New welding table build..sort of....

[TerryH]

I'm actually using a table that I've had in my shop for many years as the basis of a new welding table. The existing table is 33" tall and the top is 33" square. It's made from 1 3/4" angle that's 1/4" thick. The existing top and shelf are 1/8" plate. I ordered a new 40" x 40" x 3/8" top and also picked up some 2 1/2" and 2" square tubing to make some mounts for my vise, grinder etc... I'll also be building a new metal working bench after this and I want the vises and such to be able to interchange between both. I've been scouring the forums reading everything I could find on fab and welding tables so I hope to incorporate lots of stolen ideas into mine. I'll be adding some heavy duty casters so it will be mobile along with some purpose made spots for the ground to attach along with a few other things that I liked on other tables.

Here's the existing table. You can see that the Yost vise dominates the top surface. It's great when you need the vise but the rest of the time it's really in the way. That will be solved in the new table design.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/93396776@N06/8561301066/ http://www.flickr.com/people/93396776@N06/

Here's the hunk of plate and the tubing for the tool mounts I picked up this afternoon. I really wanted a 1/2" top but my metal dude can only shear up to 3/8" so 3/8" it is. I think it'll be fine for my purposes. Not looking for surface plate flatness here just a sturdy top for a bit of welding and fab work.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/93396776@N06/8560193691/ http://www.flickr.com/people/93396776@N06/

After some great advice from Alan Camby in another thread I decided not to use the regular hitch stuff for the tool mounts. I got 2 1/2" tubing and worked it over so the 2" slid in perfectly. It took some work to get there. This tubing had pretty good amount of welding flash in the corner that I had to remove with a file and I used my horizontal belt sander to fine tune the outside of the 2" tubing for snug fit. It was a little bit of a chore but worth it in the end.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/93396776@N06/8560193711/ http://www.flickr.com/people/93396776@N06/

I spent the afternoon getting 3 mounts ready including capping the ends of the tubing so they would look nice. These are the first tubing caps I've ever done and I'm pretty pleased with how these came out. Also super happy with the new Hobart 190!!! After fiddling with them most of the afternoon they fit together with virtually zero slop. Matter of fact, the mounts will only fit into the tubes in one orientation. Welding flash has to be in the upper left corner or they won't go.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/93396776@N06/8561301054/ http://www.flickr.com/people/93396776@N06/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/93396776@N06/8561301046/ http://www.flickr.com/people/93396776@N06/


http://www.flickr.com/photos/93396776@N06/8560272035/ http://www.flickr.com/people/93396776@N06/

I'll be picking up my plate for the tool mounts on Monday and the 5" casters I ordered from Girzzly that will be here Monday as well. I swung by the bolt and screw supply today and grabbed all the necessary hardware. I'll update as I go.

Thanks for looking!!

Terry

 

[Themadangler]

Looks good. Post some pics when you get the casters set up. I am building mine now and used a 2 1/2-2" hitch adapter for my vice mount. The 2 inch square tube slides right in without modification.

 

[TerryH]

Will do. I'm picking up the plate for the casters and the tool mounts later today. UPS says that my casters are out for delivery so I should be able to get some more done this week.

 

[TerryH]

Big brown truck just dropped off the 5" locking casters from Grizzly. These are rated for 600lbs each. Grizzly has them for $14.95 each. I opted to go with all swiveling casters given that I will be moving the table pretty frequently and I felt like it would be easier to manuver the heavy table in tight quarters if all the casters swiveled.

 

[ilovevocs]

The "hitch mounts" for lack of a better term look really nice.

Just a heads up, and i dont know if this was a result of the casters i had or what, but maybe something to examine before welding them on. I put four swivel casters on a bench and had issues with the casters pivoting on their rotational axis when they were locked. Changed two of the pivoting casters out for fixed units to remediate the issue. Your casters appear to be of better quality than the ones i was using so it may not be an issue for you.

 

[TerryH]

Had a little more time today so I made some progress on the welding table conversion project. I began by cutting the 1/8" warped top off the existing table and checking the structure for flat and square. Square = yes. Flat = not hardly. The angle pieces on the front and rear of the table are in the same plane but the sides are 1/8" low. My plan was to put 2x2x1/4" angle stretchers across the opening to support the top anyway so I decided that I'd just notch those 1/8" deeper to put them in the same plane as the front and rear of the existing structure. That should allow the top to be fully supported and remain flat. I'll be bolting the top to the structure vs welding it. In addition to the angle, I picked up the plate for the tool and caster mounts along with some flat bar during the week so I'd be ready for today.

