T-Slot table for welding

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I'm in the planning stages of a new welding table. I found a beautiful table from Bluco/ Demmeler http://www.demmeler.com/e3ddetail.html#d16  Unfortunatly its not in the budget at this time- still need alot of other equipmet.Sooo, I got to thinking. Why not use a table top like that of a milling machine. After doing some searching I found a company that sells such a table. Forster  - http://www.plasmasouth.com/forster/index.htm Here is the question. Where do I get a large t-slot table I can incorporate into my own table? Any leads on t-slot tables that are at least 4x6 feet? I'm hoping to go 4x8 feet if poss.Thanks for any leads / input.
Reply:we have a horozontal milling machine at the shop..3'X4' "t" table both ways..trust me to find a replacement table that big even used would cost$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$compared to the one in the link for $$$$$thats alot of $$$$$$...zap!I am not completely insane..Some parts are missing Professional Driver on a closed course....Do not attempt.Just because I'm a  dumbass don't mean that you can be too.So DON'T try any of this **** l do at home.
Reply:Only place I can think of  that would be even reasonable is a scrap yard that gets in large machine tools. Still likely to cost.
Reply:Those are certainly nice tables for doing setups but I didn't see any prices.  In the shops that I've worked at, we just tacked the jigging for a project directly to the table.  When done, we just knock it off and cleanup the table again for another day.A T-slot table could be fabricated by having the table top pieced together with top plates and thicker sub plates set to the width of a T-nut.  The problem would be keeping it flat and true.  You could always get it suface ground after it's completed if you have a shop nearby that can handle the size.  If not, maybe do it in two pieces and do the final joint welding after the two pieces are individually surfaced.  That would provide a fair chance of truing them up with only one welded joint.  Just a thought.  Hobart 140 Handler w/ gasHyperTherm Powermax 380 Plasmaoxy/acetylene
Reply:A scrap cutter would probably be glad to sell you a press bed for scrap price, rather than invest the labor and oxygen into cutting it up. Your  talking about tons. Is that what you had in mind?
Reply:If you could get your hands on a Mag drill you could buy the standard scrap yard table and put all the holes you wanted in it, tac nuts on the bottom of each hole and you are in business, I think ?  I wouldn't tap the holes because eventually you will have weld or splatter get in there and its real easy to knock off the old nut and just tac on a new one. Just a thought. I am going to do something like this soon. Except I am making a 1" plate 5' by 5' that I am grinding flat and will only use it on a few extremely critical jobs and then set it off to the side. I will be tapping the holes but putting a counter bore in the first 1/4" of each hole so the threads are not right to top of the table. Also I will use this 90% for tig welding and wont have to worry about splatter. Like I say this isn't my primary table so I am not worried about having to chase the threads very often or I would just go with nuts on the bottom as mentioned.Dan.Repair Specialties LLC
Reply:While living in the Dallas area and waiting for my metal order at Dimco steel I noticed some steel walk ways made out of 1/4 flat with resistance welded cross pieces and it occured to me that this would make a good welding table.  They were about 20 feet long and about three feet wide.  Ready made welding table that you could use with t-nuts.  Didn't do it cause I already had a fine welding table.  Just an idea.
Reply:What about the ACORN welding tables.  I know they aren't t-slots but it's a similar idea and looks like it has the flexibility to do any setup work.http://www.acorniron.com/products/index.htmlNice but crazy expensive.
Reply:A while back, either on this board or the Hobard board, someone had photos of a table to made up using Tee-iron (though W-flange or I-section would also work). He had the pieces welded flange up with a gap for bolts between pieces, using several heavy cross members to support the pieces.
Reply:The Demmeler table and fixture package was quoted at about 28K. Its a big initial investment but think about the time you can save by not having to make a custom jig for every job. You also don't have to store all of those custom jigs. It's almost like working with "Lego's" ( ok very expensive Lego's)You come up with an initial setup for a job and document it. After the job is done you tear it down. Six months later when the customer comes back for another short run you reassemble per your notes.  Efficiency is a great opportunity to increase the bottom line. We all know that you can cut a piece of angle iron many ways but if you cut it with a hacksaw you probably aren't making money.  If you make the same weldments all the time something like this would be a waste of money. If you weld many different items its a different story.The more time you free up from non-welding tasks the more time you have to weld and weld time should be the most profitable time.I'll have to see if there are any yards locally that deal with old equipment that might be parted out - thanks for that idea. The acorn tables are nice but I believe they are more geared towards heavier weldments. I'm looking to do more tig welding on things like bike frames etc.I'm still waiting to get a price on the Forster table ( 2nd link )
Reply:Originally Posted by antman455 Efficiency is a great opportunity to increase the bottom line. We all know that you can cut a piece of angle iron many ways but if you cut it with a hacksaw you probably aren't making money.  If you make the same weldments all the time something like this would be a waste of money. If you weld many different items its a different story.The more time you free up from non-welding tasks the more time you have to weld and weld time should be the most profitable time.
Reply:I just happened to find this thread... too bad it's been so long!I've been working 2 years now with a T-Slot table I got from a german company named Förster and I'm quite satisfied with it so far. They had many different models for steel and stainless steel welding but instead I decided to buy the T-slot cast iron rails and built it myself. The final result probably wasn't as precise as their whole table but still gives me dauily the flexibility to arrange different setups depending on the workpiece and I can use any tslot clamp I want. In case anybody needs more info here's the link to their site: http://www.forster-welding-systems.c...ng-tables.htmlLast edited by WaitForIt; 09-06-2013 at 04:14 AM.
Reply:Originally Posted by antman455I'm in the planning stages of a new welding table. I found a beautiful table from Bluco/ Demmeler http://www.demmeler.com/e3ddetail.html#d16  Unfortunatly its not in the budget at this time- still need alot of other equipmet.Sooo, I got to thinking. Why not use a table top like that of a milling machine. After doing some searching I found a company that sells such a table. Forster  - http://www.plasmasouth.com/forster/index.htm Here is the question. Where do I get a large t-slot table I can incorporate into my own table? Any leads on t-slot tables that are at least 4x6 feet? I'm hoping to go 4x8 feet if poss.Thanks for any leads / input.
Reply:Originally Posted by Billy BoyWhat about the ACORN welding tables.  I know they aren't t-slots but it's a similar idea and looks like it has the flexibility to do any setup work.http://www.acorniron.com/products/index.htmlNice but crazy expensive.
Reply:My suggestion would be to look for an old DELTA UNISAW and rob the table off of it / usually cast iron with 2 nice t slots machined in the top and already drilled and tapped for table extensions on the side old unisaw can be had dirt cheap 100 .00 and up anyway thats where im going for my table plans
Reply:The T slots in an old unisaw table are just one tic away from being useless. You would need to machine most of the T thickness away. And the table top is 27 x 24". In crappy condition a used unisaw goes for over $700.00 to boot. I bought a table from a scrapped milling machine. 25" x 75", square all edges, and 1100 pounds of T slotted iron. Not cheap but for $900.00 it was not a bad deal.
Reply:Mine is about the same size off a horizontal boring machine.  Big heavy mutha from the scrap yard.  Seems like it was $0.10 or $0.15 per pound, but makes a great setup table.