Building welding/work table?

[NOTV8]

Hopefully I ask on the right forum. Anyway... I wanted to build a welding table and just have a newbie question. I wanted the size of 36"x72" but not sure on the thickness I should go. I am thinking of 1/2", 3/4" or 1". I already bought the legs of 4"x4"x1/4", 2" horizontals and 2" angles. Is there a different grade/type I should be looking for? I am getting A36 by the way as of now. This is just for home project use. Still undecided if I will mount my vice permanently or use it now as it is on a 2" receiver, ON and OFF my table. I will also try to put some tool drawers under it to put some tools and my helmet. Man... this welding hobby is getting expensive . Good thing I have all our bills online and my wife never see it. I just paid it as soon as I get the email... She did asked me though when I got the welder when she came in one time and saw me in the garage doing some welding... and I said that was her x'mas gift for me this year together with the 14" chop saw....

Thanks for any input.

 

[troutsqueezer]

I can't imagine what a 1" thick piece of 3' X 6' piece of steel would weigh. Do you have a crane to lift it? Even .5" will be too heavy for you to lift unless you do it in smaller sections. Thickness will depend a lot on your supporting structures. For home usage, I would stick to 3/8ths. With good support, 1/4" works.

I tack weld my vice onto the table top. If it gets in my way, I grind the tacks off and move it.

 

[lostcause]

Hopefully I ask on the right forum. Anyway... I wanted to build a welding table and just have a newbie question. I wanted the size of 36"x72" but not sure on the thickness I should go. I am thinking of 1/2", 3/4" or 1". I already bought the legs of 4"x4"x1/4", 2" horizontals and 2" angles. Is there a different grade/type I should be looking for? I am getting A36 by the way as of now. This is just for home project use. Still undecided if I will mount my vice permanently or use it now as it is on a 2" receiver, ON and OFF my table. I will also try to put some tool drawers under it to put some tools and my helmet. Man... this welding hobby is getting expensive . Good thing I have all our bills online and my wife never see it. I just paid it as soon as I get the email... She did asked me though when I got the welder when she came in one time and saw me in the garage doing some welding... and I said that was her x'mas gift for me this year together with the 14" chop saw....

Thanks for any input.

as far as material grade goes, a36 is the standard grade for light angles. for plates over 1/2" you're likely to see it being a dual certification a36/a572gr50. a lot of places are rolling to a dual standard so they don't have to carry two separate lines.

I can't imagine what a 1" thick piece of 3' X 6' piece of steel would weigh.

for reference, that would be about 735lb for a 3x6 sheet of 1" plate. as far as what thickness you want, it's up to you. anything 1/2" and over is going to be fairly solid, but you'll want to use angles under it to stiffen it up so it's not springy. also, no matter what they quote you per inch of thicknes, remember that steel is sold by the pound when you break it down. you're going to pay 2x as much for 1" as opposed to 1/2". buy whatever you need, but if you oversize, you overpay.

 

[rjmack]

i would say 3/4 better than half, 1" better than 3/4.

also, one thing a lot of guys miss is they just weld the legs to the bottom of the table, and they weld the snot out of them. this results in a table with a crown radiating from the center out to the corners... really not very good.

if you light stitch some channel iron, angle, hss (channel probably best) or whatever you have as long as it is straight, around the perimeter... anywhere from 4"-8" back from the edge, it will form a strongback to weld the legs to. you will end up with a flat table, and when it comes to fabbing steel... that's something you really want.:thumbsup:

also, if you have the room, 4'x6' is probably better than 3'x6' too.

using a vice on a receiver is something i never tried... sounds like it may be a good idea. again, you would weld to the strongback, not the table... or very little to the table.

 

[Shield Arc]

Here's mine, I haven't broken it yet! :laughing:

 

[cuoffroad]

I think these are very subjective questions and will get answers based on how others use their tables as opposed to how you will use yours.

