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Fabrication Table

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yaidunno

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After seeing all the nice tables on here, I figured it was time to have a go at one myself. The top is your typical 3/4" A36 burned with 2" radii on the corners. Size is 4'x8'. The frame work is 4" square tube, .250 wall. Feet will be standard adjustable units from McMaster. I will leave a 6" lip around the perimeter for clamping, so that puts the frame at a 3'x7' footprint. That's about it for features, nothing to fancy here. Just a solid 1400 lb work surface. Later down the road, I'm considering a hole pattern on half the table for the pin style clamps. Hopefully i will have the frame welded up tomorrow night.

 
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yaidunno

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Thumper68 said:
Looks like a great plan. Will be looking for more info and posts.
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Thanks for the interest. I will follow up with more photos and documentation in the next few days.

tarbellb said:
Sweet! How do you plan to attach the top to the base?
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I forgot to mention this, sorry about that. The top will be fastened to the frame with socket cap screws. I haven't decided if I will use flat or socket head yet. There will be no welding to cause distortion of the plate. Shims will be used if needed to level out the surface as best as possible.
 
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Thumper68

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yaidunno said:
Thanks for the interest. I will follow up with more photos and documentation in the next few days.



I forgot to mention this, sorry about that. The top will be fastened to the frame with socket cap screws. I haven't decided if I will use flat or socket head yet. There will be no welding to cause distortion of the plate. Shims will be used if needed to level out the surface as best as possible.
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Are you going to attach from the top or bottom?

On mine I welded tabs to the frame and tapped holes in the top to attach it from the bottom. this was just easier for me since if I was going to attach from the top I would have had to counter bore the hole for head clearance of the bolt.
 
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yaidunno

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Thumper68 said:
Are you going to attach from the top or bottom?

On mine I welded tabs to the frame and tapped holes in the top to attach it from the bottom. this was just easier for me since if I was going to attach from the top I would have had to counter bore the hole for head clearance of the bolt.
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The plate will be attached from the top, so the fasteners will be exposed. One advantage of the flat heads is that there is less room for filings and other debris to get in the hole. I will just be threading the web of the tube (1/4") in a pattern along the centerline. No mag drill here, so it will be done with the 17" Delta press I have.
 
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customtronic

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Very very cool. Will be an awesome table when finished! Mine is not worthy of being posted in the same thread as yours. Just a rusty old 3/8" top with legs and casters. Bought it at an estate sale for about $30 bucks.
 
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zkling

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Not ground, not impressed. :D

Going to be awesome. Really like the design of the gussets. Did they burn those for you on a machine or you by hand?
 
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yaidunno

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zkling said:
Not ground, not impressed. :D

Going to be awesome. Really like the design of the gussets. Did they burn those for you on a machine or you by hand?
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I gave serious consideration to having it blanchard ground, but i think I'd lose it when i put the first scratch in the thing! That and cost kept me from getting carried away.

I designed, and had the gussets burned out by one of our vendors at work. It shouldn't surprise you that I modeled up the whole damn table too :lol_hitti

 
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4 FN 27

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yaidunno said:
I gave serious consideration to having it blanchard ground, but i think I'd lose it when i put the first scratch in the thing! That and cost kept me from getting carried away.

I designed, and had the gussets burned out by one of our vendors at work. It shouldn't surprise you that I modeled up the whole damn table too :lol_hitti

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Weld your tubes to the underside without the legs and have it Blanchard Ground. Then Weld the legs on.

You accomplish a couple of things. The Surface will be flat. And you will not have holes (Allen Heads, Flat or C'Sink) to catch debris which will lead to scratches.

I have had my Blanchard Ground top for 16 years and there are very few scratches on it. It is never treated as an anvil and anyone who hammers on it gets beat to death with the hammer they are using. Dead Blow hammers are the only hammers allowed near that table.

I wipe it down with WD-40 before every use and if I am welding corners down to the table top I place a very thin sheet of copper or aluminum down to avoid having splatter stick. If I do get any splatter I knock it off with the tip of a file.