I got the caster mounts done first and I'm pretty happy with how they turned out even though I haven't decided on a height of the table yet so I didn't mount them yet. Leanig towards about 38" but still unsure.



My shop has a block 2' block wall with a regular 8' framed wall on top and the 2x plate on the blocks hangs over the blocks by 2". I notched the plate so I could recess the frame of the table 1" into the top plate. This allows my 40 x 40 top to go right up against the wall and have a 2" over hang in the front.

Just in case the table is not super solid on the casters I'll be attaching the table to the wall using 3/8" star knobs and a piece of angle mounted to the top plate since most of the time it will probably be against the wall anyway. You can see the beginnings of that here. I'll be welding some angle on the outside of the table frame once I figure out what the height will be. Then the star knobs will use a welded nut on the back side of the long piece of angle to secure the table.





Here's the star knobs. They will make for a tool free deal when I want to move the table.



With that done I moved on to getting the first angle stretcher mounted along with the 2 1/2" tubing for the tool mount. I'm mounting my tool mount tube flush to the front of the table. The plate for the tool mount will go all the way into the frame of the table and actually fit snugly under the top. That will add some extra support to the mount. I'll also be welding some angle to the bottom of the tool mounting plates and using more 3/8" star knobs and welded nuts to secure the tool mount to the front of the table. I also welded a piece of 1x1/4" flat bar to the front of the table for hanging grinders.








Here you can see how the tool mounts will fit flush to the top of the frame. I think this will make them really solid.









All in all a good day. Thanks for looking!!

 

[sunsation288]

Wow , nice work
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[TerryH]

Wow , nice work
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Thanks!

 

[Theo777]

Nice!! I like the tools mounts. Good idea! It's will help me for my welding table project. Please add more pic of your Work in progresse...

 

[nine4gmc]

opcorn:

 

[Themadangler]

Looking good. I like those wheels better than the ones I picked up from TSC. I opted to go with two fixed and two swivel. Do you plan on painting it? I saw somewhere a guy welded a receiver hitch on the bottom rack in a verticle position to store the vice setup when not in use. I'm thinking about add something like that to my table.

 

[TerryH]

Looking good. I like those wheels better than the ones I picked up from TSC. I opted to go with two fixed and two swivel. Do you plan on painting it? I saw somewhere a guy welded a receiver hitch on the bottom rack in a verticle position to store the vice setup when not in use. I'm thinking about add something like that to my table.

Thanks. I really think that all 4 swiveling will be the ticket for this application but we'll see. I know that my other carts and such with 2 fixed and 2 swiveling can be a little bit of a pain to get into tight spots and they don't weigh nearly as much as this table will. I can always just swap for 2 stationary wheels if it doesn't work out.

I'll be painting it red to match the tool boxes and carts that I keep on that same wall but that's a ways off. Still lots of work to do before I can think about paint. I'll be using the lower shelf to store the grinder, vises etc.. Not sure how that will be just yet but I'll keep updating as I figure it out.

 

[TerryH]

Nice!! I like the tools mounts. Good idea! It's will help me for my welding table project. Please add more pic of your Work in progresse...

Thanks. Will do. I got a 4 square box and plugs today to add power to the table. Hopefully I'll have some time to work on it later in the week. I'll post pics as soon as I have some more shop time.

 

[PhantomEB]

Definitely 4 swivels.... I make it a point nothin in my garage in on anything less. I hate anything thats not movable!

 

[TerryH]

Another Saturday in the garage is in the books and I made some really good progress today on the welding table. I began work today by getting the second stringer in to support the top and getting my grounding points on.

One thing that I saw on the Street Rodder magazine table that I really liked was using 1/2" carriage bolts as grounding points. I put one on the front and another on the rear. I had to buy 8" long carriage bolts to get a shank long enough for the ground clamp not to be on the threads. I cut them to 3" and welded them to the table. You can see it on the left rear in this photo.



I was going to wire a 4 square box to power the table but I found this power strip at HF. It has a 15 foot cord and it's actually metal .



I took it apart and used some stainless machine screws to attach it to the table so it would be nice and solid.



Here's the carraige bolt ground point for the front of the table.



