kf4zht
Well-known member
Back in college I built a welding table. Frame was angle and 2x2 square tubing, put a shelf on the bottom, clamped a vise on it and was happy.
Except the top, it was made from a double layer 1/8" that was a scrap flatbed from a truck my roommate bought. I don't know if it was already bowed, if we did it torching the top off, or if I did it stitch welding the sheets together. At one point I tried pulling it together with bolts , that didn't work
You can see the bowing here with a chunk of rect tubing, and it shows badly on the failed bolt holes
Worked fine for drunken college welding and most of the time it was more of an assembly bench than a precision welding table. I have looked for a new top but always cheaped out on buying a plate. Then I saw AMCGuys slat welding table and realized it was the ticket. I can get bar and tube stock for decent prices through some connections so it was cheaper, easier to move the material into the basement and around and no issues with clamping with normal C and F clamps
Now that I am moving toward machining and tig welding the not flat surface was really creating a headache.
Ordered stick of 2x4x1/8 square tube and a stick of 6x1/2 HR. The first step was cutting everything to length. I like the size it is now, works well in the space. I have to check the exact dimensions but I think it was 34" each, 7 slats. after measuring my clamps and keeping in mind I use a decent amount of 1-1/2 tube I settled on 1" spacing between sections. Everything was cut on my Northern 4x6 bandsaw. The plate is slow but it was easy to setup and run while I worked on other stuff
Next was disassembly. Vise was unbolted first
Then the top was cutoff. When I attached it I only used 8 ~2" long stich welds along the sides. A cutoff wheel in an angle grinder easily handled those.
Then I marked up the hole locations by hand. At first I was going to drill pilots with an extra long drill bit on the mill. I only have 3.5" of quill travel and cranking the column up and down was too slow. I got about half the pilots done and set the drill press up before I had to call it quits for the night.
Next Steps -
Finish drilling pilots
Expand top holes to 1/2
Holesaw bottom holes
Cap ends of tube
Bolts are ordered. Like AMCGuy I am using 1/2-20. I have plenty of 1/12-13 bolts but getting it level would be a pain with bigger movements. I will also know that 1 turn equals 1/20" or 0.05" vs a number useless for calculations
Still need to decide how to handle the feet. Right now its on casters which do get used. I want to be able to lock it down in one place and get it level.
Except the top, it was made from a double layer 1/8" that was a scrap flatbed from a truck my roommate bought. I don't know if it was already bowed, if we did it torching the top off, or if I did it stitch welding the sheets together. At one point I tried pulling it together with bolts , that didn't work
You can see the bowing here with a chunk of rect tubing, and it shows badly on the failed bolt holes
Worked fine for drunken college welding and most of the time it was more of an assembly bench than a precision welding table. I have looked for a new top but always cheaped out on buying a plate. Then I saw AMCGuys slat welding table and realized it was the ticket. I can get bar and tube stock for decent prices through some connections so it was cheaper, easier to move the material into the basement and around and no issues with clamping with normal C and F clamps
Now that I am moving toward machining and tig welding the not flat surface was really creating a headache.
Ordered stick of 2x4x1/8 square tube and a stick of 6x1/2 HR. The first step was cutting everything to length. I like the size it is now, works well in the space. I have to check the exact dimensions but I think it was 34" each, 7 slats. after measuring my clamps and keeping in mind I use a decent amount of 1-1/2 tube I settled on 1" spacing between sections. Everything was cut on my Northern 4x6 bandsaw. The plate is slow but it was easy to setup and run while I worked on other stuff
Next was disassembly. Vise was unbolted first
Then the top was cutoff. When I attached it I only used 8 ~2" long stich welds along the sides. A cutoff wheel in an angle grinder easily handled those.
Then I marked up the hole locations by hand. At first I was going to drill pilots with an extra long drill bit on the mill. I only have 3.5" of quill travel and cranking the column up and down was too slow. I got about half the pilots done and set the drill press up before I had to call it quits for the night.
Next Steps -
Finish drilling pilots
Expand top holes to 1/2
Holesaw bottom holes
Cap ends of tube
Bolts are ordered. Like AMCGuy I am using 1/2-20. I have plenty of 1/12-13 bolts but getting it level would be a pain with bigger movements. I will also know that 1 turn equals 1/20" or 0.05" vs a number useless for calculations
Still need to decide how to handle the feet. Right now its on casters which do get used. I want to be able to lock it down in one place and get it level.
