Welding Table

[vtcnc]

Welding table looks good. Very similar to what I built.
Big question is.... what's the project???

CNC Gang Tool Lathe - think something like an OmniTurn.

 

[DavidR8]

CNC Gang Tool Lathe - think something like an OmniTurn.

Very cool!
Definitely looking forward to that coming together!

 

[Cadillac]

Well, I have access to a laser cutter at work + offcuts/can purchase at cost. My cost is about $115 for the 304 3/16" material. I did the CAD in Draftsight and essentially we can just dump the dxf on a thumb drive and take it to the machine. No programming time needed.

The total cutting time for this sheet size and thickness was about 15 minutes. Multiply by (insert shop rate here) a shop rate and you can take it from there. However, if you go laser or plasma you should consider that you will get some slag depending on the shop and their programming and shielding capabilities.

Our laser can do 1/2" mild steel with some slag when cutting with shop air, it's pretty clean with Nitrogen - at that thickness you start to get warping. I would seriously consider water-jet over laser or plasma for that thickness.

I think you would be looking at close to two-three hours of cutting time of a sheet that size.

Thank you

 

[vtcnc]

Got the top bolted up today.

Working on legs next.


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[GunsOfNavarone]

Your table top is STAINLESS?? You.Are.A.BALLER!
Seriously though, I'm jealous.

 

[vtcnc]

More progress pics today. The Good the Bad and the Ugly! I see grinding and reworking a few welds in the future.

Regarding my clamping, I’m waiting for my Fireball tool 8” square to arrive but it took a left turn at Albuquerque. I’m impatient and wanted to get this table moving so made do with what I had.

3/16” wall tubing. The bad welds I was going way too fast. My lil’ Titanium 125 was set to G-8. Turned it down to F-6 and got much better welds that I felt I could slow down on and control the puddle behind my dragging wire.

Edit: also added a quick video my new saw making short work of this steel tubing.

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[Garththomas]

Your very brave to show your welds. I just got a welder and after a little practice on some scrap which I had to buy lol. I thought I might as well get practice making myself a welding table. Mine is 37x24x36h. I wont show my welds but I made the two ends first and bu some miracle the first one came out square and flat, the second not so.
I ended up cutting the welds and then clamping the two sides together. I dont have a flat surface outside of the house so I am very lucky it turned out. Couldnt believe how much things move when they are welded.

 

[Aaron_W]

Couldnt believe how much things move when they are welded.

My first attempt at making a base pan and back splash for a lathe ended up looking more like a potato chip than a right angle.

 

[C-Bag]

Couldnt believe how much things move when they are welded.

One of my early jobs out of high school about '75 was working for a rice grower. They had an ancient rice huller that they decided they were going to rebuild. It had been shut down in the 40's and the whole thing was a mess. I got the job of making one of the elevators so had to fab the base and the head. They were mild steel sheet with angle iron frame. Basically big metal boxes that would contain the shafts and drums for the conveyor belt with bolted on scoops. I had never done it before and all I had was OA, ancient arc welder and an abrasive saw. No jig table, no saw horses, no grinder, nuthin.

So I set about fabbing the head first because it was the easiest because of the drive, no take up. Well it was all shwangle when I got done. They had hired a HVAC sheetmetal guy who wandered in as I was standing there contemplating what I'd done and what I could do about it. He explained how the welds pull and how he used that in opposition to the other welds along with extensive use of tacks before welding. And also not getting carried away on light stuff that was not structural because it only caused more warpage. The guys who were doing the huller hauled it off even though I told them it wasn't right and I needed to fix it.

I did the base under the tutelage of the sheetmetal man and it came out perfect. Now decades later it's second nature and while fancy welds you see on the net are nice, I look more for penetration and consistency. No voids.

Bryan's welds for the most part look good to me. They are hot enough, and are not going to fall apart any time soon. Good job.