Next in line was to get the caster mounting plates on. After much debate I decided that I would try the table at 39 1/2" tall. My back is not good and I'm hoping that the taller table will help me. We will see. I lined the plates up on the up side down top so I'd have a solid platform to weld them.



And here is where I hold my breath and ask you to be gentle with me because I'm actually posting pictures of some of my welds. I've been practicing and watching YouTube videos trying to learn all I can. I'm at least to the point where I'm not ashamed of these anyhow.





I flipped the table over after getting the casters on and got the top properly situated and drilled 2 preliminary holes just to secure the top the the table so I could flip right side up to drill the remaining 6 holes. Here it is in it's spot on the wall for the first time.



Here you can see why I have to have the top off center so it will fit against the wall and you can see how the angle will be used to attach the table to the wall. The rear overhang is 4 1/2"



I'm bolting the top to the base using 8 - 3/8" x 1 1/4" counter sunk bolts. I drilled the holes with a hand drill and countersunk them by hand as well. Would have been nice to have had a mag drill but I don't seem to have one. They came out pretty well considering the method I had to use to do them.



Next was radiusing the corners of the top. I marked the radius and cut as much off as I could with the porta band and finished up with a grinder.







Here is the table in it's home. Long way to go still but I'm happy with it so far.

 

[metal1313]

i like it. i would add some bracing down low just for good measure. are you going to be storing your welder on the table or on a seperate cart?

 

[TerryH]

i like it. i would add some bracing down low just for good measure. are you going to be storing your welder on the table or on a seperate cart?

Thanks! I have the welder on a seperate cart. I was trying to leave the bottom open for storage. What kind of bracing do you think it needs?

 

[BD1]

Awesome TERRYH ! Great job. I like the finished covered ends for the receive tube . Was that the wife's idea ??? Did you round the corners of the table before or after injury ??? I always round corners, however, it sometimes is done after I made contact and then said, #%$@^%.
Looks like you have enough height below bottom shelf for material storage on floor too . Maybe plastic milk crates or some dollies could be used. Might be enough room for jack stand storage.

 

[TerryH]

Thanks BD1! I radiused the corners before they injured anything important. As heavy as this thing is I knew that it was gonna be a really bad deal to leave the corners square. It just looked wrong to me to leave the tubing open so I capped it. My wife was not involved in the decision. I do plan to store jack stands and such below the table. The shelf will eventually be covered with ATP and the vises, grinders etc.. will be stored there.

 

[LG63]

Nice job on the corner radius, looks laser cut. Countersinks with a hand drill are difficult at best but yours turned out nice. I've had best luck with a single flute tool starting with a small pilot hole and then I drill the hole out to finish diameter after I've done the countersink.

 

[HellaFab]

Looks nice.

Im guessing you don't do a lot of TIG work? the shelfs would be in my way to get my feet and pedal down there.

 

[TerryH]

Looks nice.

Im guessing you don't do a lot of TIG work? the shelfs would be in my way to get my feet and pedal down there.

Thanks. Just beginning welding. Only have MIG and probably won't have a TIG. If I do get one I'll have a good excuse to build another table.

 

[Bears Fan]

Nice craftsmanship on the table! I always like seeing good weld beads, Nice

 

[TerryH]

Nice craftsmanship on the table! I always like seeing good weld beads, Nice

Thanks.

 

[TerryH]

Nice job on the corner radius, looks laser cut. Countersinks with a hand drill are difficult at best but yours turned out nice. I've had best luck with a single flute tool starting with a small pilot hole and then I drill the hole out to finish diameter after I've done the countersink.

Thanks. I just drilled a 3/16" pilot followed by the 3/8" and countersunk from there. I used a multiple flute 3/4" countersink and a good amount if tapping lubricant for all of it.

 

[TerryH]

Had a little time tonight so I thought I'd try to remove the mill scale from the top. I thought that I was just going to flap wheel it off but I learned very quickly that wasn't going to work last weekend. I spent a sizeable amount of time getting the scale off about 1 square foot of the top. This is some tough stuff!! I watched a few YouTube videos on using muratic acid and read about a zillion forum posts about it so that seemed to be the best bet to me. I stopped by Lowes and picked some up today.

While I was researching muratic acid I discovered that there are some that say that they are "greener" but they are basically just dilluted. Lowe's had 2 choices. One said "greener" and one didn't so I opted for the "non-greener" one. I couldn't see anywhere on either bottle what the percentage or concentration was. I also picked up a spray bottle to apply the acid.

