The Salvage Table

[DuluthMachineWorks]

A while back, I had an opportunity to salvage some steel plate, pipe, and tubing to put together a welding table.



The core of the build is this plate- 26x48 inches of usable space, 1” thick. Not quite as big as I would have liked, but the price of free was right.

Also salvaged with this piece was about 15’ of 2x4 1/4” wall tube, and some 4” schedule 40 pipe. In my head, the way this is working out is pipe for the legs, with a frame made of the steel tube.





I started cutting up the pipe a week or so ago. Had to get pretty creative as the full length was way too heavy for my cheap harbor freight outfeed stand. A little rigging goes a long way though.




Today, I started working on cutting up the steel tube.

Then I marked out the necessary notches for cutting later this weekend.



Started working on laying out the plate.



Since I have some extra steel on one side due to the big circle cutout, I’m thinking of adding a 1-1/2” hardy hole so I can slot tooling in and out. I was thinking 2” receiver tube, but this table will be on casters, so I don’t foresee using anything that a 1-1/2” hole would be inadequate for.




Also worked on cutting circles for end caps for the pipe, but I really don’t think the bandsaw is the right tool here. This one took forever, and I need eight.

And that’s where my stopping point is for today. Tomorrow I plan on doing some hot work and getting the plate/end caps cut to size. More to come!

 

[The Cobbler]

going to be an awesome table .

 

[mkat1951]

Looking good so far!


Sent from my iPhone using Garage Journal

 

[DuluthMachineWorks]

Thanks!

Worked on some hot work this morning. I started out with some practice torch cuts to get it dialed in.



Got the plate burned out:



Wish my cuts were a little bit better but oh well. I’m good as long as I’m up against the guide, but once I go freehand it’s looking pretty rough. I’m sure part of it is I was squatting down on the floor trying to not burn my knees when cutting- I’m sure it would look better up in the air.

Started on tubing notching:





Pretty pleased with the fitup. This afternoon I’m going to get the frame welded together.

 

[DuluthMachineWorks]

Getting everything squared up:







On the money, no noticeable twist or wobble. I made sure to put in some good strong tacks with some .024 hard wire.



Put the table upright, and started welding it out. I’m using .035 Lincoln Outershield wire, which burns nice and hot and cuts through any rust and scale left after grinding. I definitely need to practice my vertical uphill welds, as I wasn’t really getting the results I hoped for. Luckily those are hidden on the inside of the table. Strong welds, but ugly for sure. I decided to flip the table around so I could do the visible welds in a more favorable position:





Looking pretty good. My Miller 211 handled these welds like a champ even though I was up near the top of the duty cycle.



Wrapped the bottoms of the horizontals, and done for the day. It took a lot longer than expected to get this all done but I’m pleased to see the results so far.

Here’s a great reminder of why we wear PPE even though it’s in short supply right now:



I need to pick up one of the Miller half face respirators that fits under the hood, as even with the N95 I’m sure I was breathing in more crud than ideal.

Tomorrow’s goal- get the casters mounted and make some standoffs to rest the plate on.

 

[DuluthMachineWorks]

Started working on the leg caps. Cut them out with the torch:



Rough cuts and made a hell of a mess, but it sure was fast. A little grinding and a few tacks and they fit right in.



Okay fitup, but no problem. Welded them out with FCAW.



Ground down the welds, made the caps nice and flat, and chamfered the edges:



For this grinding, I tried out a new 3M Cubitron fiber disc- I’m really impressed with it. It digs in deep and just rips those welds off. Even with rounding out all four caps and their welds, it didn’t look much worse for the wear. I’m definitely sold.



Next up- casters.

 

[matt_i]

Very nice work!

Have you considered leveling feet so you can get all 4 corners solidified no matter what the concrete work is underneath?

If you welded a couple of cross-rails 3-1/2" up off the floor then you could use a pallet jack to move it around.

Its my experince that the casters will definitely work but not be as solid when you need the heavy structure of a solid leg to do some hammer-forming.

 

[DuluthMachineWorks]

Thanks! Yeah, I went back and forth on casters vs leveling feet. I ended up deciding to sacrifice rigidity for mobility, as my space is pretty small for a table this heavy. The concrete work under its future home isn’t too bad, so I’m hoping that it’ll do. I could always add some crossbars with jack screws between the legs if it ends up being worse than I hope. Not enough room to store or maneuver a pallet jack unfortunately.

I’ve also got a monster vise and stand planned that will be bolted to the floor- that’ll be my go to for bending and something to beat on.

 

[DuluthMachineWorks]

And because I’m trying to speed run this project so I can move on to other things, here’s more.



Got some 6” total lock casters on eBay a little while ago with this table in mind. Pretty pleased with them, they’re import but seem solid. I like that it has zerks at all of the bearings to keep them greased up.



Was going to make some nice plates with tapped holes, but with the caster height, they would have ended up as ankle destroyers. So, a little angle grinder work and they were ready to weld on.



Realized after getting the casters on that it puts the table about 1-1/2” higher than the spec for the casters said it should. If I move forward with the design as planned, it won’t line up with my other table, and would be a pretty awkward height.