Thinking about building a new Table with fixture holes 60 x 120 x 1 inch.

I like that you are using levelers. Makes for a sound foot print and you can level it making the use of a level or protractor and aid in squaring frame structures. Casters are not my thing. If I need to move my Table I welded a couple of cross members 3.5 inches off the floor so I can use a pallet jack I purchased off Craigslist. One crossbar across the back and one set in from the front incase I want to sit down and weld smaller parts. The cross bar is not in the way of my feet or Tig pedal.

Get that puppy ground...you will love it...
 

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yaidunno

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4 FN 27 said:
Weld your tubes to the underside without the legs and have it Blanchard Ground. Then Weld the legs on.

You accomplish a couple of things. The Surface will be flat. And you will not have holes (Allen Heads, Flat or C'Sink) to catch debris which will lead to scratches.

I have had my Blanchard Ground top for 16 years and there are very few scratches on it. It is never treated as an anvil and anyone who hammers on it gets beat to death with the hammer they are using. Dead Blow hammers are the only hammers allowed near that table.

I wipe it down with WD-40 before every use and if I am welding corners down to the table top I place a very thin sheet of copper or aluminum down to avoid having splatter stick. If I do get any splatter I knock it off with the tip of a file.

Thinking about building a new Table with fixture holes 60 x 120 x 1 inch.

I like that you are using levelers. Makes for a sound foot print and you can level it making the use of a level or protractor and aid in squaring frame structures. Casters are not my thing. If I need to move my Table I welded a couple of cross members 3.5 inches off the floor so I can use a pallet jack I purchased off Craigslist. One crossbar across the back and one set in from the front incase I want to sit down and weld smaller parts. The cross bar is not in the way of my feet or Tig pedal.

Get that puppy ground...you will love it...
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That's a nice looking table (and shop, wow) you've got. Your execution for welding the tubes and having the top ground flat is spot on. Unfortunately its just not in the cards for me at this point with all the other things i need to get made and purchase for the shop. I will follow your advice with beating those who use a hammer on the table with said hammer, that's excellent!

Thanks much for the input! :beer:
 
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aczr2k

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What I'm doing on mine (the plate actually just came off the bridge mill this morning) is to attach the top using blind 3/8 tapped holes. I drilled the frame tube with a 3/4 clearance hole for the head and a 13/32 clearance hole for the bolt and will use a 3/8 SHCS to bolt up from the bottom. My top is 1" thick Blanchard ground, yours is 3/4" its still plenty thick to bottom tap and get 5/8" thread. I didn't want a countersunk or counterbored hole to fill up with ****.
 
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yaidunno

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aczr2k said:
What I'm doing on mine (the plate actually just came off the bridge mill this morning) is to attach the top using blind 3/8 tapped holes. I drilled the frame tube with a 3/4 clearance hole for the head and a 13/32 clearance hole for the bolt and will use a 3/8 SHCS to bolt up from the bottom. My top is 1" thick Blanchard ground, yours is 3/4" its still plenty thick to bottom tap and get 5/8" thread. I didn't want a countersunk or counterbored hole to fill up with ****.
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This is another option that I considered as well. It certainly is preferable, again for the lack of exposed fasteners. The two things holding me back are A: not having the proper rigging equipment for flipping the 3/4" plate over, and B: not having the mag drill for an accurate and squarely drilled and tapped hole.

I could use some stout 4" C clamps and a sling for the flip, and I suppose a guy could machine up a drill guide that can be clamped in place. I will give this some serious consideration.

Thanks much for the advise.
 
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aczr2k

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I hear you on the flipping part...I do have three 3/4" thru tapped holes for lifting eyes and once I'm home I have a tractor & loader to flip it, but a cherry picker would work fine too. My plate is sitting face down on a skid ready for assembly than welding. I will only have to flip it once. I cheated on drilling/taping the holes, our bridge mill has a 60"x120" table. I think you can rent a mag base drill fairly reasonable, I haven't bought one yet but I do troll CL pretty heavy for one.
 
