with regular skotch brite scrubbing and cleaning and oiling. In these pictures it had gotten left out but under a canopy for a few weeks before I really overhauled it. I can't find the right after fresh paint and freshining up pictures damit.
The one thing I NEEEED to do, which I WILL be doing in the very near future in bring in into as close to precision flat as possible. This table is being designated for my tube roller base welding fixture table, so it needs to be flatter then it is. It has an ever so slight bow in one direction in it. Maybe about 1/8 in max so no I don't use it for precision welding, I use my jig and fixture table for that.
But I know I can get the bow out of this easily, at least to where I'm satisfied with it's flatness for my tube roller stand base tolerances. I'll be happy if total table flatness is .015 or better across the 4' width. Thats only about .0037 a foot. I'll of course be shooting for much better
.Doing the task of flattening this has been on my radar and I had the table totally empty at one point ready to deal with this issue. Then I needed a surface and that task went to poop and I havent gotten back to it yet. But it's on the list toward the top of it. I had two different vises mounted at one point on it. One broke and is waiting for a part to be copy machined for repair/replacement. Another item on the list a mile long of things to do
. Now I'm going to possibly do the trail hitch reciever tube attachment thing underneath so I can quick pin mount different tools out off the top surface for parts/things requiring hanging to be ground on, on a bench/pedistal grinder, or vise clamped on, in a quick pin removable vise.
I like no sides or flanges underneath the table so long throat clamps will reach the work piece with no interference. It's going to have an adjustable jack screw type center setup to flatten it, and adjust as necessary. Hoping that flattens it enough. Skeptical one on center will do it, but thats the first one I'll try. If it works it's done! Also going to or want to eventually drill & tap some tooling holes possibly. Here she be.
Oh my god I had diarrhea of the mouth just now lol! rambling on and on and on and on.....holy hell! 
63chevyll
1/2 ton status
Here is what I went with. More of a general purpose table. I can quickly remove the drill press, vice, notcher, chop saws, shrinker, stretcher belt sander ect...
Its 55 x55 inch x 1/2 thick...strictly because thats the size of steel I.ended up with
34 inch tall with steel.wheels and storage. With 12 inch of over hang on the working sides
This.pic is.how it lays using it today
I got bored with the end of some grinders one.day. all my kids names are in it
Its 55 x55 inch x 1/2 thick...strictly because thats the size of steel I.ended up with
34 inch tall with steel.wheels and storage. With 12 inch of over hang on the working sides
This.pic is.how it lays using it today
I got bored with the end of some grinders one.day. all my kids names are in it
I fabbed my whole rig on this.....
both pieces found in the junk... a 1/2" thick griddle top thingy, tack welded to what I think was a frame for a slop sink!!!
one day I'll build one... it needs to be on locking wheels, pretty low, and not super huge.. I don't have a ton of room, thus why my mini table has worked...
oh, it also doubles as a fiberglassing table as you can see.....
both pieces found in the junk... a 1/2" thick griddle top thingy, tack welded to what I think was a frame for a slop sink!!!
one day I'll build one... it needs to be on locking wheels, pretty low, and not super huge.. I don't have a ton of room, thus why my mini table has worked...
oh, it also doubles as a fiberglassing table as you can see.....
rdn2blaszer, you are turning into Fordum
The table I built is about 2' x 4' as that's what the metal place for cheap had the day I went by. Think it's 3/8". Half inch might be better, but is seriously heavy. The 3/8" seems to stay flat and soak up heat and paint and hammering and whatever I've done to it. Every few months I flapdisc off the spatter and wirebrush off the paint and while I prolly wouldn't eat off it, it's a reasonably clean work surface.
The legs are C-channel, again sized on what was in the scrap pile @ the metal place. Think it's about 40" tall at the moment, more due to a caster upgrade than personal preference.
I do like the expanded steel lower shelf, as opposed to wood or solid metal. It doesn't trap dust so much and is lighter but still holds the chopsaw and whatever else lives down there.
I'm also pleased with the grinder hanger loop, which is basically angle all along two sides. Were I to do it over again I'd run that loop 360* around so I can always hang a grinder regardless of which side of the workpiece I'm on. (Yes, I like grinders, and I hate to change wheels mid-work. Plus it lets the one tool cool off while I switch to a different type of wheel, grinding or cutoff or flapdisc or wirebrush.)
