welding table top what thickness needed /

[RAYJAY]

hi all going to build my first welding bench have a heavy duty cabinet for the base as for the top what thickness do i need ?? want to do 1in to 2 in over hang for clamping, as for moving it wheels or i have a pallet jack / will post pictures of the cabinet as soon as possible



Jeff

[Scooby074]

Try for 1/2 minimum for the top.3/8 maybe. Thicker the better IMHO.

[Ed of all trades]

Worked in a stair shop welding stairs and rails, the welding tables were 4' x 16' and 1" thick. they were level and well braced. you could tack things to it or use it for an anvil, you could not hurt it. I want to one day have a nice welding table like that. 4' x 8' would prob. be a good size and 1" thick. I say this to say the bigger and the thicker and stronger the better.

[Sfrankland]

I built mine as heavy as I could. The legs are 3" x 3" with a 1/4" wall and the horizontal pieces are 1 1/2" x 3" with a 1/4" wall. The top was 1/2" thick but if I can find a heavier piece for the top plate some day I will upgrade. The table has been a great addition to the shop.

[600rider]

I work at General Electric in Erie and I bought a table from the scrap yard that is 3'x3'x1/2" top with 4"x1/4" wall round for the legs and it sure is a heavy table. I have a 4" vise and an arbor press mounted on it and it does the trick!!! I think 1/2" minimum for the top is a safe bet!

[sdkubota]

I have an 1/8" top and have not experienced any downside. I don't do any heavy hammering on it and the 1.5" square tubing frame keeps things nice and flat. Although it has wheels...it is heavy enough for me to move around.

[MIKE R]

Ares has a 3/8thick top.

[Attono]

I've done all kinds of welding on my table and the top is 1/4. It's a 3x3 table top with frame all around the underside made of 2" angle iron.

[RickB]

If you have a 32 ounce hammer, plan on a 1/2" or thicker table top.

[Gary Fowler]

3/8" would be minimum and would need some good stiffeners under it if you were to pound on it with a large hammer. The thicker the better but with steel pricing the way it is, it would be quite expensive to put a piece of 1" plate down. We (Brown & Root) used that many years ago for fabrication tables in our onsite pipe fab shop with 6" pipe for legs and 2x2 x3/8 angle bracing between the legs and 6"x6"x3/8" angle turned up in a V on each side to set the pipe in. With that thickness, you really didn't need anything to stiffen the top plate but we sometimes put the same 2x2 angle in a box frame on top. A big heavy 8" forged steel vise went on one end usually in the middle since we used the sides to hold the pipe. The vise was used to hold fittings to be cleaned up prepping for welding. 4feet x 8 feet was a standard size