Chuck's Ultimate? Welding table build

[Chuck...]

Well I have been lurking on this site for some time. I got alot of ideas from this site and from youtube. And I have been welding on the floor or some crappy bench or even a wooden bench for like 10 years so I figured I should make a welding bench. Alot of times I tend to over due things I build. Hopefully this time will not be an exception lol. I started out with the idea (that I saw on here) to build the harbor freight 13 drawer tool box into my bench. And kinda built on that idea. The top I am using is 3 drops from work that I welded together 5/8 thick weldox. After I welded them together the size will be 41inchesx64inches. I will get into the top later. So I used 2x2 .25 walls square tubing for most of the main frame. I also needed a way to move it around my garage easy so I made wheels that I can jack down to roll it around easy then when I got it where i need it i can lower it and have a nice ridgid bench. Anyways then I kinda winged it from there. Still is a work in progress but its coming along well. I dont have much spare time to work on in the garage with an 10 month old daughter. So its normally just and hour here and there.

I started with the first few steps looks like.



I shimmed up the blue bench level and used a ratchet strap to tighten down the 2 white tubs so I would have a somewhat nice level surface to come off of. It's seemed to work well.




Anyways thanks for looking.

 

[Chuck...]

Well back to work. To start out I leveled out one of my old benches to tack the frame together. Then I put the tool box under it just to see what it would look like. You can see one of the 3 peaces of metal I am using for the top. Then I started in on the landing gear. I made the shafts and what not. It has roughly 3inches of stroke. I ended up using 2 ton bottle jacks on each side.



Then I started to frame in the tool box.


Here is a little video of me testing the landing gear to make sure is works before I went any further with it. As you can see it works pretty well.


Thanks for looking





Anyways thanks for looking.

 

[dr_clyde]

Looking forward to some pictures, try hosting the pics on a site like Flickr, then embedding the BBCode into your post.

Edit: looks like you got it figured out. Looks good so far.

 

[Chuck...]

Framing was going good. I ended up using 1inch x 1 1/2 inch 11 gauge tubbing for the tool box frame. I would have liked to use bigger stuff but I didn't want the table height to get to wild. The table height when it's all finished will be 39.5 ish inches high.



Should be a decent height but I didn't want to go much higher. I made enough clearance so I could get the engine hoist under the bench also, so I could lift heavy parts up onto the table. Then I started working on my leveling feet. I was looking at buying them but the price was kinda alot. So I did my own. The bench is starting to take shape now. The opposite side of the tool box I am putting in a shelf that will be covered with sheet metal. Then to the left of that I am leaving it open so I can pull a chair up and have a spot for my legs. Like a knee hole.


The leveling feet didn't cost must to make mostly time. But it gave me a good reason to fire up the lathe. The main stud of the pad is a 3/4-10 bolt that I cut the head off and turned a step to hold the pad its self. The pad can swivel on the stud so it makes for easy adjustments. And there is a lot of threaded left so I can change fine tune the height of the bench. Also I ground a flat on the stud so I could get a wrench on it so I can get the jam nut plenty tight. I ended up facing the jam nut down to like .4 just so I would have a little more room.

Anyways thanks for looking

 

[Chuck...]

Then I went into work on a Saturday and squared up and chamfered the 3 peaces of metal so I could weld them together.



Welding them together worked pretty well I was a little worried about them warping from the heat. I had them clamped down pretty well. I heard one loud snapping sounds when I was welding them I thought that noise was it warping but it must have been it moving or something.



I think it helped it not warping because my welder isn't really rated to weld 5/8ths material so it didn't put a whole lota heat into it. I am only welding it with my welder because I am trying to hide the seam. There won't be any load on it. Other wise I would have found a bigger welder to use. From what I could tell that metal is roughly 25ish pounds per square foot so that top weights about 450 ish pounds

 

[Chuck...]

Then I welded the leveling feet into the 2inch square tubing. It worked pretty well and didn't cost much to make compared to buying them at least.





I used the casters off the tool box they are rated for like 2600ish pounds so it should be good. The tool box from harbor freight is a lot better than I would have thought. It came to like $399 out the door. And the casters seem to be descent. Even if I only would have boughten 4 casters that I am sure would have added up fast price wise. I am thinking the bench when complete will weigh around 1400ish pounds with out any tools in the box or anything in the shelf area. I think it will be good. It is already handy and its not even finished yet I had the vise clamped to the bench to hold the leveling feet to fit them.



You can see on the 1st pic I welded a washer to the bottom of the stud so the swivel part can float and not spin when I am leveling the table out.
Thanks for reading

 

[jhn9840]

Looks like it's going to be a very practical welding bench. Looking forward to seeing it finished.

jhn9840
John

 

[Justanoldguy]

Must be because I'm down under (in NZ) .
All the pics are upside down.

 

[Chuck...]

