Technical Welding Table Project

I already have a steel table I built about 15 years ago, the top is about 6'x3', my 50# anvil sits on it, its strong and its at a good height for working when you're standing up or to roll outside and heat, beat or grind something. But I wanted a smaller table at desk height with a very flat surface & holes to clamp & fixture pieces to more precisely. Also I'd like to setup a welding workstation with good lighting, the TIG & MIG machines and all supplies ergonomically located (that's the dream). So I bought one of these welding table top kits:


It's a table that's good for hobby or small shop use. Summit Racing also sells it, so if you wait for a $50 off promo you can save some money (Summit Part Number: WDT-WT3648-PRO-U). You assemble the laser cut interlocking pieces w/the table surface upside down, clamp it and tack weld the center in several places.



Then you flip it over, clamp the perimeter and weld the table top to the tabs from the lower structure that protrude through the table top.



You get to flip it over again and install the extra cost leg kit. Or you can make your own legs, which I did from square tubing I already had. I bought some gate hinges, bent them and made some "wings" to hold stuff. Then used the box it came in to mask for painting.



The legs are height adjustable (smaller tube within a larger tube), so I can comfortably use it at 27" desk height and rest my arms for TIG welding or raise it up to as much as 35" for standing use.



One storage wing holds 4 grinders with a grinding disc, cut-off disc, flapper disc and wire wheel. The other wing holds clamps for fixturing and other stuff (I've not yet finished modifying the clamps or loaded the pegboard with grinding/cut-off/sanding discs, but you get the idea). Both wings fold in and stay in place with magnet latches.



Side note - Instead of buying new casters with a threaded stud mount for leveling (which you should do) I used ones I already had and made adjusters. Obviously I retired too soon and need to go out and get a job.



Hope this helps someone or inspires you to go out and build something to make your time in the shop more enjoyable.

Dan

 

Very nice. Exactly what you should be doing when retired; making yourself comfortable. A suggestion would be locking steel wheel castors. I had to chase my table all over the place till I got lockers. Ingenious storage! How flat do they claim the table to be?

 

Great tip!
Thanks Dan.

 

Nice, and that's exactly what you get to build when you have time; due to retirement.

 

I second the locking casters. I lock mine quite a bit.

Maybe 3.5 or 4 inches diameter to make rolling it around easier, as you probably know.

Great project.

John

 

Excellent project! Thanks for sharing!

 

Thanks guys.

Don't know if Certiflat has a flatness spec. It probably wouldn't work if you are doing aerospace precision, but for what I do it's good.

Oddly enough, I've got the same wheels (4"diameter, 5" height) on my old welding table and if they are turned different directions it doesn't want to move. And when I want to move the table, I may need to turn 1 or 2 to get it moving. But, if I was buying new casters I'd get locking with a threaded stud mount, just to have that feature.

 

Nice work, really like the adjustable legs and storage.

 

I'm going to save those pictures of your table. I'm known for plaigerizing others ideas!

Really nice. And those wings... I can already see them on my old welding table.

Thanks!

 

I like it! Thanks for the info.

 

TBH, any flatness specification that's on the plate as supplied is going to be come irrelevant once all the ribs supplied in the kit get welded on to it. Like you write, though, not appropriate for high accuracy / high precision work, but good enough for something on the HAMB.

 

I like your project. With that top, what style of clamps are you going to use? I had a similar want a few years ago. I wanted a table for smaller projects that require clamping, but didn't want another bench or table in my shop. Most of the welding table clamps rely on the table top thickness to wedge the clamp tight. I went over to my friend's fab shop and found a piece of 3/8" plate and trimmed it up on the water jet. It is 20"X26". Spent part of an afternoon at my drillpress laying out a bunch of 1/2" holes. I mounted the plate on two skids made from heavy wall 2"X2" tubing. I purched several types of welding table clamps. It's portable around the shop, although not exactly lite, and stores away easily.

 

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wdt-wt3648-pro-u#overview

3/16" plate - ±.003"

Yeah welding will most likely definitely change that

 

Nice welding plate. There are some pretty good videos on YouTube on making budget clamps (again for hobby use).
Here's an example of one: