If you are around 5' 3"/5'4" or so, what height is your welding table at please

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Just trying to get an idea of what height the surfaces of work stations should be at for people who aren't as tall as most.
Reply:I would build it to the joint of your leg and hip.  Than is comfortable for long standing.
Reply:Check the height of your kitchen counter tops if that is a comfortable working height for you and decide if it needs to be higher or lower than that. Usually around waist high is a good height to go for. You don't want it too low or you will be stooped over working on it, and that will make a sore back in short order. Too high and you will be reaching up to shoulder level to work on things. So try to decide what is right for your stature and go from there.
Reply:That's funny because I am a foot taller than my wife. And she takes offense to working at anything other than a "big girl" bench.My benches are 32", but I would suggest desk height of 30" .Weld like a "WELDOR", not a wel-"DERR" MillerDynasty700DX,Dynasty350DX4ea,Dynasty200DX,Li  ncolnSW200-2ea.,MillerMatic350P,MillerMatic200w/spoolgun,MKCobraMig260,Lincoln SP-170T,PlasmaCam/Hypertherm1250,HFProTig2ea,MigMax1ea.
Reply:The height to my natural waist is 36" in steel-toed work boots. The height of my kitchen counter tops is 37" which I believe is standard. I know that height is so-so for using a mixer or toaster yet a bit too much for other repetitive tasks like chopping, slicing, dicing, rolling out bread or making noodles but.... it's what I have so... I make do or move what I'm working on over to the kitchen table.   My woodworking bench is 34".... I share with my husband and that's a little bit too high for me and a little bit too low for him. Those are the measurements I took before I asked this question. The distance from the floor to my femoral head (ball joint) is just shy of 32". My desk is 28"..... too low. Our kitchen table is 29"..... I just ran upstairs and measured my quilting layout and cutting tables.... they're at 29 and 30". I don't know why I didn't think to measure those before because they are just perfect for how I use them. I suspect the height of a welding table that will minimize fatigue while reducing the stress on my back bending at the waist to weld is going to be somewhere around 30"... give or take an inch so thank you everyone.
Reply:Table heights depend on a lot of things. I like lower tables when I work on large things, like when I'm using a 4x8 sheet of plywood as a temporary top. That's fine when I often have to lean over to reach things or when the projects are larger, but too low for other work when standing. If I'm sitting, that's a different matter..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:Some of the shorter guys here weld in their high heels when working on  higher table while others must wear sandals when the table is too low. Depending on what's on the table makes a difference too. Sometimes a shorter table makes it easier to stretch over it to tack something on the far side. With a taller table you may need a platform 6'' tall or taller to reach across. A higher table might be better if you plan on sitting on a stool. The table dimensions make a difference to. That will be another adventure. Sometimes a nice 48''x48'' square is nice but a 36'' x 48'' or a 30'' x 60'' might fit the area better.
Reply:Oh rats! I didn't even consider table dimensions.... I was too hung up on the height but.... along came my dynamic duo to point out I'd have a lot more than just height to figure out.  Thanks guys... I totally spaced on table dimensions and that's definitely something I'll have to make a decision on!--As far as stretching over to tack something.... I don't believe I have the arm length... maybe if the table was short enough. I'd probably have to either spin a longer piece or walk around and tack it from the other side of the table. --I read a thread that suggested a minimum of a 1/2" thickness preferably 3/4" or greater to deter warping so I was planning on trying for a 3/4" slab of steel. 3/4" should be fine, right?--I'm almost positive I'm going to need at least one 500 watt halogen light.... maybe two attached to the table that could be trained to the weld area or I will have little chance of seeing what I'm doing. Since I only have space for one table where we currently live and our next house might not even afford that much space in a garage (meaning I'd have to leave the table outside year round covered when not in use).... does anyone think I could get by with a 3' x 4'? Would that size work area provide enough surface to do most beginner projects and to attach lighting or anything else that will need to be attached or should I seriously consider finding a way to run with a 3' x 5'?  I know a 4' x 4' would stick out a little bit too much in the space I currently have to put a table.--BD1> Thanks for that visual!!! All of you male weldors wearing stiletto heels is right up there with wrestlers wearing rhinestone tiaras.
