- Joined
- Jun 15, 2017
- Messages
- 525
Today I bit the bullet and got a cheap Northern Tool welding table. I have been getting by with Harbor Freight, but I had to get something better. I may be moving next year, so I was reluctant to get a heavy, expensive table. Northern Tool has been having a sale off and on, pricing their $370 Klutch table at $179, and today they offered it again, and they added a $10 gift card (code 268178) for ordering online. I felt like I had to buy it.
The table is extremely nice for $169. It has a top .15" thick, it has lots of holes, and it comes with stuff to clamp projects down. Unfortunately, it does not have casters, and the leveling feet have M10x1.5 threads. That means it's not easy to find strong casters that will screw into the holes. I can find casters that will hold a total of something like 450 pounds, and I'm sure they'll be fine, but I feel funny putting them on a table that holds 600.
I know there is no possibility that I will ever put more than 50 pounds on the table, but still.
The Internet is full of stem casters with 1/2-13 threads. I'm wondering if it's a good idea to drill out the nuts in the table's legs and tap them to 1/2-13. Then I could get some nice casters cheap. There is no reason why I should have a problem, is there? I would think a 10M nut would have enough meat to permit this operation without getting flimsy.
It looks like the major diameter of a 10M thread is around 20 thousandths smaller than the minor diameter of a 1/2" thread.
I guess if I have a problem, I can try to cut the old nuts out and weld real 1/2" nuts in.
The table is extremely nice for $169. It has a top .15" thick, it has lots of holes, and it comes with stuff to clamp projects down. Unfortunately, it does not have casters, and the leveling feet have M10x1.5 threads. That means it's not easy to find strong casters that will screw into the holes. I can find casters that will hold a total of something like 450 pounds, and I'm sure they'll be fine, but I feel funny putting them on a table that holds 600.
I know there is no possibility that I will ever put more than 50 pounds on the table, but still.
The Internet is full of stem casters with 1/2-13 threads. I'm wondering if it's a good idea to drill out the nuts in the table's legs and tap them to 1/2-13. Then I could get some nice casters cheap. There is no reason why I should have a problem, is there? I would think a 10M nut would have enough meat to permit this operation without getting flimsy.
It looks like the major diameter of a 10M thread is around 20 thousandths smaller than the minor diameter of a 1/2" thread.
I guess if I have a problem, I can try to cut the old nuts out and weld real 1/2" nuts in.