You Can Do It Projects

Materials List

Top plate:
4' x 6' x 3/8"

Bottom plate:
41" x 65" x 1/8"

Square tubing:
3-20' pieces of 2" x 2" x 1/8" cut into these sizes (quantity-length):
•2-12" – for top frame, plasma-cutting hole.

•4-27" – legs (table height is about 38").

•6-37" – front/back supports for upper/lower frame.

•1-47" – top-frame center support, plasma table.

•4-65" – side/side supports for upper/lower frame.

Wheels:
4-4" x 4" x ¼" steel plates wheel mounts (screw holes are drilled and tapped).

4 wheels rated at 1,000 pounds each (two stationary, two swivel with locks).

Plasma-cutting downdraft chute:
1-4' x 6' sheet of 16ga to build 12" x 12" chute with drawer.

Flat bar for grate and drawer handle.

1 piece mesh under plasma grate.

6-3/4" x 3/4" x 12" angle iron; four to hold chute to underside of the work surface; two to support plasma station grate and screen.

1 piece of 3" pipe for downdraft exhaust hookup (attached to hole cut in side of chute).

Tool holders:
1/4" round bar.

2-3" pieces of 1 1/2" and 2" piping for round bar radius bending feature.

Vise:
Your choice.

Build Your Own Welding Table

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to build it.


By Dan Miller	E-mail this article	Printer-friendly

Jim Patrico

It's an idea with roots to a workshop we visited years ago. While there, we couldn't take our eyes off of a massive, steel-plate welding table. It had drawers, an anvil and vice with hungry steel jaws, and lots of other great features. Anyone who welds should have a table like that, we thought.

That table was the inspiration for our own rugged and portable welding table of 600 pounds. Welding and design expert Joel Ort (left), a lab technician at Miller Electric Mfg. Co. in Appleton, Wis., built the table for us in two days.

The table has a 4' x 6' x 3/8" steel-plate top that weighs in at 366 pounds. Sitting on 1,000-pound rated casters, it stands 38" off the floor. A bottom shelf measures 41" x 65". The table also features an innovative plasma-cutting hole and downdraft chute to collect debris and vent away smoke.

This table will cost approximately $700 to $800 to build.


1. Miller Electric's Joel Ort lays out the framing for the bottom of our welding table. The framing is built with 2" x 2" x 1/8" square tubing. Here, Ort centers a middle support.	2. Ort is assembling the basic frame. The working surface is 4' x 6'. The legs are 27" tall. Notice the framing for the plasma-cutting hole (upper left). Square tubing forms the opening. A 48" piece runs from the middle of the crosspiece to the opposite side.

3. Ort welds 4" x 4" x 1/4" steel plates to the four bottom corners of the table. The four holes in each plate are drilled and tapped to accept the wheels that make the table mobile.	4. One thousand-pound capacity wheelstwo stationary and two swivel with locksare bolted to the wheel support plates with ½" bolts.

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5. Ort cuts the tabletop from a 4' x 8' x 3/8" steel plate. He cuts the piece large enough to leave a 3" overhang on each side. The overhang is handy for clamping material to the table.	6. Ort drops the bottom shelf into place. He notched the four corners to fit. The shelf was also cut 1/4" short on all sides, which left space to weld the shelf to the frame.

7. Here's the downdraft chute. It's welded directly to the bottom shelf and centered under the the plasma-cutting station. There, the chute top is held in place with four pieces of 3/4" x 3/4" x 1/8" angle iron. The removable drawer collects waste from plasma-cutting work.	8. Ort shows off the completed project.

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