Welding table

[woodtickgreg]

Today's project was to fab up a welding table. This also gave me a chance to try out some new metal cutting tools.
Top will be made from 1/4" thick 1045 steel plate, I got this for free! Dug it out of the scrap dumpster at work, lol. I marked the cut line with a sharpie.

Got to play with the new Milwaukee metal cutting circular saw. I set the depth of cut 1/4" bellow the thickness of the plate.

Amazing! Cut through this plate very easy.

It left a very nice cut surface that was cool to the touch.

Produced a very nice cut edge, even free handing it.

I cut another 5" wide strip to cut squares out of for the feet to mount castor wheels on.

The cover on the saw acts as a chip catcher, probably catches 90% of the chips. You need to wear cloves when dumping this as the cover gets pretty hot when full of blue hot chips!

Dumped the chips i to a bucket to show how much it collects.

Table will be 28" × 32" I then rounded all the edges with a 4" grinder and a flap sanding disc.

 

[woodtickgreg]

Then it was on to cutting the square stock for the legs. Also material I got for free from work, they cut it wrong for a customer, lol. Its a little heavy walled but the price was right. 2" × 1/4" wall.
Time to try out the new Evolution metal cutting miter saw.
I used so.e boards to get the tubing to sit on the saw bed level.

Pretty heavy walled stuff. I made a thin cut to give a clean square edge to start with.

Cuts like butter, very clean, cool to the touch, and much faster than a fiber disc.

Then I did some layout on the plate. I want the tubing to be I set from the edge of the ate so I can get a clamp on it if need be.

All the material is cut. And you can see the edge ill be leaving for clamping stuff down when needed.

The saw has a chip tray to catch so.e of the chips, works fair.

Easy to dump out.

Tacking everything together.

The used Miller might welder i purchased worked really well once I got it dialed in for wire speed, gas, etc. I really like this welder.

Not all my welds are pretty, but they'll hold. I ground them flat anyway. Lol.

 

[woodtickgreg]

So here's the basic table all welded together.

Welding the 1/4" squares for the castor wheel mounts on.

I have 2 used castors, I need to pick up 2 more. Steel wheels won't melt from welding sparks.

Once I get the wheels mounted it will roll into place right over the top of the welder. Thats why it is the size that it is. It will work just fine for most of my welding needs.

So far its very ridged, and very heavy! I really don't think the legs need any bracing. I have a small vise I may put on 1 of the corners for added work holding. Pallet breakers and tool rest will be fabbed up on this table. So far I have a little over 4 hours on this project.

 

[woodtickgreg]

Was out for a ride on the BMW with Betty today and I stopped at a home and farm store and found some castors that where a pretty close match to the other 2 I had.

I also found this little 4" vice in my basement. I've had it a long time, came on a pallet of stuff I bought at an auction. I figured it could be useful on the welding table. It needs to be cleaned up a little.

So now I think I have everything I need to finish the table up. Ill post pics as I make more progress.

 

[cabomhn]

Nice looking build so far. Also an incredibly well performing saw!

 

[Gdurfey]

Very nice @woodtickgreg Greg. I really enjoyed building my table. Would do a few things different plus my top is a little light. But, I’m not as good at dumpster diving as you are. I need to learn that skill.

 

[djg]

Nice table build. Impressive saw cutting 1/4" in a single pass. Nice dumpster dive too.

 

[woodtickgreg]

Came home from work today and welded the castors on.
I don't go crazy welding these on, a bead on each side is plenty strong enough.

I don't weld all the way around in case a castor ever has to be replaced, much easier to cut off with a cut off wheel. I have had to cut them off before, lesson learned.

Table is 37" high.

And it rolls right over the top of the welder.

It takes up very little space and I can roll both of them out if need be.

Then I gave the little vise some attention with a wire wheel.

Not a full restore but it cleaned up nice enough for a welding table vise.

I'll get it mounted one day after work.

 

[woodtickgreg]

Very nice @woodtickgreg Greg. I really enjoyed building my table. Would do a few things different plus my top is a little light. But, I’m not as good at dumpster diving as you are. I need to learn that skill.

Only money I have into this so far is for 2 castors I purchased. I grew up kinda poor, been salvaging since I was a kid. Once its in you its always in you. Lol. Now I call it repurposing. One man's trash is another man's treasure. I garbage pick, dumpster dive, salvage, repurpose al kinds of things, even wood. Made many a project out of angle iron bed frames. I grab every one I see on garbage days. Can't tell you how many bikes I built as a kid from salvaged garbage picked bike parts.

 

[Mike Hill]

Now, after you send that table to my house - are you going to make one for yourself?

 

[ripjack13]

Both of those saws are nice. We had em when I was working on tv sets for nbc. Man those things are screamin loud!!!!
I like the table. The only criticism I have is, (not that you asked for it, but,) I think there should be at least a cross member on the 2 outside legs at least. You could use the bed frame angle iron between the legs. This way it keep em from wobbling as you roll it, and when you weld, sometimes it's nice to rest a foot on.

Very cool Greg....

 

[Gdurfey]

I want both of those saws!

 

[woodtickgreg]

@ripjack13 We'll see if it needs a brace or not, I don't think it will as the tubing is 1/4" wall and seriously stiff. But I may add something to one side, like a shelf/tray thingy to store stuff in. But I do like the idea of a foot rest.

 

[woodtickgreg]

Came home from work today and drilled the holes to mount the vice.
Spaced it so it cleared the tubes underneath the table so I could just through bolt it.

I finally found a use for this little vice, lol.

I like the compact size of this vice, doesn't take up much room on the table.

 

[djg]

Only money I have into this so far is for 2 castors I purchased. I grew up kinda poor, been salvaging since I was a kid. Once its in you its always in you. Lol. Now I call it repurposing. One man's trash is another man's treasure. I garbage pick, dumpster dive, salvage, repurpose al kinds of things, even wood. Made many a project out of angle iron bed frames. I grab every one I see on garbage days. Can't tell you how many bikes I built as a kid from salvaged garbage picked bike parts.

Been there, done that. (You should see my garage).