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yaidunno

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Well I ended up going with blind holes in the plate for mounting. It took a bit longer to do, but I'm quite happy with the results. I was out welding in the shop until the wee hours of the morning on Saturday getting the frame together. The surface came out exceptionally flat, and I was easily able to get it leveled out with the feet.





 
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yaidunno

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Thumper68 said:
Please more pics.

Looks great!
Click to expand...

Thanks much. Not really sure what else there is to show, but here are two more shots of it. You'll have to excuse all the clutter in the photos, still trying to get things organized.



 
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yaidunno

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1/2 Cup said:
Far out, that table is just sweet.:thumbup:

Well done.:thumbup:
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Thanks 1/2 cup!

tarbellb said:
NICE!

Show us some pics of the hardware attachments.
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There really won't be much to show. I piloted the long tubes using a 1/4" by 6" long drill bit to penetrate both webs of the tube. The bottom web hole was enlarged using a 3/4" hole saw to allow a hex socket to pass through. Six 3/8" socket head cap screws hold the plate on from the bottom.
 
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Thumper68

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If you think that is clutter we need to talk :lol:

Okay now the table is done what are your plans for using it?
 
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ADSR

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Nice job! I did see two Red welders on the first page, and now I see a blue one.
 
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yaidunno

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Thumper68 said:
If you think that is clutter we need to talk :lol:

Okay now the table is done what are your plans for using it?
Click to expand...

Lol it just looks like a small tornado went through the top of my tool box. A bit distracting in the photo, that's all.

First up is finishing up the Wilton C2 vise which can been seen in the photos. It's a beast of a vise that has had a rough life, but still plenty usable. After that, I have a stainless header and down pipe that I need to re attach a wastegate to. I'm also designing a 4' wide blast cabinet that will need to have the framework welded up on, but that will be a ways down the road.

LORDDiESEL said:
Nice job! I did see two Red welders on the first page, and now I see a blue one.
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I think you must be referring to the photo that 4FN27 posted of his table for reference? I only have the blue tig welder shown in the photos. Actually had to borrow my fathers mig for putting the frame together.
 
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dr_clyde

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Very nice work. The laser cut brackets are really a great touch. Looks like it will give you years of service. Now paint that base or it will rust everywhere you've touched it. Ask me how I know...
 
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yaidunno

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Thanks Mr Onetwo and Dr Clyde.

dr_clyde said:
Very nice work. The laser cut brackets are really a great touch. Looks like it will give you years of service. Now paint that base or it will rust everywhere you've touched it. Ask me how I know...
Click to expand...


Your table thread was one of the most influential in the design of mine. It certainly isn’t as robust as yours, but it should do the trick. To be fair though, your fork lift is a good deal larger than mine. :D

I really dread painting anything at this point. My spray room in the barn is not quite emptied out, and spraying things in the shop isn’t an option. I will likely find a nice brush on primer in the near future before the rust sets in.
 
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MagKarl

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Very functional, I like it. I'm calling BS on your "clutter" comments though. That's one of the cleanest shops I've ever seen.
 
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richeyc2000

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I love this table. Perfectly functional. I'd love a table top like that but that would cost an Absloute fortune in Ireland. [emoji20]
Love the look of the bench grinder set up in the background too. Any more pics of that.
 
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yaidunno

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MP&C said:
Very nice job on the table!
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zmotorsports said:
Table turned out extremely nice as did the welds. Great job.:thumbup:

Nice shop as well, wish I had that much room.:bowdown:

Mike.
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MagKarl said:
Very functional, I like it. I'm calling BS on your "clutter" comments though. That's one of the cleanest shops I've ever seen.
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Thanks much guys for the positive words!

richeyc2000 said:
I love this table. Perfectly functional. I'd love a table top like that but that would cost an Absloute fortune in Ireland. [emoji20]
Love the look of the bench grinder set up in the background too. Any more pics of that.
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richey, if it makes you feel any better, the top wasn't exactly cheap here in the states either.

Details on the grinder stand can be found in my "Shop Tools" thread. There is a link in my signature for it. It's right on page one.
 
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