Another Irish Version of a Welding Table!

[Bobnoxious32]

So I started planning my welding bench build some time in 2018.
I went through many of the forums here to steal some ideas!

The main things it has to include:
Be compact (small workshop!)
Slotted Top Plates (Im heavilly invested in C Clamps / G Clamps already)
Top Plates have to be level adjustable
Be portable with hydraulic jack lowering castors.
Be height adjustable (Inspired by the Fireball Tool Bench design)
Be height adjustable with the same castor hydraulic jacks (Cleverest feature).
Have height adjustable levelling feet.
Have extension bars for long stock.

Accessories:

• Hold my Evolution Chop Saw level with the clamping plates.
• Spark catcher for the chop saw
• Hold my 2x72" belt grinder (Jeremy Schmidts design: if you havent bought Jeremys plans already you need to buy them and build that machine, finest addition to the workshop).
• The bench must allow the 2x72" belt grinder to rotate 90° so needs 1 short plate to allow the Motor pivot.
• Include Extension slots for a Vise.

Tool Storage:

• C Clamps, G Clamps,
• Angle Grinders
• Invertor Welder

At this point i have a lot of the Bench built, but it is still work in progress.
More updates to follow!

 

[Farmall450]

Sounds good but,

 

[BPJOOP93]

I’m in. Pics please.

 

[Bobnoxious32]

Heres the General Overview of the Design.

My Bad, Been a while since i Posted anything, trying to remember how to add Photos/Thumbnails!

 

[richeyc2000]

Ah yeah, another Irish version of a welding bench.
Can’t wait to see the progression.
Drawing looks fantastic.
I might need to steal back a few ideas for my 2.0 bench. [emoji6]

Roll on the next update

 

[BD1]

Include Extension slots for a Vise. If you mean receiver tubing that works great. I would have a pair dropped for the saw . Set the saw table top the same as your welding bench. This will provide support for materials being cut.
Receiver tube is also great to have and utilize as a table extension.

 

[Bobnoxious32]

The first Job was to sort out a Spark Catcher for the Chop Saw.
I had a lot of steel to cut and the saw makes a hell of a mess!

I cut a section of 100x50mm C-Channel (4"x2") and a piece of 50x50mm box section (2"x2")
It needed a hinged spark trap and a magnetic catch to keep it closed.
Had to try out a few angles to see what worked best.

 

[Bobnoxious32]

I threaded a hole in the spark trap and bolted it to the side of the saw.
After sorting out the Angles and welding it up solid I gave it a lick of paint to pretty it up!

 

[Bobnoxious32]

The Magnetic Cupboard Hinge works well to keep the spark trap door closed and the spark catcher catches the majority of those metal shards!

The Evolution magnetic wand is real handy for the tidy up.

 

[Bobnoxious32]

Include Extension slots for a Vise. If you mean receiver tubing that works great. I would have a pair dropped for the saw . Set the saw table top the same as your welding bench. This will provide support for materials being cut.
Receiver tube is also great to have and utilize as a table extension.

Thats the Plan BD1! Borrowing all the ideas from the GJ!

 

[jh1990]

I will be following along and stealing as much as I can. I'm just about done building Jeremy's belt grinder.

 

[rattle_snake]

How well does the spark catcher work? Mine throws the chips all over up to 10' away.

Is the belt grinder always going to be mounted to the table? That design has a huge footprint compared to other 2x72 designs. Belt grinder is an awesome tool to have!

 

[BD1]

Thats the Plan BD1! Borrowing all the ideas from the GJ!

There's more on the Weldingweb too.

https://www.weldingweb.com/forum/sticky-forum/105182-welding-table-picture-thread


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[Bobnoxious32]

I will be following along and stealing as much as I can. I'm just about done building Jeremy's belt grinder.

Yup jh1990, Jeremys 2x72" Belt Grinder is definetly the best addition to the workshop. Its a great help for cleaning up the edges of the piece before welding!

 

[Bobnoxious32]

How well does the spark catcher work? Mine throws the chips all over up to 10' away.

Is the belt grinder always going to be mounted to the table? That design has a huge footprint compared to other 2x72 designs. Belt grinder is an awesome tool to have!

Id say the Spark catcher gets 90% of the chips now that were flying out the back, some still goes below the saw, but I plan on putting a tray under that. I usually leave the Evolution Magnet Wand next to the saw when cutting, that helps a bit too! Ill attach a photo below!

Ill probably leave the belt grinder on it for the majority of the time, in its currengt setup I cant rotate it 90° because the motor would hit the bench. it will be quick to remove it though if i need the room for longer work pieces.

 

[Bobnoxious32]

There's more on the Weldingweb too.

https://www.weldingweb.com/forum/sticky-forum/105182-welding-table-picture-thread


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I must take a look at that BD1, always looking for more ideas!

 

[bczygan]

I've found that a layout/welding table needs to be entirely clear of other items, so no vise, no chop saw etc.

Put those on another cart.

Bill

 

[Bobnoxious32]

Good Tools can make the job a lot Easier!
I got the FireBall Tools Mega Square and Monster Square for welding up the frame. The Triangular Square seems to be the best 1 for Arc Welding, maybe the Monster Square would be more suited for fellows with MIG welders.
They really hold the lengths square and solid.

I built a metric version of Jeremys 2x72" Belt grinder last year, its revolutionised things in the shed! I cant recommend this machine enough. It was an enjoyable machine to build and Jeremys plans are fairly good (only they're in imperial dimensions and i had to convert them all to metric!!! )

With the spark catcher fit to the saw I cut all the Table Top Slats and all the lenghts of material. @rattle_snake some sparks still go under the saw but its a big improvement!

 

[Bobnoxious32]

I've found that a layout/welding table needs to be entirely clear of other items, so no vise, no chop saw etc.

Put those on another cart.

Bill

I couldnt agree with you more Bill!
The first workbench i built about 10years ago is an 8x4 sheet sized bench. The Chop saw and belt grinder and an old Record vise are all on that taking up valuable real estate.
Its a handy bench when there is nothing on it. I need that empty space back!
This welding bench/Cart (because its on Castors) is needed to put all that stuff onto and wheel it out of the way when not in use.

 

[Bobnoxious32]

The next step was to make an Accurate Jig to bore all of the holes with an even repeatable Pitch.
I used a 50x10mm (2x3/8") mild steel bar and bored out the first 4 holes as accurate as possibly. Measure and measure again, etc.

A friend of mine lent me his Rotabroach MagDrill, super machine (thanks Richie!) Makes short work of the holes once you use some of that machining/cutting lube. The cutting fluid and swarf/chips makes a right mess, thats when i introduced the old TV cardboard box to protect the Roubo Woodworking bench i built a few years ago.
I clamped the jig down on the C Channel and after the first 2 holes were bored i bolted the Jig in Place until each length was complete.

While I had the MagDrill I bored the holes for the Under carriage table frame legs 40x40mm box section. 16mm Holes spaced 50mm & 75mm btw centres (2"&3") through both sides of the 40x40mm box.

These holes in the legs will be used for height adjustment (inspired form the Fireball Tool Bench).

I got M16 levelling feet to thread into the legs. This was the biggest nut i could fit inside a 40x40mm box. I bored a big hole (probably 18mm) in 40x10mm plate, cut it off 40mm long and weled the M16 nut on.

I dont like the look of the nut on the outside so it was welded onto the tube & hidden inside the 40mm square box.
The levelling feet will thread into this.

 

[Bobnoxious32]

Levelling Foot and Finished Lower Assembly Legs fit inside Top Assembly Legs!

A 16mm Bolt will be used in each leg to set the adjustable height of the bench!

The one 16mm hole in each of the Top Assembly Legs will be important for the Castor Lowering Mechanism.

 

[larry4406]

I will be following along and stealing as much as I can. I'm just about done building Jeremy's belt grinder.

You know in typical GJ fashion we would like to see your build of this...

 

[jh1990]

You know in typical GJ fashion we would like to see your build of this...

It wouldn't be very exciting. I pretty much just followed Jeremy's plans. I better make sure it works before I start a thread haha.

 

[Bobnoxious32]

It wouldn't be very exciting. I pretty much just followed Jeremy's plans. I better make sure it works before I start a thread haha.

All in Good time men! All in Good time!!

 

[Bobnoxious32]

I offered up the Bottle Jacks to the Top frame sections to see what height I'd get ot of these bottle jacks.
The C-Channel will allow the bottle jack push down the castors also.

The next Job was to weld the Bench Top frame and make a receiver tube for the 2x72" belt grinder holder.
I threaded the holes for the reciever tubes and welded on a nut also.

16mm Bolts will be used for the bench top plates.

 

[Bobnoxious32]

Welding the Bench Top.
The best weld on the bench and it wont be seen!
I use that piece of scrap to start the weld with my damp welding rods! Once they get some heat in them from the initial weld they work just fine.
The Fireball Tool Mega Square works wonders for alignment.

 

[jh1990]

Looking good! What program did you do the CAD in? Willing to share the file?

 

[Bobnoxious32]

Looking good! What program did you do the CAD in? Willing to share the file?

I used Google Sketchup. Its free to download i think, at least it was a few years ago when i downloaded it.

No problem sharing the CAD but i cant upload it, file size is too big.

 

[jh1990]

I used Google Sketchup. Its free to download i think, at least it was a few years ago when i downloaded it.

