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.
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| 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. |
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| 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 wheels� �� ��two stationary and two swivel with locks� �� ��are 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.
|
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| 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. |
