Welding Table: My first big project

[ericher69]

Was it expensive to get the slots cut?

How many did you get cut and why

Thx

 

[Shield Arc]

Any tips for keeping things true?

lynrob I'm fairly new to this welding fabrication ordeal. I only know two ways to deal with warpage. First is to pre bend before welding with shims, and clamps or heat shrink. Second way is after welding heat shrink the items.

 

[Bartcephus]

Mill scale ok if left on, but with constant use, and a good wire brush on a slower speed grinder, that top will stay rust free. Mine will get a little rust on it from time to time but if necessary I have an industrial buffer that I put a 4 inch wire cup on that cleans her right up.

Regards,
Bart

 

[weldermike]

I forgot to mention that the top weighs about 625 pounds and I shimmed and clamped it to get it as flat as I possibly could then tacked it to the frame in about 10 places using short welds of about 1" in length. I was really concerned about warping my nice flat table and that is why I used heavy tubing and only tacked it in place but in the end, it seems fine. Even though it's only tacked, I doubt if it will come off. Here are some more pics...

SWEEEEEEEET MAN! Cheers, to many years of good use! Really nice build!

 

[lynrob]

I think there are about 20 slot total, 10 on each side. My metal supplier already had the plate on his CNC plasma machine to cut it from a much larger piece. He cut the slots for an extra $90. I was pleasantly surprised about the neat, accurate job the plasma bot did, truly impressive.

I put the slots in to allow me to layout jigs on the top of the table much like a machinist might do on a mill. I wanted to be able to clamp down angle iron anywhere on the table then clamp work pieces to those. That way I could lay it out once then repeat the setup easily over and over.

I used this method to make some sheep handling panels recently. I'll post some pics that will illustrate this much better when I get a chance.

 

[Shield Arc]

Miller sells a welding table with slots in it too.

Miller - ArcStation

 

[lynrob]

Here is an action shot, MIG gun in hand! You can see the panel laid out on the table ready to be tacked. You can also see the pieces of angle clamped to the table (through the slots) which form the jig. I had my metal supplier plasma cut the "clamps" basically just a 1-1/2"x3/8" piece of T1 steel (so hopefully they will be harder to bend than mild steel) either 4" or 6" long with a 9/16" slot down the middle for the bolt and the corners at one end knocked off to allow access to tighter spots. I had about 30 "clamps" made and they seem to be working great!

In the picture I am using all of the vise grip clamps I had so I had to clamp as much as I could, then tack then move the clamps, and repeat. Since then I have purchased more vise grips so now the welding goes much faster. At first, I would just tack one side then flip the panel over and weld the other side, flip it back and complete the weld on the first side. Later, I discovered that I could weld the first side, flip it over and weld the second side without too much distortion. As the first welds cooled they would draw up the piece so it wasn't perfectly flat on the table any more, but I decided that for this use, it was acceptable. I guess I could have done as Shield Arc suggested and pre-positioned the pieces a little out of square so that as they cooled, they would be pulled in to square but I didn't think it was worth the extra time in this case.

I made 21 panels and have enough material left for about 30 more. I had my metal supplier pre-cut the thin wall (1/16") square tubing to length for me which saved me hundreds of cuts on the band saw and made things go much faster and probably more precise too.

I got the panels done just in time. I had them blasted and painted since my shop isn't heated and I needed them right away. Got them back and set them up and we had our first lambs the next day. They think they're in the Ritz-Carlton!!

 

[jake98]

That's a really nice table! :thumbsup:

 

[Johnbro]

That's a a great looking table only surpassed by that sheep panel! One thing for sure, no rams or ewes will be knocking them apart like they did to my cedar ones (oh well).

Cheers and good luck with the lambing (ours are all done now).

 

[Sublifer]

Love the table. Great looking welds too! Is it pretty stable? I ask because I notice you put levelers on all of your legs. I did that on a wood workbench and it made it really wobbly, of course that could have been the wood... In any case, all my future tables will have three regular feet then leveler feet for however many other legs are on the table.