Update - Welding Table with Vise

[ddawg16]

Normally this would be in the fabrication section....but I'm quite proud of this table....specifically because it saves space in the garage.

I don't need a full time welding table. I might use this maybe once a month. The vice....a bit more often. But the way my work bench is set up, I don't have a good spot to put it where it would get the proper use.

So....I attached the vise to my welding table...and I swing it out of the way when I don't need it.

The table is a 1" thick slab of 24"x24" plate steel....top alone wights over 160 lbs. The vise is mounted to a section of c-channel and pivots on a bracket welded underneath. In the photos you can also see the wheels that will soon be attached so I can roll the table around....specifically to underneath my drill press.

I'll post pic of how the wheels will swing down and lock in place in a couple of weeks.

 

[Torque1st]

This will be interesting!

 

[5lima30]

Nice work DDawg! I have been looking myself for some plate steel to build a smaller ie. mobile welding table. I like the c-channel for the vise mounting. I had originally planned to incorporate a 2" reciever mount for the vise but may have to reconsider after seeing yours!

 

[Shadowdog500]

Looks good!

 

[gtivr4]

Can you post more details on the vise bracket? How does it flip down and stay up? Nice use of space.

 

[slickgt1]

Looks like he has a channel or something propping it from falling down.

 

[Zeke]

Looks like he has a channel or something propping it from falling down.

Right now there's a c clamp holding it.

 

[Jack Olsen]

I'd think you could accomplish the same thing (as the clamp) by having a crossmember swing from one vertical leg to the other, with a pin through the hole that's left open when it swings down. I'm not sure if that makes any sense, but think of the cross piece of an H, that swings up into position and then braces the underside of the vise assembly.

 

[gsport]

looks good, butttttt... i think i'd fashion me up a swing away leg for under the vice. as big as that vice is and you start putting some presure on it, i'd be afraid it might tip the whole thing over....

 

[talonman69]

looks good, butttttt... i think i'd fashion me up a swing away leg for under the vice. as big as that vice is and you start putting some presure on it, i'd be afraid it might tip the whole thing over....

I was thinking about this too....

Rob

 

[Killer95Stang]

Great table... I wish I could find or afford a slab that thick.. actually, I would have been happy with a 1/2" thick table, but the price of a 2ft x 5ft slab was a little cost prohibitive. In the end I settled for a 1/4" top, which is fine for me, since I'm in the very beginning stages of welding. I built this table a few weeks ago with my my new Hobart 187.

 

[csp]

I built this table a few weeks ago with my my new Hobart 187.

Do your lower legs/ankles a favor and round off the corners of the plate the casters are bolted to. Those sharp corners look like they would hurt!

 

[Zeke]

An out rigger under the vise would take care of any problems. But at 160 lbs. on the top, it will take some serious effort to tip that table.

Nevertheless, I would have moved the vise right up to the table's edge. Or one could cut into the table so that the vise was within the legs when up. No rules about having to have a complete square surface. And if that were a problem, a bridge could be built for any cutout.

All it takes is someone to make something good, and others will come along and make it better.