Reply:Table thickness depends a lot on what sorts of things you are going to build. A nice thick table is great when you want to beat on things, but I've worked off plenty of 1/4" to 1/2" tables with no problems. I'd go as thick as you can afford, and still be able to move and work with it.Keep in mind a 3/4" piece of steel is going to weigh a bit over 30 lbs per sf ft. So a 3x4 table will weigh about 360 + pounds just for the top alone. a 1/2" top would cut the weight down to around 240 pounds.There are plenty of table threads and cool ideas here to browse thru. Suggestions like table extensions that you can use if the work gets bigger, receivers  for mounting vises and so on to the table, yet allowing you to remove them when needed, plenty of folding designs to save space, tables on casters so you can roll them around for easy access when needed and so on.Lights... I've never been a huge fan of magnetic lights you can attach to a table. However clip on lights that you can attach to stands, rafters and so on can be quite useful. ( I keep a couple cheap clip on flood lights in the truck, as well as one of the small 150 watt clip on halogens, plus at least 1 of the floor model 500 watt ones I've added a clamp to. I used to have a couple of really nice floor stand halogen units, but I loaned them to a friend for a party at his place and they got destroyed lighting up the volley ball area. A new halogen stand light is on the around to list. Another buddy had a really nice one that even came with an attached 4 way outlet so you could plug in other things at the lights..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:you could have two guys 6 feet tall, one with real short legs and long arms, the other with real long legs and some t-rex arms, and neither of them could use  the same table..trial and error..
Reply:A 3/4" table top may be a bit much for what I think you will be needing in a welding table. Mine is 3/8" thick and is fine for what I do with it. It is 42"x60.5" and 40" tall. I have four receiver hitches on it, one at each corner to add vises and other attachments as I need them. Like DSW said, the thicker tops are better when you need to REALLY pound on something with a hammer or working on heavy weldments. But I doubt you will be swinging a hammer hard enough to bother a 3/8 inch table top with the proper framing under it. I used 2.5"x2.5"x1/4" angle iron for my frame, and if I need to beat on something hard, I make sure it is over a frame member and over a leg(2"x2"x1/4" tubing) if it get's real serious.
Reply:DSW> I won't be moving any welding table.... that's what young... strong like bull.... hairy-legged offspring are for and they're all home from college.  The 1/2" thickness would be cheaper though and it would help me make up for the extra cost of supplemental lighting that I wasn't expecting to have to buy.   --"There are plenty of table threads and cool ideas here to browse thru." I think I've found them all and read them all. Problem is there are so many genius ideas out there that I started wanting more than my wallet could afford so I took note of the very basics and called it a day. Castors are a necessity or I won't be able to park my car in the garage. Receivers I've seen. Those are wonderful. I think I'd like at least one of those but that is something that could always be added later.--weldbead> "you could have....trial and error.." You have a really valid point there. Maybe I should run with a 2.5' x 4' table for now. Less $$$ tied up in a smaller table that might ultimately have to be replaced. --Bisteneau> I'm know you're right when you put it this way, "But I doubt you will be swinging a hammer hard enough to bother a 3/8 inch table top with the proper framing under it."
Reply:Hold your arms at your side.  Crook your elbows to a 90 degree angle, like they would be if you're working, then figure it from there.You should be a reasonable distance from the top of the table with your arms crooked.  Maybe 6-12".  Or at least level with the table....an option you might consider with a grain of salt, it could cause undue strain on your arms when working.Build it, then shim it upwards with wood etc. if it needs to be higher.  You can always go higher, but it's a real challenge to make it lower"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Originally Posted by farmersamm  You can always go higher, but it's a real challenge to make it lower
Reply:I could tell from when I was welding the lines that I used muscles that I don't regularly use so over time I would suspect those muscles will build up a little bit just from practicing. I also noticed that I had to get my face in real close to what I was doing....  much closer than photos I've seen of others welding in these threads so that's going to need to be factored in also. --"Build it, then shim it upwards with wood etc. if it needs to be higher. You can always go higher, but it's a real challenge to make it lower" Great tip. Thank you for mentioning that.... I would have thought the exact opposite would have held true.adding something...Bisteneau> he's probably right because I don't have a cutting torch. I've got a Sawzall and those two grinders is all right now and after I buy the materials for a table and the lighting.... a helmet and the Miller.... I'm going to have to put a stop to buying anything but absolute necessities. I don't think Home Depot rents out cutting torches but... we've got enough wood working tools and lumber around here that I could make shims.Last edited by Equilibrium; 05-26-2014 at 06:41 PM.Reason: adding something
Reply:Originally Posted by BistineauI would think it would be easy to go lower if you have a saw or cutting torch, just cut the legs off the amount you need to lower it. Not much of a challenge in my book. Make the legs a little taller than you think you need and cut them off in increments of one inch or so as you use the table until you find just the right height for you.
Reply:Sorta"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:Im just a little taller than you, 28". You have to remember some projects that wind up on your table are tall. You gotta leave some room.I hate being bi-polar it's awsomeMy Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys
Reply:What kind of welding will you be doing? Its something to think about.. When I was in welding school some of the tables were too high for me to stick weld in if welding flat, because of the length of the electrodes. