Welding Table Questions

[Ridger]

I'm relatively new to welding after taken some welding classes at my local community college. I have since bought a small MIG welder and a small portable welding table that I have used on various project. I would now like to build a larger welding table for bigger projects as well as use it for a work table.

I have found some 3/8 inch x 4' x 8' metal sheets locally and the guy wants $150 per sheet for them. From what I can find, that seems like a good price. I was thinking of buying two of them and welding them together to make a 3/4 inch thick table.

So before I pursue that, I have a few questions. Do you agree that is a good price for the metal sheets? Would there be any concerns with welding the two plates together? Would you leave them as 4' x 8' or cut them down to a smaller size?

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. As always, thank you for your time.

 

[AKguy09]

3/8 is more than thick enough for a table top. Also do you plan on this table being against a wall, if so I wouldn't want any more than 3 ft deep by 8 ft wide. Hard to reach across 4 ft.

 

[Buffalo]

I'm relatively new to welding after taken some welding classes at my local community college. I have since bought a small MIG welder and a small portable welding table that I have used on various project. I would now like to build a larger welding table for bigger projects as well as use it for a work table.

I have found some 3/8 inch x 4' x 8' metal sheets locally and the guy wants $150 per sheet for them. From what I can find, that seems like a good price. I was thinking of buying two of them and welding them together to make a 3/4 inch thick table.

So before I pursue that, I have a few questions. Do you agree that is a good price for the metal sheets? Would there be any concerns with welding the two plates together? Would you leave them as 4' x 8' or cut them down to a smaller size?

Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. As always, thank you for your time.

sounds really heavy. It probably won't bend, but it may not move either.

 

[Lil Foot]

3/8 is more than thick enough for a table top

I agree, no need to double up. My FIL gave me two welding tables 3'x8' with 1/4" diamond plate tops. They are too heavy to move around without strong help, and 1/4" top is more than adequate for any welding/pounding/cutting/etc that I'm likely to do.

 

[Yooper]

Price is good if they are fairly clean plates. 3/8 plate is a decent thickness for a welding table so you do not need to double them up. I would put the money from the second plate into some good structural channel to build a solid base for the plate to sit on. The bigger the channel the better. The plate will more than likely have a bow in it and you will rely on the channel to flatten it out. I can take some pictures if you want some ideas for your bench.

 

[Ridger]

Gentlemen, thank you for the comments.

Yes, please post some photos for some ideas. They will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tarmy]

Go on Welding Web forum...search for welding tables...incredible amount of good info on that site...

Here is mine...made with 1/2 slats...

 

[vic gerbasi]

3/8 is plenty strong enough i attached lockable casters to the legs on my homemade unit makes it usable in many places also put hangers on it for welding gun simple and safe and you know where the gun is works for mee

 

[D2Cat]

When you build a table, build it to your height. If you're 6'-6" don't build the table so short you're bent over all the time!! And if you're 5'-6" don't build it so high your elbows are at your shoulders all the time!

 

[dandeman]

As mentioned above, steel wheel (a must due to weight) casters in the design are a good add, but they need to be lockable so the table won't try to move around especially when dragging heavy material up on the table.

On my table (using good, but scrap yard steel wheel casters), the two on the table backside are non swivel and the front two are lockable to not rotate or swivel with my add on brake system.

My table had to be rather small to fit in the space between two doors I can open in the basement, so lots of stuff packed in a tight area. Built entirely out of junkyard scrap.. top is diamond plate, which would be better if overlaid with 1/4" plain steel plate.

Note: Table (other than work surface) must be painted Kubota orange in order to be a legit welding table :<)

 

[Lil Foot]

Found a pic of the tables that my FIL gave me. Excuse the mess, this pic was taken at his house. Note the vertical, 1/4" wall angle welded to the front center- handy as heck as an anchor point for bending/straightening rod, tubing, etc.

 

[chim]

Good info so far. I'd suggest using straight wheels on one end and swivels on the other. Then add floor jacks on the swivel end and the table won't go anywhere when you need to get brutal with something. Makes the table feel like it's bolted to the center of the earth. The straight wheels won't allow their end of the table to roll sideways and the jacks on the other end keep the table from going either way.

Here's one I made earlier this year. It's 3'x4' and has been very handy. I do my welding outdoors to get away from combustibles. I was fed up with the makeshift plywood on sawhorses or grovelling about on hands and knees in the driveway. The drawer is an unused electrical panel with set of slides from Lowes that allows full extension.

Here are a few pics. I doubt I'll ever paint it. The one pic is a closeup of the scraper blade I was working on. Not very much of a connection where the blade attaches to the post. I can't even guess how it stayed together for the last 15 years when looking at the factory "welds".

 

[Ridger]

Gentlemen, I'm impressed! You have made some great tables. Thanks for sharing the photos. Please keep posting them. How tall would you recommend? I'm 6'3", so I was thinking around 40".

 

[chim]

I'm 6-3 and the table is 37" high. Seems like much of the welding I do isn't right there flat on the table. Good example is that scraper blade in the pics. The welding was mostly around 12" higher than the top of the table. I had an old 5' RFM on it and was able to reach in from the sides to get to any part of it without going for a stool to stand on.

The top is 3/8" thick welded to an angle frame.

 

[WFM]

I have been welding since 1988. I worked for 14 years in a large manufacturing shop and the 18 welders there all had 1" thick 4' x 8' table tops. When you need to clamp something down or peen something flat with a hammer the table never moved. I've owned my own welding/sheetmetal business since full time since 2002 and have used a 1/4" thick 4' x 8' welding table since. But have wished many times over the years I had bought the 1" thick table top. But at the time money was tight. A 1/4" x 4' x 8' piece of plate steel was $90. bucks then.

And in the last six months since our president has been flapping his gums about tariff's my carbon steel and stainless prices have increased 50%. I don't want to talk politics. But how he is helping the businesses of this country is beyond me. I voted for him and regret it every time I order steel.

 

[Yooper]

Apologies for posting these pictures so late, but these show some welding tables and how they are put together. Very simple design that requires very little grinding (I hate grinding) and is very sturdy. The benches have 14 ga walls on the back to control grinding sparks plus it makes it easier to clean. Hope I'm not to late with this to help you out.

 

[Ridger]

Thanks Yooper! I bought one plate but have not done anything yet. I really like your tables. What height are they?

 

[Yooper]

They are 36" high. There really is no magical height for a welding bench unless you are welding the same thing all the time. I find myself using my manual forklift a lot for getting the height just right for some things. No such thing as being too comfortable when welding.

 

[Missouribound]

I don't want to talk politics. But how he is helping the businesses of this country is beyond me. I voted for him and regret it every time I order steel.

So this is you NOT talking politics?

 

[eipo]

Heres a table I built several years ago... I don't recall measurements... But its heavy and stout...