Welding Table advice please!

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I fabricated a small table and it seems limp, i tried making level and straight with a 7gauge stainless plate. I thought the table was nice and flat, so im guessing i had a warping issue. What material would be good for a straight welding table.  Oh, i realized it wasnt straight when i placed it on a granite counter. Thanks
Reply:The heavier the better, but a good part of getting a straight table is keeping warping during welding to a minimum. Even the heaviest material will warp if you put in too much heat and do things wrong.Move around to spread the heat. Don't do all the welds at once. Let things cool between welds. keep checking to make sure things are staying straight. Welding up everything 100% olny to find it warped at some point isn't a help. Tack things up and check they stayed square. Then weld a bit at a time, constantly checking to make sure things stay straight. Remember things always pull towards a weld, so some times you have to make things a bit out of square so they pull straight. Lots of all of this simply comes from experience. Also keep in mind stainless tends to pull more than mild steel just due to the nature of the material.Good luck..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Thank you DSW
Reply:Be sure you have everything completely tacked in place.  The more you have to support the small area you are weldig the less chance there is for it to warp.  So, tac the whole table together first rather than trying to weld out one half and then the other half.  DSW is right, move around when you are welding and let thing cool.  If you take your time it should come out straight.Matthew MortonTexas A&M '06Logsdon Seminary '13"Who Dares Wins""AFTF""WH2PH"SA 200 (Code: 5337)TB 302CP 302 w/22A Wire FeederMillerMatic 200Miller Syncrowave 200MillerMatic 252BurnTables 4x4 CNC MachineHypertherm 65
Reply:All these techniques are still not going to yield you a truly flat surface for welding, much less ample  clamping capability to keep the objects that you are welding from warping themselves. I've been where you are before. My first table was 4x8' of 1/8 wall tube fully welded and way overbuilt. When finished, flipped it over & it's surface had a bow in it that looked like an empty 18 wheeler flat bed trailer. I was 95% green and welding dumb then. Now I'm burnt-brown and only 50% dumb. Depending on your expectations for a table, I will say you cannot easily or cheaply build a shop made table for tight tolerance work. You gotta buy a new or used/reground table like a Bluco, Buildpro, Acorn or Weldsale. Sucks but that's reality. You don't have your profile filled in so I don't know if you are local to a major city but to salvage what you've already built, this is what I'd do. Buy a piece of 1" plate steel and have it Blanchard ground. Countersink holes and bolt it down to your existing table. That will be flat but offers no internal clamping capability.
Reply:i have 2x2 .120 legs and 3 supports down the middle with the same material and a 3/16 plate for the top (4x8). very solid table, i've been beating on it all weekend.
Reply:Stainless likes to warp. "The austenitic stainless steels have about 45% higher thermal coefficient of expansion, higher electrical resistance, and lower thermal conductivity than mild-carbon steels. High travel speed welding is recommended, which will reduce heat input and carbide precipitation, and minimize distortion.""USMCPOP" First-born son: KIA  Iraq 1/26/05Syncrowave 250 w/ Coolmate 3Dialarc 250, Idealarc 250SP-175 +Firepower TIG 160S (gave the TA 161 STL to the son)Lincwelder AC180C (1952)Victor & Smith O/A torchesMiller spot welder
Reply:I used took two mild steel plates each 1/2"x6"x36" from my local supplier's cut off bins, and made a small table.  The plates are laid parallel on the long side with a 4" gap between the two plates  They are laying on a frame of angle iron, but I think I should have used square tubing... maybe 2" 11 or thicker gauge.  There's an over hang on the front for clamping, and you can clamp in the middle due to the gap.  It's dang near flat but I flubbed it a bit due to the angle iron pulling a hair when I welded and I was in a bit of hurry...  Anyway, it was cheap and works well and allows a variety of clamping.That said, I've seen far better designs, but thickness counts a lot and the 1/2" plate was pretty easy to scrounge up.