No problem sharing the CAD but i cant upload it, file size is too big.

I tried sending a PM with my email address. Not sure it worked as I don't see it in my "Sent" folder.

 

[Bobnoxious32]

The next step was to prepare the mechanism for the Castors.

I used M20 threaded bar for the push down mechanism, it needs to be big (the castor will be going on the bottom of the threaded bar). I've seen M16 threaded bar (for levelling feet) bend under small machines before. The threaded bar will be under pressure when being pushed around.

Also M20 was the biggest i could drill the 40mm box section before the hole would start to encroach on the rounded edge of the box section.

I found a piece of pipe (with approx 21mm id) to weld on the inside of the 40mm box section, so the threaded bar wont rack when being pushed down. I used a new welding rod (350mm long) to reach into the pipe through the box section ends and weld the pipe on the inside of the box section.

I found springs on ebay that had a 20mm id, when compressed you get approx 20mm of travel (enough for the castors to run on the floor). The threaded bar had to be threaded into the spring, it was a fairly tight squeeze. The springs came in a box with a motor bike on it so I assume its some classic brit bike part.

If i had a lathe id make a smooth section with M20 threaded ends, this would work better than threaded bar. But I need 10 jobs for a lathe before i'll consider buying 1!

 

[Bobnoxious32]

Compressed travel of the spring was approx 20mm.
I aligned the centre of the bottle jacks with the centre of the C-Channel.
I bored holes through the bottle jack base and threaded it into threaded holes in the C-Channel.
The M20 nuts on the top of the C-Channel will be welded onto the C-Channel allowing the threaded bar to be removed.

Only a few posts away from what will start to look like a welding Bench!

 

[Bobnoxious32]

The next job was to weld the M16 bolts to the underside of the Welding Bench and level off the bench top by adjusting the nuts.

I got a nice sticker for the Invertor! Cheers Richie

With the levelled bench top, I could use it to weld the top Leg frames solid and square using the Fireball Tool Monster Squares.

 

[Bobnoxious32]

I made up a nice holder for the Electrode holder with a big magnet and old bracket i had lying around. The magnet base is very handy.

I offered up the Top frames to the bench top, welded up 1 of the subframes and assembled it with the castor lowering mechanism and bench lifter. Bench weighs a ton (calculator estimate at 149kg, 328ib for the yanks).

Its starting to look like a bench now!

 

[Boosted1]

Nice table

 

[Duker]

Nice table

Ditto... nice assortment of features in a compact design.


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[Bobnoxious32]

Ditto... nice assortment of features in a compact design.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Thanks Duker, thats a real compliment coming from the Welding Bench King!!

 

[Bobnoxious32]

Nice table

Thanks Boosted1, its an enjoyable Build

 

[Bobnoxious32]

Sub Frame was next.
The Top Frame is made from 50x50x4mm box section.
Sub Frame is made from 40x40x5mm box section.
I aligned the welding seams to face each other (2mm gap but with the box weld seam still a bit tight).
Fireball tool squares made short work of the assembly, nice and square!
Woodworking sash clamps came in handy too.
M16 levelling feet were threaded into the hidden nut in the sub frame tubes.

These cheap bottle jacks (€12) have approx 145mm height travel (+60mm screw height). I have better 1s bought for a future post (2 piston high lift approx 300mm lift).

Theres 50mm (2") height adjustment gap between each of the sub frame lower holes. Ideal for getting a comfortable working height.

 

[Bobnoxious32]

Castor Mechanism completion:

The castors were rescued from the bin, so 3 are locking and 1 is a swivel. Ideally all 4 would be swivel. The locking mechanism can get in the way, giving 270° travel not 360°. When i designed the bench i had the swivel castor in my hand for measuring so didnt allow for the locking mechanism. I can always cut the locking mechanisms off, not a priority right now! The swivel castor turns 360° perfect.

The castors are 100mm wheels with a 70mm diameter attachment with 12mm through hole.
I needed a means of connecting it to the M20 threaded bar mechanism so I bored a hole centred through a 50x10mm flat bar 70mm long and threaded it M12. I welded an M20 nut onto this plate with the M12 threaded hole.

The castor was threaded onto the plate with an M12 bolt (i hacksawed a slot on the M12 bolt for ease of tightening it)
I cut the bolt flush to the top of the mounting plate so it wont get in the way of the M20 threaded bar.
The castor and mounting plate can be threaded on/off the M20 threaded bar mechanism with ease.
I greased up the 2 welded in pipes in the sub frame cross member that the mechanism is mounted in to keep it slippy!

 

[Bobnoxious32]

Spring for the Mechanism gives approx 20mm travel.
At rest approx 10mm above the floor (just enough for lift).