Would it work to use a billiards table slate top piece for a welding table surface?

jimgerken · Jan 10, 2014

I have a chance to get for free a couple 3' x 4' pcs of 1 inch slate from an old pool table. Thought it might make a super nice flat welding table top surface. What do you think? Would it shatter from the heat of welding, or would it survive OK, assuming I don't hit it with the torch directly?

lostcreekranch · Jan 10, 2014

I think any high heat would start the slate to delaminate.

creekbend · Jan 10, 2014

The slate on a Pool Table can be broken fairly easy. Slamming a cue ball on the table will crack the slate. When installing a new slate on a table, the installers take real care when installing.

kw22614 · Jan 10, 2014

If it's cheap enough get it. Put a 1/2' sheet of durorock on top and weld away. When the cement board goes - get another one. That's what I use on a wood top table - never had a prob.

Egon · Jan 10, 2014

Consider pouring a cement table top?

Shield Arc · Jan 10, 2014

Egon said:
Consider pouring a cement table top?

I wouldn't.

Freeway explosion: Tanker truck fire so hot it exploded concrete - latimes.com

GPintheMitten · Jan 10, 2014

I wouldnt either. Ive had molten steel blobs drop on the concrete floor and you get a pop and a little crater in the drive the sizeof a quarter.

Stimw · Jan 10, 2014

The advantages to having a steel table are heat resistance, you always have a ground, clamping surfaces just to name a few.
The advantages of the slate- it's free, it's straight/flat.
I have used a piece of 3/4" plywood on saw horses in the past because that was all I had at the time. It worked, sort of.
I would try to sell the slate and put the money toward some steel plate.

lostcreekranch · Jan 10, 2014

Shield Arc said:
I wouldn't. Freeway explosion: Tanker truck fire so hot it exploded concrete - latimes.com

Did the dumb ***** have to stop right under an overpass? DUH!

lostcreekranch · Jan 10, 2014

Stimw said:
The advantages to having a steel table are heat resistance, you always have a ground, clamping surfaces just to name a few. The advantages of the slate- it's free, it's straight/flat. I have used a piece of 3/4" plywood on saw horses in the past because that was all I had at the time. It worked, sort of. I would try to sell the slate and put the money toward some steel plate.

Bingo! Steel plate, no fuss, no bother, works every time.