Things to think about:

How much of a "hobby" is welding? I do it for a hobby as well but run a little 110v mig and weld nothing greater than 1/4". Therefore, when I built my welding table I used a 1/4" top and it works great for ME.

So, if your welding 1" thick plate as a "hobby" then I would build a beefier table. If your only welding 1/8" material you don't need a 1" top...ya know what I mean?

Good luck, post pics! :thumbsup:

 

[Thomas]

My welding table 4'x4'x 1/2" w/4 legs 3"x3"x1/4 and been strong enough over the year for abuse.

If your going to have outlets think about putting outlets in from but set them back so face cover not sticking out.

About 6" back wall comes in handy when grinding.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Unless you plan to have it precision ground for a flat plane to do millwright work on, you wont need anything more than 3/4" and for that thickness, you wont need any angle stiffeners. You can run a car over 3/4 plate 6 feet long with a 5 foot span and not bend it. Unless you plan to use it for an anvil also, you could likely be better off cost wise to use 3/8 plate and build a subframe under it out of 2x2 angle that is stitch welded to the plate and legs attached in the inside corners. I would drop back about 6-8 inches from the edge and attach the subframe. Then on each long side, I would put a 3x3 angle in a V on the sides. This is handy to lay pipe or angle in when fabricating. The larger the angle iron the larger pipe you can lay in it, but for home use even 2x2 angle might be large enough. Place the angle lip flush with the top of the sheet metal and stitch weld in in place top and bottom. I would place a piece of angle on the top and use it to straight edge the angle iron tray. You dont want the outside lip of the angle to be above your table top. When finished, nothing should be sticking up above the top of the table. If you have a very flat surface, you can build the whole thing upside down and attach the legs then flip it over to finish welding the angle trays on the side. Depending on the load you think you may put on the trays, you may want to put a brace from the angle iron tray to the legs. That is the way we build them for fab shops but using 3/4 " or 1 " plate. Our work load on them may be up to 36" pipe so they needed to be heavy (your mileage may vary as they say)

 

[Scooby074]

Hopefully I ask on the right forum. Anyway... I wanted to build a welding table and just have a newbie question. I wanted the size of 36"x72" but not sure on the thickness I should go. I am thinking of 1/2", 3/4" or 1". I already bought the legs of 4"x4"x1/4", 2" horizontals and 2" angles. Is there a different grade/type I should be looking for? I am getting A36 by the way as of now. This is just for home project use. Still undecided if I will mount my vice permanently or use it now as it is on a 2" receiver, ON and OFF my table. I will also try to put some tool drawers under it to put some tools and my helmet. Man... this welding hobby is getting expensive . Good thing I have all our bills online and my wife never see it. I just paid it as soon as I get the email... She did asked me though when I got the welder when she came in one time and saw me in the garage doing some welding... and I said that was her x'mas gift for me this year together with the 14" chop saw....

Thanks for any input.

Good ideas so far

1/2 minimum for top.

Receivers are good too. I have one on each corner, plus 1 in the centre of one side for my brake too attach too (its narrower than my top). my vise is receiver mounted. Handy if you want to weld oversize things on the table.
Building a strong frame first then stichhing the top is the best method as mentioned.

4" sq should make stout legs.

might want to consider casters and leveling feet. the feet will only be used when your welding something critical. Casters allow for mobility (not easy mobility but you can push it with effort). Feet can be as simple as a 3/4 bolt and nut or proper feet out of a mcmaster(or equivalent) catalog.

metal catwalk makes a great area for cutting. This can be either inset into the 1/2 plate or add as an accessory, plugged into your receiver tubes., youll be surprised how handy this is. If you use the tubed you can make it like a drop leaf to fold out of the way,Plus it can add some square footage to your top without increasing the footprint of the table

 

[NOTV8]

Thanks guys. I decided to pick up the 1/2" plate and the money save is going for a floor drill press :thumbsup: or maybe a combination mill and drill press :drool:. Now that will be another question I will be asking later on.... If the weather gets warmer this weekend I will be building this.