Casters are an absolute must, IMO, but do all four as locking. Also go overboard on the casters' weight rating as the thing will be HEAVY, more than you think.
In retrospect, I'm not sure about the vice mounting on the corner. Maybe it shoulda gone in the center of a short edge. Sometimes I'd like it in the center of the bench, sometimes at the center of a long edge ... but it's a pain to keep moving/removing the thing, so it seems to do okay where it is. The receiver hitch underneath might be a good weekend project, hmm
Other than that, eh, it's boring and looks like everybody else's, you know?
The table I built is about 2' x 4' as that's what the metal place for cheap had the day I went by. Think it's 3/8". Half inch might be better, but is seriously heavy. The 3/8" seems to stay flat and soak up heat and paint and hammering and whatever I've done to it. Every few months I flapdisc off the spatter and wirebrush off the paint and while I prolly wouldn't eat off it, it's a reasonably clean work surface.
The legs are C-channel, again sized on what was in the scrap pile @ the metal place. Think it's about 40" tall at the moment, more due to a caster upgrade than personal preference.
I do like the expanded steel lower shelf, as opposed to wood or solid metal. It doesn't trap dust so much and is lighter but still holds the chopsaw and whatever else lives down there.
I'm also pleased with the grinder hanger loop, which is basically angle all along two sides. Were I to do it over again I'd run that loop 360* around so I can always hang a grinder regardless of which side of the workpiece I'm on. (Yes, I like grinders, and I hate to change wheels mid-work. Plus it lets the one tool cool off while I switch to a different type of wheel, grinding or cutoff or flapdisc or wirebrush.)
Casters are an absolute must, IMO, but do all four as locking. Also go overboard on the casters' weight rating as the thing will be HEAVY, more than you think.
In retrospect, I'm not sure about the vice mounting on the corner. Maybe it shoulda gone in the center of a short edge. Sometimes I'd like it in the center of the bench, sometimes at the center of a long edge ... but it's a pain to keep moving/removing the thing, so it seems to do okay where it is. The receiver hitch underneath might be a good weekend project, hmm
Other than that, eh, it's boring and looks like everybody else's, you know?
I swear, I'm just going to only start posting pictures and let you guys ask the Q's instead of typing all that crap only to never have anyone post a damn thing lol!
Edit: and diesel4me still has be beat 
Edit: and diesel4me still has be beat
Good stuff. Sounds like 0.5" is the way to go. Any idea how much a piece of 0.5" by 3x4 piece of steel weighs?
Google says a 3x4 piece of 0.5" weight 245 pounds. 
I'd have to temporarily weld a U onto it so I can use my hoist to wrangle it during the build up. How did you guys manage the weight?
I'd have to temporarily weld a U onto it so I can use my hoist to wrangle it during the build up. How did you guys manage the weight?
A guy I knew made a welding table from a cast iron sewer grate and 4 pipes for the legs...also has a round one he made from an old manhole cover....serves his purposes well...till he passed away anyway,a few years ago...
One of my shortest posts ever?..
One of my shortest posts ever?..
Google says a 3x4 piece of 0.5" weight 245 pounds.
Me and a buddy wrestled mine, though it weren't fun. Once I had the legs welded on (table upside down in the garage) I used a chain hoist on one side against the rafters to lift it.
Engine hoist would also be good. Might be handy to drill/tap for your vice first, use that as the lift point initially.
-- A
Google says a 3x4 piece of 0.5" weight 245 pounds.
I aquired my 1/2 plate from one of the machine shops I worked at years ago. It was sitting behind the old 4 head gand drill I bought from that shop. The plate was free and yeah, it was heavy as hell, I remember getting in into my truck at the time. Outweighed me by probably 95lbs then lol. 1/2 will do just fine for a good utility welding table. But if I had deep pockets I'd have Blueco stuff exclusively.
http://www.bluco.com/
LIVEAnimals
1/2 ton status
I mainly use the one at work 
I want a crane like that. 
Looks like thinner material for the top, but reinforced with tubing. Is that quarter inch? How much ladder is underneath?
3/16 with 5 bars under it. Has yet to fail me when setting stuff up.
Now that is a table.
I would show mine but no one wants to see the floor or concrete blocks.