I was going to mount the top on these 1-1/2” standoffs to make it easier to get clamps underneath, but it looks like I’m going to just have to mount the top flush with the frame to get the height I want. Either that or cut off all my casters, shorten pipe, etc... not going to happen. Luckily with the frame being inset to the centerline of the pipe legs, I have enough overhang that 90% of my clamps will work fine without the standoffs.

Time to rig the plate on the engine crane and get it mocked up:


Not the safest lift in the world but got er done with no issues.



Heights looking pretty good with the shop stool next to it.

At this point, I’m pretty set on keeping the top flush with the frame. I think I’ll get up underneath and stitch weld it in the overhead position rather than trying to bolt or clamp the top down. Before that, I’m going to round the corners with the torch, cut out the hardy hole, and put in a couple hours of grinding to make the top look good.

Honestly this is a lot more than I expected to get done over this weekend.

 

[Jcrock]

I did something similar. Scrap that I paid 30 cents a pound for. She a heavy old pig! I ended up 38" tall a little high but I wanted to keep from leaning over so much.

Sent from my SM-G970U using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[DuluthMachineWorks]

That’s a nice looking slab and a nice looking table. If that hand truck is anything like mine I’m sure it wasn’t too happy with the load.

How’s that set up with the single trailer jack on one side? Do you have two casters at the opposing corners and use the jack on the far side for leveling?

 

[Honch]

That table is a beast, great job!

Here’s a great reminder of why we wear PPE even though it’s in short supply right now:



I need to pick up one of the Miller half face respirators that fits under the hood, as even with the N95 I’m sure I was breathing in more crud than ideal.

You can get a 6000 series 3m respirator off Amazon for less than $15.00, P95 and P100 filters are readily available and fairly cheap. I don't know what helmet you have but this fits under my Miller Hobby and my Optrel Crystal 2.0

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

Hey Duluth, you're right around the corner from me.

Nice work!

 

[DuluthMachineWorks]

That table is a beast, great job!







You can get a 6000 series 3m respirator off Amazon for less than $15.00, P95 and P100 filters are readily available and fairly cheap. I don't know what helmet you have but this fits under my Miller Hobby and my Optrel Crystal 2.0

Thanks! I actually have a similar model 3m half face with the P100 pancake filters. It fits okay under my Jackson Safety hood but not perfect. I get a lot of arc glare from below since I can’t flip the hood all the way down tight with my neck. I did wear it when welding the zinc casters though. I’m thinking about picking up one of the Miller/GVS low profile ones since I look at them every time I’m at the welding supply place, or rigging up a leather flap to help shield the glare.

Luckily it looks like non-medical N95s are starting to hit the shelves again for general purpose stuff. Both Airgas and the welding supply place had plenty in stock last time I was there. I do feel bad using them though because I know they’re still hard to get in a lot of places.

 

[DuluthMachineWorks]

Hey Duluth, you're right around the corner from me.

Nice work!

Thanks- there are dozens of us here! ATL Metro represent.

 

[Rory Bellows]

I just bought the 4" version of those casters on ebay. Haven't put them in service yet but they are solid. The price can't be beat either. Like the table.

 

[DuluthMachineWorks]

Thanks. I’m pretty pleased with the 6”. One of them doesn’t lock quite right though- it seems like the little teeth that engage to keep it from rotating are too big to engage properly. Wish I had noticed it before welding it together but oh well. Doesn’t really make a difference and the price can’t be beat.





Worked on some grinding tonight and made good progress before I ran out of light. Took a while but it’s starting to look better. I do have some pretty heavy Mill scale on one side that needs to come off:



It’s tough stuff and doesn’t want to come off- the strip discs don’t touch it, and both the ceramic and aluminum oxide fiber discs seem to glaze over after not getting a whole lot done. I’m hesitant to use a hard rock on it because I really don’t want gouges. I’ve also got some zirconia flap wheels that may do it too but thinking they’ll just glaze over too.

I’m thinking I might try some chemical methods of scale removal- soaking some paper towels in vinegar and leaving them overnight. If that doesn’t do it maybe hydrochloric acid, although I don’t really want to have to neutralize it and hose the whole table down. Could also use phosphoric acid, have some of that from etching weld coupons. Any ideas? Anyone try evaporust on mill scale? Not too excited about lifting the plate on and off the frame again.

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

I have used phosphoric acid but it does take awhile, keep it wet, wire brush by hand,
re-apply acid and so on until gone.

 

[DuluthMachineWorks]

May give that a shot. I like the idea of it more than vinegar or hydrochloric acid since it’ll passivate any rust rather than creating new. I’ll probably put some shop towels soaked in acid down and then wrap in plastic to keep it wet for a few hours, then neutralize with baking soda.

 

[DrReid]

Walter Flexcut wheels take it right off. They don’t glaze over and they don’t gouge. I bought a whole can of them because, like you, I had a lot of mill scale to remove from large areas of plate.

 

[DuluthMachineWorks]

Man, those look perfect. I’ll have to pick up a few and test them out.