Here's what I used...



Generic discalimer: If you are going to use this stuff you MUST wear really good gloves, eye protection, long sleeves and a respirator minimum. The fumes are unbelieveable and if it gets on your skin it will burn you instantly. It will eat whatever it gets on including you. Have a hose at the ready at all times and be prepared to neutralize the acid with a bucket of water with baking soda dissolved in it. Use it at your own risk.

In other words: Don't blame me.

And here's where I began. You can see the area that I worked on forever last weekend in the corner and the dark spot in the center was a apple cider vinegar experiment gone wrong. I won't live long enough to get the mill scale off with vinegar.



I rolled the table out into the driveway and wrapped the remainder of the table with tarps to keep the acid off of the base.



First application of acid. I used it full strength and just sprayed it on with a 99cent spray bottle. The full strength acid worked pretty quikly in the videos that I had seen so I fully expected the process to take about 15 mintues. I was completely wrong.



I rinsed the acid off after letting it set for 15 minutes. I had also scrubbed the top using scotch brite pads before rinsing. The acid totally disentegrated the red scotchbrite pads very quickly. This is some nasty stuff.

Here's what I had after the first round of acid.



I applied another round and waited 15 more minutes before scrubbing with the scotchbrites again. Here's what I had after rinsing the second round off.



Round #3 same process. 15 more minutes of letting the acid soak and a couple more disentegrated scotchbrite pads left me with this.

Edit: Sorry. Just realized I had the wrong photo in the post and apparently I don't have a photo of round #3

Round #4 finally got the thing looking pretty good. Here it is after many rinses with a water/baking soda solution to neutralize the acid and blowing it dry.



I hit it with a 80 grit flap wheel on my 7" grinder and called it a night.



My thoughts on the process are mixed. I really wanted a shiny top but I'm not 100% sure that I'd do it again if I ever build another table. Once I started grinding that one corner last weekend I pretty much had no choice but to go ahead but there is nothing that I enjoyed about the hour of acid bath. One way or the other, this top is naked now and I'll finish it and get some Johnson's wax on it and call it good.

 

[tarbellb]

Ive used a random orbital sander with a anything from 80-220 grit to get scale off. You may want to give that a try next time your in this situation.

The table looks great; clean, thoughtful work. Enjoy the new setup.

 

[TerryH]

Ive used a random orbital sander with a anything from 80-220 grit to get scale off. You may want to give that a try next time your in this situation.

The table looks great; clean, thoughtful work. Enjoy the new setup.

Thanks. I thought that I would just sand it off too but not happening with this plate. Aparently it was some sort of industrial quality/military grade mill scale. The corner that was stripped in the pics above ate up 4 - 3M green corp 40 grit pads on my 7" grinder with a foam backing pad. I tried all manner of sanders and grinders. flap wheels etc.... This stuff just kicked every thing I tried in the ****. That's why I had to go the acid route. Beats me. I sanded it off the tubing and angle that I'm using with my DA using 80 grit in a matter of seconds.

 

[dozerbuilder01]

That's a sharp looking table. Interesting to see your experience with muratic acid. I've read a ton of forum discussions about it. It's like politics. Everyone has a different opinion.

I'm planning to have my dozer frame dipped and e-coated to get everything covered. Inside and out. Still doing my research but I don't want anything less. I hate painting and I hate rust.

 

[Duker]

Thanks. I thought that I would just sand it off too but not happening with this plate. Aparently it was some sort of industrial quality/military grade mill scale. The corner that was stripped in the pics above ate up 4 - 3M green corp 40 grit pads on my 7" grinder with a foam backing pad. I tried all manner of sanders and grinders. flap wheels etc.... This stuff just kicked every thing I tried in the ****. That's why I had to go the acid route. Beats me. I sanded it off the tubing and angle that I'm using with my DA using 80 grit in a matter of seconds.

Terry,

I am going to steal/borrow some of your ideas for my build!

AS for the top, I ran into the same issue of trying to use flap wheels etc but ended up sandblasting which worked but was painfully slow and messy. I was wondering about the Muriatic acid method you used.

I also found out that my wife is not a fan of the residual Tractor Supply #80 garnet that now resides in her flower beds from washing it off of the driveway!

