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Joined: Jan 2008
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I had planned to be building a new welding table this weekend, but the plate I ordered had to be sent back as it was warped.

I bought some locking casters already and planning on running all-thread on 4 corners with rubber feet so I can stabilize it and/or level it in my tilted driveway.

I'll weld a bar to hang C clamps.

Any other great ideas?

Pics would be cool.


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Lot's of good ideas on YouTube.

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You reminded me about something everybody probably knows but me. My auto darkening helmet wouldn't get dark so I figured the batteries just needed to be replaced. Turns out the batteries aren't replaceable. I found that out that there are still many helmets still being sold without replaceable batteries and they don't list fact that under the helmet's specifications. I ended up getting a basic black (no fancy paint job) Lincoln Electric 1740 series with replaceable batteries which is all I need for what little welding I'll do at home.

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I like a piece of 4” angle iron welded on the side of my table

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I don’t have a pic handy at the moment....

3/4” steel with I beams........

Works just fine.....

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I’ve never used an auto darkening hood.

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If your plate for the top was thin enough to be warped in shipment it wasn’t thick enough to begin with. Mine is 3/8” plate top with legs made of 8”x33lb per foot I beam. I put a backsplash made of a sheet of 10Ga on the wall behind my table to keep sparks off from grinding and welding. Mine is not movable but is used %75 of the time for little TIG projects. I also cut two 10” circles out of 1/4” plate and put a length of 2” tube between them to make the perfect height stool to run the foot control and TIG weld at the table. You want it heavy enough to stay relatively flat through hundreds of heat cycles and plenty of beating on it. Weld a half a slice of pipe or a C shaped piece of sucker rod onto one leg to hold your grinder readily accessible but out of the way. Use a grinder to knock the berries off the tabletop between jobs to keep it smooth for layout and tack up. A cheapo Horror Fright vise on one corner comes in handy at times as well. Blow a 1” hole in one corner for bending round rod with a torch or for holding a torch while you lay out the next cut. I also have a 3”x3” plate I cut a slot in and put a slight upward bend to the resulting fingers tacked onto the right hand side of my bench to hang my TIG torch or arc welding stinger between welds, a short chunk of 1.5” tubing tacked to one edge makes a good holster for a MIG gun.

Don’t be afraid to use your tabletop to make a jig by laying out and tacking on short pieces of angle to lay your parts into and tack together. Use a slicer wheel when you’re done with the job to cut the welds holding the angles on and clean the tabletop back up with a regular grinding wheel.

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Originally Posted by hanco
I’ve never used an auto darkening hood.

I didn’t for a long time, pancake or Tigerhood with a gold lens. Then I went to a Lincoln Viking, very clear and a good hood. But after a while I found that an auto gets heavy hanging on your head and neck for a 10-12 hour shift. Went to a Fibremetal Pipeliner with antique Lincoln Supervisability or an old silver lens in shade twelve. No more burned eyes or sore neck.

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Originally Posted by hanco
I’ve never used an auto darkening hood.


Spent many years under one. They have their place.


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3/8" plate 30" x 60" was all wavy gravy from the foundry.


Screw you! I'm voting for Trump again!

Ecc 10:2
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Originally Posted by Higbean
3/8" plate 30" x 60" was all wavy gravy from the foundry.

Wow! Usually anything over 1/4” is pretty flat. Hope your replacement sheet is better.

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It will be warped again when you are done building it...
I struggled with this some and there are ways around it..I couldn't begin to explain it here...I worked as a tank welder for 30 years and believe me plate welding is an art form ...basicly try to build it with the least amount of welding ..remember plate is mostly rooled out And shipped in a coil...coil steel...there is always a slight curve to it...

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Don't over-weld the table with welds bigger than needed or welding 100% of joints. It is easy to distort the top and many people are so excited to weld up their table they way over do it.. Less is more. It is just a table and doesn't need much weld.

Think through where you are going to be working, standing or sitting the most. You don't want a cross-brace, shelf, or hanger, right in your way when you want to work right up against the bench or try to clamp something down. A shelf on part of the table is nice for storing jigs, shim pieces, etc..

Layout where clamps, grinders, tools, are going to go on the bench before you cut or weld anything.

You might want to put some drilled and tapped holes or slots for hold-down clamps closer to the center of the table where clamps from the edge can't reach.

Make it easy to move. I know you got castors and that is great.

Don't remove the mill scale on the plate. The mill scale helps keep spatter from sticking to the table for awhile at least.

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Look at a blue tooth pedal.

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Mine is a piece of 1/2. It wasn’t warped. I have angle iron welded to the bottom. It helped keep it from warping as I built it.

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My Layout table Is made up of 4’ x 4’ x 1/4" placed end to end. It measures 4’ x 16’ right now. It will end up 24’ when I get it set up in the new shop. It’s served me well for many years. Warping has never been an issue if you don’t put a rosebud or hammer to it.
It has 3 - 4" hbeams that runs the length of it set in 4’ from the edge.

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I'am retired when my shop was going I had 3- tables each 10'x20' 1/2" plate, channel frame plate top just a few small welds to hold it in place. Drilled 1" holes 12" on center on the plate, made "Hold down Dogs" 1" cold rolled steel rod with a 14" piece of 1/2"x1 1/2" steel welded to make a " L". You put the "Dog" in the hole hit it with a 3 lb .lead head hammer to hold down pieces, give it a hit 90 degree on the "Dog" will loosen it. If I had larger projects 2 or even 3 tables could be put to gather.
My plate in the garage is 4'x6' x 1/2' with "Dog Holes" on wheels with locks also screw jacks in the corners for leveling if needed. On all 4 side there 110V plugs feed from one cord. I hate stepping on cords. Also have a 2'x4' cart with locking casters and levers a 3/8" top that a Miller 185 and a plasma cutter are under, with 2 tanks mounted to it.

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I have a few but the latest one 4'x4', 3/4" steel top with wood (gasp!!!) 4x4 legs. No casters as I usually ruin them. I used wood as a shock absorber and it really saves on the concrete when I'm wailing on parts. Quieter to. I framed in an angle iron shelf about 12" below the table and laid a sheet of expanded metal in there to hold tools or parts that I'm currently working on.

My next one will be a platten style table with the holes. I'll burn them on the plasma table out of some 3/4" or whatever I come across at that time.


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Back in the 80 s I worked for a John Deere dealer..the owner was into going to government auctions..he came up with these pipe frames the perfect size for welding table frames....had flats on them to mount castors...including bent pipe ..2 inch...he sold them to local farmers....I found one in his scrap heap..when digging it out I discovered it had a 3 inch thick cast steel top ..he gave it to me ...I cleaned it up and what I found is a machined surface perfectly flat...
These made the ultimate welding table...I drilled and tapped and bolted a 3 inch angle around the edges...bolted on 2 vices and fabled a folding cutting table on one side out of a piece of bar grating...mounted it all on industrial casters also found in the same junk pile...this stuff was ww2 surplus and built like a tank...the cast top is not only flat but weld splatter won't stick to it...

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Originally Posted by hanco
I like a piece of 4” angle iron welded on the side of my table

Just one side? I do it to 3 sides, one corner a 90, the other available for 90 or 45.
Table sits on the floor but I have hydraulic jacks on each end and heavy wheels I can jack down to roll it around and then raise the wheels again by releasing jacks and springs pop the wheels up.


We can keep Larry Root and all his idiotic blabber and user names on here, but we can't get Ralph back..... Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over....

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