"antique" Steel Printer's table top

[bimmer1980]

So I was able to purchase a decent sized steel (it might actually be cast iron) table top that was from a printer's table. The guy said it was about late 1800's vintage....

It's about 35" x 51" and about 2" thick on the edges and about 3/4" thick in the middle. It's got a nice patina to it, and has a few little dings, etc, but over all it is very nice....

I plan to eventually build a steel frame for it and use it as a work bench / jigging table/ welding table.....

does it make anyone on here cringe to think about drilling holes thru it or having weld slag drip on it?

I'll post some pics tomorrow... I forgot the camera at home....

 

[grego]

Sorry for going O/T but where does one acquire a piece like that? I am going to be laid up for 3-6 months and have always been curious where treasures like this are found and will have some time to hunt. Scrap yards, the back yards of people, craigs list, estate sales??
I think if you can take something old and give it new life either for what it was made for or for a new purpose all the more power to you. Make sure to post up some pics when you get a chance.

 

[bimmer1980]

this was another random craigslist deal.... I had to drive 1-1/2 hours......

I was inspired by the guy that build a welding table with a chunk of t-slot table. I would still like to find something like that, but this will work as well......

 

[gorilla]

Give it another life, weld on it. Check out weldsale.com for platen welding tables.

 

[A_Pmech]

If it is flat and the usual dings can be stoned out, I wouldn't weld on it. It's nice to have a flat surface other than a surface plate for fiddling around.

 

[bimmer1980]

here are the photos of the steel top. I haven't had a chnce to move it inside yet, so I sprayed the top down with WD-40.

It was a little frosty this morning when I snapped one of the pics...

 

[MottsRods]

even though i love anything antique.... i would have to say with this one....make a nice table out of it. Now if you were able to get the right size press roll to use with it, that's a different story. But as it is....WELD.

 

[ftp]

Very cool. How much do you think that beast weighs?

 

[PurdueSD]

Would the fact its cast be a problem to make a welding table out of it?

My experience with cast is that it can be very weird at times...

 

[mike13u]

Brad - I bought a two inch thick welding table top as well. Picks are posted somewere. Your top is bigger but I had the same issue.
Here is what I did:
Buy a .125" thick piece of sheet same size as your top. Flip your top over and drill and tap holes through the sheet and your top. Then weld your base together and weld the base to the .125 sheetmetal. When your done, just place your cast iron top on your base and bolt your top on from underneath. That way you dont ruin that nice top. You will only have a couple of small tapped holes in the bottom.

 

[Brad54]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but cast iron wouldn't have dings, nicks or gouges in it, would it? Wouldn't it chip and fracture out? Cast doesn't usually ding or dent cleanly.

My gut says that's not cast iron. Cast steel maybe, but not cast iron. I'd think you could weld on it.

I'd drill holes in it and mount a big antique vise to one corner too.

If you want to preserve the vintage look, WD40 and a ScotchBrite pad will clean off the rust, but not the dark stains.

-Brad

 

[mike13u]

I'm no metallugist, but there are lots of different cast irons and not all are brittle. Everything from old farm equipment to cylinder heads to machine bases and tables and even bridges have been made with cast iron.
As far as I know, most t-slot milling tables, radial drill beds and drill press tables are cast iron.

 

[Gizzy]

I work for a major printing company.We have several of these around the facility,they are refered to as "stones".Don't ask me why,I haven't a clue.We use them to do lay-outs of heavy printing chases on.They can really take a beating,I agree with A Pmech about not welding on it.I'd love to have one in my shop at home.Nice find.

 

[ihredo4]

I bought one a year ago for $99 off ebay. They show up from time to time. I took the stand out from under it and reconfigured the whole thing. The drawers are now along the wall with butcher block top on it. The table itself is being set up in the middle of the room on 6" pipe legs. I just got a call from the guy I got the first on from and he is selling the second one. Think I am going to go get that one and put into my buddy's machine/work shop.

 

[Vinko]

Cast doesn't usually ding or dent cleanly.

-Brad

I don't have a technical background, but I've got a lot of experience with castings. I've had a lot of cast-iron ding or dent "cleanly" -- usually cheaper cast-iron that is able to flow easy into a mold. I wouldn't say the dents are "super" clean, but they're fairly clean (subjective I know).

 

[bimmer1980]

Good feedback guys....

As far as welding on it, I meant more in relation to laying a couple of pieces of metal on it and welding those items, not necessarily to the table. I was primarily concerned about screwing up the surface of the table from weld slag, etc.

As Mike13 mentioned, I will probably drill and tap some mounting holes into it to hold it to the steel frame table. It does have thickened corners, so that should not be a problem.

I'm suspecting it weighs in the neighborhood of 300 to 400 lbs. I attempted to lift one end up to tip it up vertical and I could only lift it about 8". I ended up tipping it up with the forklift and then strapping it to fork guard of the forklift. Not much room in the tiny one car garage attached garage!

Now I just need the weather to warm up so I can continue to work on the new garage.

 

[bimmer1980]

I bought one a year ago for $99 off ebay. They show up from time to time. I took the stand out from under it and reconfigured the whole thing. The drawers are now along the wall with butcher block top on it. The table itself is being set up in the middle of the room on 6" pipe legs. I just got a call from the guy I got the first on from and he is selling the second one. Think I am going to go get that one and put into my buddy's machine/work shop.

do you have any pics that you could share????? I'd like to see what you did to yours.

 

[vinniez]

Here you go. I have the same top and the slag does not stick or hurt. I set it up with a reciver type of set up for the vise and grinder. Oh and it is heavy

 

[rsanter]

not all antiques have value to them as what they originally are.
I would sould say that applies to what you have
making it into a table would be a good new life for it

bob

 

[bimmer1980]

vinniez--that's a good looking table. Very nice! just curious, what is the piece of angle iron set up on the left side for? holding a pipe?

I like how you incorporated the belt sander and the vice into the stand. Also, nice wide drawers you have there..

I was able to slide mine in to the side wall of the garage and secured it to the wall. Whew, it was heavy. It will reside there until I have my new garage built.....

 

[vinniez]

The angle is for round tubing or pipe. I have found quite a few outher uses for it also. The grinder and vise just slip out of the way when I need more space. The drawers are plan drawers that they were getting rid of at work.

 

[arkangel06]

Id get a sheet of 3/16 steel and put it over top while welding on it.