 

[TerryH]

That's a sharp looking table. Interesting to see your experience with muratic acid. I've read a ton of forum discussions about it. It's like politics. Everyone has a different opinion.

I'm planning to have my dozer frame dipped and e-coated to get everything covered. Inside and out. Still doing my research but I don't want anything less. I hate painting and I hate rust.

Thanks. I can only hope to have your skills someday.

I too hate rust but came from the body shop biz where I spent most of my adult life as the painter. I'll be painting the table but it's a long way off from where I am now.

 

[TerryH]

Terry,

I am going to steal/borrow some of your ideas for my build!

AS for the top, I ran into the same issue of trying to use flap wheels etc but ended up sandblasting which worked but was painfully slow and messy. I was wondering about the Muriatic acid method you used.

I also found out that my wife is not a fan of the residual Tractor Supply #80 garnet that now resides in her flower beds from washing it off of the driveway!

LOL... my wife was out there looking over my shoulder almost the entire time I was on the acid trip. I finally asked her if she was interested in the process or if she was making sure that I didn't kill my self with the acid. She said, "Yes."

 

[PhantomEB]

The grounding bolts.... great idea!

I stealin that idea when time to build my 2x3 table. Already mag drilled and tapped, just gotta finish off the top but no room right now.

 

[TerryH]

Got on with making the tool mounts for the table tonite. I'm making the one for the vise first since I use it the most. I'm using the hitch mount but in a little different configuration than usual. I want a tool free attachment for the vise and grinders and I want to do everything from the outside of the table. I began tonite with rounding out the edges of the mounting plate so it contours to the base of the vise and fitting up the 1/4" plate to the 2x2 tubing that I prepped earlier. I cut 2 - 3" pieces of 2x2x1/4" angle and I'm welding angle to the back of the plate and using it as a flange to attach the tool mount to the table using 2 - 3/8" star bolts.

Here's the pieces fit up and tacked.



Obligatory bead shot. My welding is not anything to write home about but getting better. I've progressed from compelely terrible to somewhat acceptable anyway.



Next was to add some 1x1/4" plate to the bottom of the 1 3/4" angle that the table I'm repurposing as my welding table was originally made of to make a flange for the attachment points. Here's one side fit up and ready to weld.



And the finished product with both sides extended. I needed to add some material because the 1 3/4" angle was just not wide eonugh for the mounting bolts to work.



I drilled holes in the flanges on the vise mount and in the table and welded 3/8 nuts to the back side.



Here's a shot of one of the star bolts. I've used these many times on jigs and such for woodworking. I bought them from Rockler.



Here's the star bolts threaded into the nuts welded to the backside of the holes in the table.



And here is the vise mounted and ready for use. Insert the hitch mount and tighten the 2 star bolts and it's secure. The 1/4" plate fits very snugly under the overhang on the front of the table so all the star knobs are doing is keeping it snug to the table. I think this will be plenty strong for anything that I'll be needing the vise for.







In these shots you can see how the vise mount fits against the bottom of the top and how the the star bolts are positioned.





Next I'll make some more mounts for my grinders etc...

Thanks for looking!!

Terry

 

[gapfast]

You do great work!!! Awesome build. Not really surprised though, I've seen pics of your other projects! Nice attention to detail

 

[TerryH]

You do great work!!! Awesome build. Not really surprised though, I've seen pics of your other projects! Nice attention to detail

Thank you. I'm really enjoying the build.

 

[Responder]

Looking real good there! If you don't mind, I will be stealing a few of the ideas you have incorporated into this table.

Looking forward to seeing the finished project!

 

[Wi Fire 10]

Terry,
Can you explain why you didn't use 2'' square tubing for the vise mount? You made a short reference in your first post that you bumped it up to 2 1/2'' instead. I want to do something similar, and want to get all the facts first. Thanks!

 

[TerryH]

Terry,
Can you explain why you didn't use 2'' square tubing for the vise mount? You made a short reference in your first post that you bumped it up to 2 1/2'' instead. I want to do something similar, and want to get all the facts first. Thanks!

2 1/2" is mounted to the table. The 2" slides inside the 2 1/2".

 

[sberry]

I like the table, I have seen a lot of them and only thing I like different is I wouldnt bother with the tube for the vise, maybe some other attatchments but I like the vise post mounted to some kind of small bench, somewhere to set a hammer, pry etc. I will agree a vise is in the way for a work table. My vise on separate bench.