Welding Table Top

[BB_TX]

Would galvanized steel be good for a top for a welding table? Or just use plain uncoated steel? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif I am getting tired of setting my wooden table on fire. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Galvanized steel gives off poisonous fumes when heated to a high enough temperature. My book says don't weld it (or heat it up much) without very good forced ventilation.

SnowRidge

 

[Tractors4u]

How about a sheet of Aluminum?

 

[BILL_K]

I use a 2 foot by 3 foot sheet of 1 inch thick steel for the top of my welding
table. This makes for a nice flat surface to work on and it
is heavy enough that it will not tip or move when I clamp
heavy items to it
Bill K

 

[jrlichina]

Inch thick, that's kind of light don't you think???? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[GaryM]

My memory might be faulty, but I think I've seen a welding table with a copper top. Do dingle berries not stick to copper? Or is my memory shoy?

 

[BILL_K]

A little bit?
The one that my buddy replaced it with is four foot by eigtht
foot and is one and a half inch thick. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Bill K /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[BB_TX]

Bill K - Do you do anything to ****** rust? Or just let it go?

 

[40Kchicks]

You already heard why not to use galvanized steel. Thick steel is your best bet. Then you can tack things to it to hold them down at any angle. After your done break the part off and grind the small tacks. If you have a scrap yard around you'll be able to get a better price on the steel.
Eric

 

[Anonymous Poster]

When that 4' x 8' x 1.5" hunk of steel needs to be moved, it's a good excuse for a bigger tractor....

 

[ns_in_tex]

I made my table top out of heavy expanded metal and a shelf below out of same, so I wouldn't have to be cleaning the top so often & things would be more likely to lay flat. I made the vice mounts so they would just snap onto one corner of the table with a pin to hold in place. Can switch from regular vice to pipe vice as needed, or remove vice & lay plywood or metal on top as needed with nothing in the way to make it unlevel. Put wheels on it and the cutoff saw table. Normally keep them against a wall, but can roll them out to middle of shop as needed. Also welding table, cut off saw & railroad iron anvil are same heighth so material can lay across all three while cutting or working.

Not anything pretty, made it all out of junk, except the wheels from harbor freight, but it sure does work good.

 

[DannyWilliams]

I went to a metal fabrication shop and asked about purchasing a piece of 1/2" thick steel plate for a welding table top. He has a pattern cutting macnine which cuts out numerous duplicate pieces out of a sheet of steel....the resulting scrap just happens to be an excellent piece for a table top.

We went out back and took a look at the scrap. The piece he showed me was 1 1/2" thick (Yeah!!! Big Stuff). I immediately agreed that this would be satisfactory and had him cut me off a piece 3' by 7'. It's big and heavy and with all the holes in it, it allows you to clamp things almost anywhere....not just along the edge. And, the price was right...$50.00 (scrap steel price).

I built a table out of 3"X5" angle as well as 2" square tube and used 6" steel wheels. Works like a charm.

Had to use a fork lift to put it in the back on my van and an engine hoist to remove it and place it on the table.

I've been extremely pleased with it.

DW

 

[Boondox]

Wow, Danny! You lucked out!

I did something similar but had no space for a permanent welding table. So I bought a 2x4' section of 1/2" scrap and clamped it to the top of a metal barrel obtained for free from my local Deere dealer. The "table" is a nice size for most of my projects, and can be rolled out of the way when not in use.

Pete

 

[Rch]

Re: Welding Table

Here is a welding table I made from scratch. I got about $90 of material in it. The top is 1/4 " thick and 3 X 3 ' square ; the edges are free so they'll accept clamps. The legs are moved back about 5" for the same reason. The squared notch on the corner is real handy, both for welding and grinding.
On the side opposite the wheels put a trailer hitch ( 2" reciever that will accept a 1- 7/8 ball) Then make a 2 wheel cart (kind of like a dolly) with the 1-7/8 ball sticking up that will fit under the hitch when upright and lever that end of the table off the ground when rotated downward so table can be moved around. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forumfiles/231945-106-0683_IMG.JPG

 

[davesisk]

Galvanize or zinc-plated releases this yellowish fume when heated to melting temperature. I won't kill you with light exposure, but it will make you sick (as in dizzy and vomiting) for a couple of days...supposedly slamming lots of milk helps speed recovery.

Plate steel would be a good choice. I actually used a cheap $20 universal tool stand from Harbor Freight, attached cheap casters to the bottom and a sheet of 1/8" thick aluminum sheet to the top. I'm not usually doing anything all that heavy, so I wanted something that was light and easy to move.

Harbor Freight also sells a welding table that looks pretty heavy duty...search for "welding table" on www.harborfreight.com. It's usually $199, but if you join their Inside Track Club for $5/year, you can get it for $129 (last time I looked)...

HTH,
Dave