Talked to a friend of mine who has a welding/fab shop and he's got a piece of 1/2 inch steel 4x6 that has about a half inch bow in it along the 6 foot length and also some surface rust. He said he sell it for 120 bucks. Does that sound like a decent price. That figures out at 25 cents a pound.
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Welding table top
- Thread starter 69supercj
- Start date
bimmer1980
Well-known member
that's probably pretty good. Most new steel price is between 25 and 50 cents per pound......
if you have the room, go for it....
if you have the room, go for it....
LoneGunman
Well-known member
I think it's a pretty good price but be forewarned, I had a hell of a time getting a piece of 1/4" plate flat after it bowed. I had to tack it at one end and use a hydraulic ram to gradually remove the bow. It was supposed to have been cut with a plasma cutter, I went to pick it up and the guy said he had to use his torch because the plasma cutter wasn't working.
I was actually going to have him cut off two feet on the 6 foot length because I dont have room for a 4x6 table. Should I ask him to use a plasma cutter, he mentioned using a torch. And my next question was what would be the best way to take the bow out? Could you clamp it as you were welding the top to the framework or not? What did you place the ram against, seems it would have to be mighty stout.
DHH
Member
I had a bow in a 40 x 22 pice of 3/8" diamond plate I used for a top. I ended up using a bottle jack, some scrap for a spacer, and some half inch angle iron. I had the tread facing down, and the top dipped down. I jacked the angle with the corner facing down and both sides against the top until it was level, Tacked it into place, and then welded it the full length both sides. It seemed to work well so far.
It's nice to have a flat welding surface, and flattening something that thick might or might not work out the way you want.
You might be able to buy a perfectly flat 24"x72" piece of 1/2" plate (or 48" square; I'm not sure which you're planning) for less than $120.
You might be able to buy a perfectly flat 24"x72" piece of 1/2" plate (or 48" square; I'm not sure which you're planning) for less than $120.
LoneGunman
Well-known member
I did pretty much what DHH did, just used the ram instead of a bottle jack, it's not perfect but close enough for what I need it for.
TheGrooveking
Well-known member
At $0.30 a pound that top would be $146 new. Average steel weights .254 pounds per cubic inch, so 48" x 72" x .5" = 1,728 cu.in. 438 pounds. So depending on where you are and freight costs the guy isn't throwing you a huge deal.
TheGrooveking
TheGrooveking
kenners
Well-known member
Around last August I got a 6' X 6' piece of 5/8 " thick steel from a local scrap yard ( 900 lbs) for $ 197.11. I will cut into two pieces 3.5' X 6' for a weld table with wheels and the other 2.5' X 6' for a fixed table. Both will most likely end up being same height.
Put a couple 6x6 timbers on the ground.
Lay the steel on the timbers, so the beams are across the 4-foot section, at the ends of the steel.
Put the steel plate on it so the bow is up.
Now drive one of your car's wheels up onto it, and park it in the center of that bow.
Make the frame for the table out of rectangular box tubing, or C-channel. Stand the tubing or C-channel so the long side stands proud on the steel. Clamp it along its length and start welding. Probably don't need to weld it's entire length, just every few inches.
After your table top's frame is welded to the top, THEN trim the length off. The more length you have, the easier it will be to get the bow out of it. And put the center of the bow in the center of the table frame--cut a foot off each end if you have too.
-Brad
Lay the steel on the timbers, so the beams are across the 4-foot section, at the ends of the steel.
Put the steel plate on it so the bow is up.
Now drive one of your car's wheels up onto it, and park it in the center of that bow.
Make the frame for the table out of rectangular box tubing, or C-channel. Stand the tubing or C-channel so the long side stands proud on the steel. Clamp it along its length and start welding. Probably don't need to weld it's entire length, just every few inches.
After your table top's frame is welded to the top, THEN trim the length off. The more length you have, the easier it will be to get the bow out of it. And put the center of the bow in the center of the table frame--cut a foot off each end if you have too.
-Brad
rsanter
Well-known member
do you have access to a machine shop at work??
I had a table made for a load tester one time
I had ribs welded to the back side of a plate and then had the machine shop machine the plate back to flat. worked perfect
seems to me with a bow it worth $50 to $75
bob
I had a table made for a load tester one time
I had ribs welded to the back side of a plate and then had the machine shop machine the plate back to flat. worked perfect
seems to me with a bow it worth $50 to $75
bob
Spareparts
Well-known member
When I built my table it had about a 3" bow on the 3'X6' 1/2" plate, made the legs out of 4" sq. tube and the frame out of 5" C Channel. I recessed the frame about 3" around the premeter of the top for C-clamping projects. I measured carefully and drilled 3 -1/2" holes on each side(center and 6" each way) directly over the flange of the channel and 3 more over the flange on the center brace. Then I drilled 2 - 3/4" holes in the top plate at the inside corner of the cross brace and the side rail, took a scrap piece of 1/2" flat bar drilled a 3/4" hole in it. Used a couple 12" pieces of 3/4" all thread, flat washers, and a nut top and bottom thru the top plate past the 5" channel and thru the piece of 1/2" scrap. Tightened the nuts down with a impact wrench and it drawed the top plate down. Plug welded the 1/2" holes and turned the table over and finished stitch welding the top on. Left the 3/4" holes never know when they might come in handy.
imho start off by building the base for it very square and flat(whatever the plate is going to sit on) make sure to put a few cross pieces in towards the middle then lay the plate on the base and see where it needs to come down and drill a few 1/2" holes in the plate and your cross pieces and bolt it down, see if you can get the bow out of it that way then if you can "**** it up" enough weld the table up, you will have only a few holes in it and all my welding tables i have used holes come in handy for running bolts through to hold things and what not.
just a thought
just a thought
ironheadtom
Well-known member
I'm with the guys that said it's not worth the money or headache if it's not flat. Even if you straighten it the best you can, there's a good chance you'll have some goofy spots that will become a headache when you're trying to lay stuff out
nolatoolguy
Banned
That like a pretty good deal.
However how is he a friend if you have to ask if its a good deal???
However how is he a friend if you have to ask if its a good deal???
I tend to agree it is too much money if you are going to have to do a lot of work on it to get it flat. 75 bucks would be as much as I would pay for something like that. Look into cold rolled steel for a top it will hold tolerance much better. If you could find a top off an old mill, or heavy duty table saw or planer these make excellent and true work surfaces. Having a perfectly flat table to clamp your projects too is something that a lot of people look over but it is incredibly important if you want accurate work. We used to jig up very large box steel frames and the guys that did it on the floor never came anywhere near the quality of the guys who took the time to set up a table right. Ask any machinist about leveling the bed of a lathe or mill it is the same thing, don't handicap yourself before you even start a project.
bimmer1980
Well-known member
did you end up buying it??
Depending on your welding projects, a guy could go either way......
I orginally said to go for it, but if you plan to do accurate lay up, a perfectly flat table would be ideal....
If you just want a stout top to wail away on a piece of metal or as a rough welding bench, then it would be fine....
at the end of the day, it all depends on the projects that you will be doing, and what your expectations are.
Depending on your welding projects, a guy could go either way......
I orginally said to go for it, but if you plan to do accurate lay up, a perfectly flat table would be ideal....
If you just want a stout top to wail away on a piece of metal or as a rough welding bench, then it would be fine....
at the end of the day, it all depends on the projects that you will be doing, and what your expectations are.