Makeshift welding table

[IslandTractor]

OK, here is a challenge: What have you used as a makeshift welding table in the field?

I had to weld up some simple hanger fixtures and found this to be a handy arrangement for stick welding with 1/16" 6013 on some 16 gauge curtain rod hangers.

We don't have Rednecks up here in the Northeast, we have Swamp Yankees so this is a Swamp Yankee set up. Ground was hooked to the thin strip of 14 gauge that lays across the grill. I thought about just using the grill but figured I'd get better ground with the non greasy hot rolled sheet. Worked fine.

 

[undercut]

OK, here is a challenge: What have you used as a makeshift welding table in the field?

I had to weld up some simple hanger fixtures and found this to be a handy arrangement for stick welding with 1/16" 6013 on some 16 gauge curtain rod hangers.

We don't have Rednecks up here in the Northeast, we have Swamp Yankees so this is a Swamp Yankee set up. Ground was hooked to the thin strip of 14 gauge that lays across the grill. I thought about just using the grill but figured I'd get better ground with the non greasy hot rolled sheet. Worked fine.

Against me anyway, you win hands down!

 

[deereman75]

I used an old home made bbq stand, with some rebar welded across it. It sucked, I had to be on my knees to use it. I have also used a concrete pad, some scraps of angle iron to prop pieces off floors, I think I have used a brick. The worst was a 4x4" piece of 1/8 plate, on a wood table. I was soldering or brazing some pieces of coat hangers together to make some little decorations. Got a few burn marks on it, luckely it was a shop table.

 

[Shield Arc]

OK, here is a challenge: What have you used as a makeshift welding table in the field?

Oh this could be an endless list, but lets see. Chunk of 12" x 12" creosote timber. Chunks of beam. Wood saw horses with 2" x 4" for table. Tracks on crawler cranes. Out rigger beams of mobile cranes. Concrete floor.
I'm sure there are more, just can't think of any now. :laughing:

 

[IslandTractor]

I love the tracks on crawler cranes one. :thumbsup: I hope he had his battery disconnected!:laughing:

 

[yankeerider]

I use my Harbor Freight portable work table- like the one Island Tractor's welder is on- with a piece of 12 gauge plate sitting on it.

 

[jake98]

Now we need a new line of 'you might be a swamp yankee...' jokes.

 

[IslandTractor]

I use my Harbor Freight portable work table- like the one Island Tractor's welder is on- with a piece of 12 gauge plate sitting on it.

I forgot to mention that the Mark I version Swamp Yankee welding table was the same portable work table with a piece of aluminum foil covered particle board.:laughing: Worked fine for the first two hundreds of a second until the arc blasted right though the four layers of foil.

 

[Baby Grand]

Now we need a new line of 'you might be a swamp yankee...' jokes.

You might be a Swamp Yankee if you use a metal 55 gallon drum for a welding table?

Works for me. Have a piece of bed frame angle iron welded on the edge for a flat surface and a place to clamp the ground. Have a bearing outer race welded to the other end as a stinger holder. The top is at a comfortable working height and it's easy to move - just tip it and roll it to where the action is.

-Jim

 

[IslandTractor]

You might be a Swamp Yankee if you use a metal 55 gallon drum for a welding table?

Works for me. Have a piece of bed frame angle iron welded on the edge for a flat surface and a place to clamp the ground. Have a bearing outer race welded to the other end as a stinger holder. The top is at a comfortable working height and it's easy to move - just tip it and roll it to where the action is.

-Jim

I've seen 55 gallon drums used as cutting tables which makes a lot of sense, especially with a slatted top and a bit of water in the bottom. Making a convertable 55 gallon drum that could serve as either a welding or cutting station would be great. It could even serve as a shop trash can when not needed for metalwork.:thumbsup:

 

[ricklman]

Not even 1 post about using endlessly adjustable FEL / Forks?!? :shocked:

 

[IslandTractor]

Not even 1 post about using endlessly adjustable FEL / Forks?!? :shocked:

Would you use those without disconnecting your battery??

I've thought that using a spare skidsteer attachment plate with a couple of receiver hitches and a mating table or set of tables (one for cutting, one for welding, maybe one for bending etc.) would be a great way to have a portable and height flexible metal working set up. However the fear of frying electrical components on the tractor has disuaded me to date. I suppose one could install an insulator somewhere in the mount (?rubber or silicone sheet over the tractor side skidsteer adapter).

 

[undercut]

Hey folks, careful welding on / near concrete. The moisture within the concrete can make the concrete explode if exposed to high heat.

 

[rcowan]

Is there a back story ???????

RC

Hey folks, careful welding on / near concrete. The moisture within the concrete can make the concrete explode if exposed to high heat.

 

[Shield Arc]

Hey folks, careful welding on / near concrete. The moisture within the concrete can make the concrete explode if exposed to high heat.

On my very first job right out of welding school I had to cut something with a O/A torch, there was a real handy concrete floor about 12-inches high from the dirt. Luckily for me I didn't take the time to put on my burning goggles just flipped down my welding hood, and started burning. BAM! WTF was that?! Looked down and a big chunk of the slab was missing!

 

[undercut]

Is there a back story ???????

RC

Shield Arc's story was pretty entertaining. I don't have one personally (and thankfully for that). I did hear about this danger and figured it was worth passing along as it never occurred to me until I heard it.

 

[deereman75]

Speaking of the concrete, I saw a picture where someone sat a charcoal chimney starter for their bbq on a concrete driveway, and lit it. WHen they lifted it to dump the coals in the bbq, there was a circle of spalling the size of the chimney on the driveway. Looked like someone whacked away at it with a hammer for a while.

 

[yankeerider]

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I didn't recognize the term "Swamp Yankee." I looked it up here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swamp_Yankee and then knew why I didn't recognize it- I come from Western Massachusetts and Vermont!

Still on topic- growing up as a kid in the mid-60s, I remember my best friend entertaining himself by using his father's torch to heat up the concrete floor in their garage until it exploded. it's a miracle we never suffered any injuries beyond scrapes and cuts from that. It was the same torch we used to cast lead toy soldiers- his dad was a plumbing contractor.

 

[undercut]

Kind of surprising any of us survived childhood! LOL

 

[k0ua]

I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I didn't recognize the term "Swamp Yankee." I looked it up here Swamp Yankee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and then knew why I didn't recognize it- I come from Western Massachusetts and Vermont!

Still on topic- growing up as a kid in the mid-60s, I remember my best friend entertaining himself by using his father's torch to heat up the concrete floor in their garage until it exploded. it's a miracle we never suffered any injuries beyond scrapes and cuts from that. It was the same torch we used to cast lead toy soldiers- his dad was a plumbing contractor.

It sounds to me if them thar "Swamp Yankees" and us "Hillbilly's" would get along pretty good.:thumbsup: I am thinking we are one and the same. Long lost cousins as it were.

James K0UA