Looks like it's going to be a very practical welding bench. Looking forward to seeing it finished.

jhn9840
John

Thanks I think it helped only working on it for a few hours here and there to make it more practical because I had more time to think about it between working on it. Instead of doing it all at once

 

[Chuck...]

Must be because I'm down under (in NZ) .
All the pics are upside down.

Yeah I don't know why the pics are upside down. I tried flipping them upside down on my phone before I uploaded them thinking it got flipped some how. Maybe it's something with my phone. Hopefully it's still able to see what is going on. Thanks for looking

 

[Chuck...]

Next I went and picked up some sheet metal. 14 gauge will work.


I was going to use the torch to cut them but after watching some YouTube videos on the 8inch milwaukee metal cutting saw I figured I will try it out. It handled that 14 gauge very well. I would say it cut as easy as cutting wood. Plus I got to buy another tool.


The torch would have been way more work and a lot of extra clean up. Then after I cut a few pieces of metal I started to tack them up. Also I added and another shelf to the cabinet because I thought it would be more useful than having one big area in there. It's really starting to come together nice now. Originally I was only going to sheet metal in the shelf area but I was liking how it looked so I did around the tool box to. I thought it cleaned the bench up a lot.

 

[Chuck...]

Well I finished inatalling all of the sheet metal. Still am not sure why all of my pics are upside down though. The sheet metal went on pretty well and that 8 inch Milwaukee metal cutting saw cut threw it like butter. I made some brackets so I can bolt the tool box down using the holes already in the tool box for the casters. I am only using 4 bolts to hold it down. Got the fire extinguisher all mounted up and with in arms reach. It's really getting close now. To the right of the tool box in that opening I am going install a 4 plex outlet, then on the other side of the bench to the right of that shelf I am going to put other 4 plex outlet there. Then I am going to install a few air line chucks at least 2 of them. For the wiring I am going to have a short male plug in hidden so I don't always have to have a cord reeled up hanging in the way.


Then for the top plate. Possibly in 2 weeks I can bring it in to work on a Saturday and my plan is to mill the top flat cause the welds from welding it together are sticking up I didn't bother grinding them if I was going to mill it. So I am hoping I don't have to take more than like .060 off the top to clean it up.

Then my plan is to drill and tap 1/2-13 holes every 3 inches. I prolly don't need the holes but I might as well drill them since I can. Then I plan on making like a fixture plate with my vise bolted to it so I can bolt it anywhere on the table easily or take it off fast.


Then because I don't need those holes or the milled flat surface all the time I am going to buy like a .125 plate to go over the top so I don't wreck my milled surface and holes. And then I will have enough extra to make a door for that cabinet with the shelfs.

And I need to make a better looking spacer under the bottle jacks, I just have some scrap piece under them for now.

Still have lots of work left but getting there.

Thanks for looking

 

[gymbo39]

try flipping your pictures over before you post

 

[Chuck...]

try flipping your pictures over before you post

I think I finally figured it out. I will go back and change the orders
Thanks for looking

 

[dr_clyde]

What kind of lathe do you have?

 

[LG63]

Great design, major upgrade over floor welding! Can you tell us more about Weldox....never heard of it. I googled it but didn't find a general (non-technical) description.

 

[Chuck...]

What kind of lathe do you have?

The lathe is a Grizzly G4003G 12x36 inch
I have been pretty happy with it so far. I bought it about a year ago. It's pretty handy to have around. I took a few pics when I put it together I was going to post them one of these days. Now I just need a mill lol.

 

[Chuck...]

Great design, major upgrade over floor welding! Can you tell us more about Weldox....never heard of it. I googled it but didn't find a general (non-technical) description.

Yeah I can't wait to start using the new table.
Weldox 900 is a high strength steel (900 MPa) that provides a unique combination of strength and toughness together with first-rate workshop properties. It is intended for load carrying structures with high demand on low weight.

The main reason they we use Weldox is because of the strength and wear properties.

The stuff we get is made in Sweden out of virgin steel. At least that's what the sales man says. Lol

It should be a great bench top

 

[padronanniversary]

first thing is first, impressive !

I'm curious which lathe is that ? It looks about the size I am looking for the garage

 

[MrBreeze]

Nice table build! The "landing gear" makes the table much more functional. Kudos.

 

[Chuck...]

Nice table build! The "landing gear" makes the table much more functional. Kudos.

Thanks
The landing gear work suprisingly well there is a video clip of me testing it out up a few posts. It really makes it easy to move around and its a really soild bench when its lowered.

I was thinking about using pneumatic cylinders or some electric actuators. But the actuators where pretty expensive and I didn't want all of those air lines every where that always seem to leek after a while. Plus the bottle jacks cost like $12 and I can replace them easy. And I just thought they would last longer in the long run. With welding and grinding and what not. And I can move the bench with out an air line conected to it or a power cord to trip on.

Thanks for looking

 

[Chuck...]

first thing is first, impressive !

