Welding table

[DRJDVM's '69]

I'm brand new to welding so as a first real project for my new welder, I was planning on building a welding/cutting table so I had a convienent place to do small welding and cutting jobs .

Currently my only work bench is wood so I really need a good place to be able to set metal down and weld it or cut it. So far, I'm using a makeshift "bench" with some cinder blocks and a small piece of metal. Its definitely not very user friendly.

In one of the welding books I looked at they had plans for a welding/cutting table. The rest of the book was worthless, so I didnt buy it.

What I was hoping for is for some "real world" or "this worked great for me" or "I wish I had built it this way instead" advice....

Nothing fancy, just practical....

[DRJDVM's '69]

I did find some plans on the Lincoln website, but what I was hoping for is "I'd do it this way instead becasue in my experience this is going to work better that those generic plans"

[Matt@RFR]

Get the thickest plate you can find/afford for the top. Mine is 1/2" and I hate it, although I'm not a hobbiest either. Make it as heavy as you can and still be able to move it. Mine is just over 1,000lbs. Bolt the top onto whatever stand you build. If it's big enough, you can incorporate removable vice/bench grinder/whatever mounts.

[Samckitt]

Holly cow that is huge & heavy. I made a small one that I could clamp things to & move it around fairley easy. It is roughly 4' x 2.5' x 1/4" top and stands about 40" tall or so. If you want I could take some dims of it for you.
Scot

[Jim Nilsen]

If you look around in used machinery places you can find vibrating feeder bowl tables that make excellent welding tables. They are usualy 1/2 to 1 in in thickness and have bases that are heavy enough to absorb the need for shaping or pounding on and not move. You can pick these tables up for less than the cost of the steel most of the time which makes them a bargain. Most of them usually have a machined surface which makes then desirable for other things you may want to do on a bench.

You don't want less than 1/2 in. so that you can drill and tap holes in it to bolt down fixtures and tools like grinders and buffers and vises.

Jim Nilsen

[DRJDVM's '69]

I'm looking for something that can be moved easily since I'm in a limited space. I dont want anything that takes 4 people to move...

I want to be able to move it to different parts of my garage as needed to get it out of the way or to a good spot for the particular job.

If I had a dedicated shop, I would make something hard core, but I have 3 cars in my 3 car garage and need to be able to move stuff around as needed.

Pix would be great....

[astroracer]

I built two tables like this and I use them for just about everything. One is tied up with a fabbed cradle on it right now and the other is a mobile work station.


You don't have to use H beams like I did but they do provide lots of clamping area and they are easy enough to drill through for bolting down equipment.
I add steel shelving as a work surface and I am looking for a heavy plate to use as a welding top.
The casters make them easy to roll around and, if you get some with brakes, it takes quite a bit to move them. I added leveling lugs on all four corners also. They are very stable with all of the lugs down and being able to level the surface is nice.
Mark

[CAMAROBOY69]

Mark nailed the answer I was going to give. A mobile station with rolling casters on the bottom. I understand your pain with limited space. I dont even have a welding table. I weld on the floor. Wonderful for the back.
I do have a medium size all stainless steel table I do minor welding on once in a while.

[wiedemab]

We just bought some 2" thick die plates that are about 36"X36" that we are going to make into one welding table. They will be overkill, but they have a bunch of drilled and tapped holes in them already and you could wear out a hammer on them. We're going to try to find some good lockable casters or something of the sort to move them as they weigh around 800lbs each!

Long story short - we got these at an auction of a closing business ($50 for both), you might look for similar items at local auctions.

Brandon

[David Pozzi]

Here's a small welding table I made. I has a 1/2" top which is plenty for a small table like this.
The edge sticks out to allow easier clamping. There are no obstructions between the legs to allow me to sit on a stool and operate the Tig pedal.

This was made to weld up small projects and is at an ideal height for sitting on a stool and welding up an oil pan or tubular A arms, etc.

I put rubber type wheels on it. the front pair do not swivel, the rear pair are swivel casters. This keeps "my" end stable and I can even use a hacksaw on something in the vise without it moving. If I need to move it, I steer it with the other end. Locking casters would be best, I couldn't find any when I built this.

I wouldn't use a cutting torch much on this bench. I'd make up a table with pan underneath and a grid of bars for a top.

[TitoJones]

I think Miller's table is much more versitle than the one on the Lincoln website.
http://www.millerwelds.com/education...ts/weld_table/

I also got interested in this topic as I just purchased my 1st real welder- A Miller 210 MIG. Works kickass.

By searching for welding table blueprints I came across this modular welding/fixture table that I'm in love with for the business. Now to find the price.....
http://www.bluco.com/welding/catalogd28/index.html

Tyler

[parsonsj]

Damn!

I gotta get with the program. My goofy 16g table (made from 1 5/8 header tubing I never used) is pretty flimsy. It's a real PITA dragging out chunks of 3x3x.25 angle or U-beam when I need to fixture something.

Do listen to David: keep legs and lower braces to a minimum: your shins will thank you when you're feeling around for your TIG pedal with your helmet down.

jp

[sinned]

Our welding tables are made of 2" plate with 6" spreaders (6" pipe/half inch wall thickness) for legs. Most of them are around 36X60, no idea what they weigh but the little forklifts have trouble with the them. Our cutting tables are usually purpose built dependin gon the task, something like a 24X24" grate out of 1/2" flat stock welded on edge with some quick angle legs or something.

[DRJDVM's '69]

These are all nice tables, but damn are they all so frickin heavy !!!! I looked at the Miller one already but its too big for me. I may go with that desing but on a smaller scale.

I'm leaning towards something like Dave's table. Not very big but portable etc. I dont want a 600-800 lb table. Once again this is for a home garage not a full on fabrication shop.

Should I have a solid top or more like a grate ???

Some of the tables I've seen on TV etc are made with a grate top rather than solid.

[sinned]

Unfortunately you really need at least 2 tables, one solid top for welding and one grated top for cutting.

[Damn True]

I plan to have two workbenches in the new garage. One with a wood top (perhaps capped with masonite or thin sheetmetal), and the other with a steel top. The steel topped bench will be the home for the vise as well.

[Todds69]

I plan to have two workbenches in the new garage. One with a wood top (perhaps capped with masonite or thin sheetmetal), and the other with a steel top. The steel topped bench will be the home for the vise as well.

Eventually I will get a welder and make a table but I do have a nice workbench. Since I use to work in a Door factory I would get reject solidcore doors for next to nothing (36"x80") and fabricated a base for it. You don't know how many of these doors I got for people for the same thing.

[wendell]

I rock a 4x8x1/2 table with 6 inch pipe legs that I got when a crew of welders wrapped up a big contract at a ship yard. They made a bunch of these tables (some were 16x4x1/2) and just left them there when they were done.



I cut the stringer off one side so I can sit at it w/ a foot pedal(like JP suggested). Because it weights 700lbs+ I used scafolding casters w/ screw adjusters for the legs. The bolts are about 7/8. With an air ratchet I can get it on the wheels in a second, move it and let it back down. I can also level the table with the screws. It's very stable on the wheels (good enough for a torpedo level or angle finder). best part is it cost me four bolts, four nuts, a few cfs of argon and a little filler rod.

[Todds69]

Nice score Wendell.

[parsonsj]

Yeah ... I need to make a score like that too. My little table seems more and more inadequate with every post.

jp