Plasma cutting table ideas?

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I would like to build a 4' x 8' plasma table, that has a replacable cutting surface. Any ideas for the top? This will be for cutting sheet metal by hand, therfore the top surface does not need to be extremly presice. Any ideas would be appreciated.  Thank YouLast edited by 72sporty; 03-16-2005 at 11:18 AM.
Reply:Most of the cnc burning tables just have slots every few inches on each side of the table.  Then you just slide 3" or 4" x 1/8" flat bars into the slots.  Once you burn up the top edge too much you flip them over.  They are individually replaceable, and about as cheap as you can get...  Seems like there ought to be an easy way to do this for a small bench for manual cutting.
Reply:I designed mine around bedframes.  I split the rails from angle into two flat pieces after I cut them in half.  Every 'throw away' bedframe makes 8 slats that are dropped into slots on the table.I could have gone 4' wide, but that would have reduced the bedframe to slat ratio from 8 per bedframe to only 4 per frame.I'm really cheap.
Reply:If your going to use it a lot, it makes sense to create slots that allow the grate bars to just drop in.For weekend/hobby use, you will probably never recover the extra work. Instead you could just lightly tack the bars in place, and cut the welds when you need to replace them. You will end up with a table that is simpler, lighter, and cheaper.
Reply:Mine is a water table- it is a box, about a foot deep, and 4' x 8', made out of 1/8" plate. It sits up on a stand made from 3" square tubing, so the cutting height is right. At the bottom, I brazed in a water faucet, with a piece of real fine wire mesh over it, so I can hook up a hose to drain it. Along each side, I made a bar from 3" x 3" x 3/8" angle, 8 feet long, with slightly angled slits cut in them with the plasma cutter, a slit about every 3". Then I made a whole bunch of 4' long pieces of 3" x 1/4" flat bar. These drop into the slits, with the flat bar sticking up on edge. I fill the whole thing up with water to just below the level of the top of the flat bar. All the slag, sparks, and hot drops fall in the water. There is much less smoke, dust and grit in my shop. The angled flat bar is easy to drag steel across, even 4x8's of 3/8". Once a year or so I drain it, and shovel out the blackest, gooeist gunk you have ever seen- proof to me that it is better in the water, than me breathing it. The flat bars can be removed every once in a while, and thrown up in the air so they land on the concrete floor- knocks off most of the slag. My flat bars last 5-8 years of intense cutting- there is a motorised plasma machine cutting on this table, as well as using it for hand cutting.
Reply:OT: I joined yesterday to view some pictures and also made one post on this thread.  Today I woke-up my computer and received an un-solicited browser window.  http://www.weldingsupply.com/index%202-28-2000.htmlIs this site joined with weldingweb?  Did I get it because of joining here?  I have never heard of, or ever been to this site.Any connection?  Has anyone else started receiving targeted advertising after joining weldingweb?  I'd like to know..  Thanks in advance.lurker
Reply:Hey Lurker, Weldingweb.com currently has no sponsors or parent companies that use unsolicited emails as a form of advertisement. I have mentioned that particular site here before though, but just because i've ordered from them before and have had great service and prices. I will double check all the server settings and make sure that nothing related to this site is causing your emails.   If you want to, You are welcome to bring this up with the owner of Weldingweb,Lawnsite, And Plowsite, Sean Adams @ [email protected] ,Thanks JoeyStangnetShop Full Of Stuff. Joey
Reply:Thanks for your reply.It wasn't an email, but a new browser window that opened.  Nothing sofar today.I haven't run adaware yet to see if that site set any suspicous cookies.
Reply:Ries, that table sounds freaking awesome.  Got any pics?  My table (which I am now embarrassed of) is about a foot deep with a length of 2" angle forming 2 "shelves" at the front & back.  These support more 2" angle running from front to back, i think maybe 10 of 'em.  They're just sitting loose, so as to be replaceable, but I don't do that much cutting...Hobart BetaMig 1800Esab Handy Plasma 550TA Pro-Wave 185 TSW
Reply:I've seen cutting tables built out of angle iron (4X8) and then using a bunch of short pieces of pipe as the spreaders for the vertical slats. Cut a bunch of pipe into lengths that won't stick up past the top of the angle iron vertically, and then space them out followed by a good tack weld at the top and bottom. Easy to set up, quick too if you have a chop saw.
Reply:here is a pic of my cutting table, it is setting ontop of the welding table for the pic but it locks in on the fold down wing.  It is made form 1" angle iron set in an A shape and notched for the cross bars that are 1/4x1 flat strap set on edge and tackwelded to the notches in the angle iron then ther is a piece of 1/2 sq stock welded between the angle irons, they set inbetween the slats on the fold down wingMatt in AK