Hobby welder's layout/welding table

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I am a hobby welder/woodworker and read this forum almost every day.  There is a load of information and I have learned a lot.  i needed an inexpensive, stable, movable, and flat surface to work on.  My layout table is a 36" X 80" solid core door ($10 at Restore Shop. Makes a heavy, solid and flat base). I mounted it on a frame (actually one of the old "battleship" Steelcase desks) on casters with a 2" overlap for clamping. Covered it with HardiBacker board (as used as a substrate for ceramic tile). I like the HardiBacker as it is smooth with 1" squares embossed on it. Great for laying out projects by drawing directly on the Hardi. For examble I made a number of stair handrails by drawing the layout on the board, lining up my parts, cutting and tacking them together.  If the project is too large to all fit on the table I use my adjustable roller stands to level and support it.  If I do any "heavy" welding I raise the project up on blocks or bricks so as not weld directly on the Hardi. When the surface gets dirty, or overwhelmed with layout lines I paint it with whatever latex satin light colored paint on hand and have a new canvas to work on. When it gets too bad, easy and cheap to replace. I also have a 4", cheap, "sacrificial" vise ($10 at garage sale) mounted on a piece of 1/8" sheet metal about 8" X 16" with the vise mounted toward the front for handle clearance. Easy to move around for positioning and pretty stable. Use this for holding parts to grind, weld or tack together. Generally do no need to secure it but if needed I can clamp it to the table using the back side excess sheet metal. This has served my purposes well. Just my .02 worth.  Perhaps some other part time welder might get some ideas from this.Hobart 190 migLincoln/Century 140 migLincoln buzz boxChicago Electric cutoff sawLotos LTP5000D Plasma CutterHMC Swivel head band saw
Reply:How well does the Hardiboard take the heat? How often have you had to replace it?
Reply:Whatever works... some of my most used tools were made out of "junk" that I made for next to nothing. It hasn't come up for a while, but somewhere on here there's a thread on homemade tools you might find interesting if you do a search.250 amp Miller DialArc AC/DC StickF-225 amp Forney AC Stick230 amp Sears AC StickLincoln 180C MIGVictor Medalist 350 O/ACut 50 PlasmaLes
Reply:I have replaced it once in two years.  Pretty serviceable but no hard pounding on it.  Like I said, I'm just a weekend hobby welder.Hobart 190 migLincoln/Century 140 migLincoln buzz boxChicago Electric cutoff sawLotos LTP5000D Plasma CutterHMC Swivel head band saw