I'm curious which lathe is that ? It looks about the size I am looking for the garage

The lathe is a Grizzly model number G4003G. I am have had it alittle over a year. 12x36 inch lathe. I have been pretty happy with it so far and it is really handy to have around.
I took a few pics of it when I was putting it together I was thinking about posting them

Thanks for looking

 

[AMCguy]

Built to last. I love it.

 

[Chuck...]

Well I finally had some garage time so I worked on the welding table.

Before I just had the bench tacked together so I did a final weld up. I flipped it over several times to make sure I didn't miss any welds and to make them easier to reach.









I used my engine hoist to flip the bench over seemed to work well

 

[Fudge0514]

Wow! You sir have crafted up quite the build here. Impressive and well thought out. Can't wait to see the finished table.

 

[Zartan]

Awesome OP! Love seeing this kind of stuff. No built in fridge?

 

[vintagespeed1956]

that's a great bench! subscribed for the finish.

 

[Chuck...]

Thanks

 

[Chuck...]

I ordered this swivel hoist ring on Amazon. It makes lifting the table top a easier because it can swivel. I think I am going to find a swivel hook for the engine hoist so everything I lift will be a little easier.

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It's rated at like 2250 pounds and just screws into a 1/2-13 hole.

Here is a better shot ove the leveling feet. I took them off when I was flipping the bench over. The bottom pad part floats on the stud so it can be adjusted easy. Then just tighten the jam nut and it doesn't go any where

[URL=http://s1027.photobucket.com/user/roadmaster_1996/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20150822_075545_zpspuoxjhmt.jpg.html]

So next I started to wire in the outlets. Here is what was left of my 1st attempt. Lol.




It kinda worked but I didn't like how it looked. And I didn't realize how much room the bends take up.

So this is my 2nd try and I think it turned out good.




It was kinda hard to get a good picture for some reason




I have the little pig tail hanging down so I can just plug in the bench like a normal tool. That way I don't have to have a cord hanging on it when I don't need power getting full of grinding dust and what not. And I can replace that pig tail easy and cheaper than a cord.

It's pretty tight clearance but there should be like .125 of room to clear the table top.




Then we have the shop supervisor Lily hard at work
Thanks for looking

 

[chris fresh]

Chuck. Great build! Going back to the top,How will the top get milled flat? Do you have access to some sort of surfacer at wok?

 

[Chuck...]

Yes I can use one of the mills at work. It's has enough room to put the table top right on the table of the mill. The mill has about X83.5 and Y63.3 ish of travel. Although the real problem has been trying to find the time to bring it into work and mill it. I woukd like to put 1/2-13 holes every 3 inches sp it will tale a while to do all of the that. Thanks for looking

 

[Chuck...]

Well I figured it was time for another update on the bench. I have been working on it on and off for the last few months. Then took a little break from it to rebuild my snowblower. Anyways back to the bench.



I finished painting it



And a few different views




And can't forget Lily




Painting went pretty good for the most part I could have used maybe like 1 more can of spray paint but I like how it turned out.

 

[pacemade]

Good job Chuck! Smart idea attaching the fire extinguisher right onto the table for easy access.

 

[Chuck...]

We had some fire training at work and the guy doing the training said something like your likely to use/need a fire extinguisher once every 10 years. So I figured I should be due to need one being as I have never needed one yet. Lol

Thanks for looking

 

[efncrx]

Great build chuck! Love your dog also! Keep up the great work man!

 

[Chuck...]

Here is a few pics of the bench in action. I was rebuilding a 1998 toro wheel horse 44 inch 2 stage snowblower. For the toro wheel horse 520lxi

The snowblower weights like 360ish pounds nothing for the bench to hold up lol









Boy that auger was freaking heavy to lift out.


This bushing was supposed to be tight on that shaft. It was like .062 loose. I wasn't expecting to find that I am glad I did before it got any worse.






Getting her cleaned up for assembly.




I ended up replacing 3 bushings 3 seals and the chain

And here it is all back together minus the belt guard and the tire chains for the mower.

 

[BUGTHUG]

got more pictures of your shop layout? I'm interested in the layout of your shelves and work area. I'm trying to get some ideas for my shop. Thanks

 

[CNGsaves]

Great build on the Welding Table . . . . NICE !!!

I really like the bottle jacks and the mobile setup with wheels. Notice you haven't re-installed them. Still happy with how they work ?? Any improvements that you're planning when re-installed after painting ??

 

[Chuck...]

I finished soldering the copper air lines together. I still need to clean them up a little. It was also my fist time it seemed to go well and I couldn't hear any leaks

 

[Chuck...]

Thanks for looking

I took the wheel set up off to paint. Then I welded a bracket to sturdy it up a little and I welded it off a little so I have to back and figure something else out. I still will make it work. But I think I only left like .010 ish clearance between the holes and the shafts so it didn't take much for it not to work right.



I will prolly end up making a bar that bolts to the wheel instead of how it is now. But it will still work.

That's prolly going to be the next project on the bench finish up the landing gear.

Thanks again for looking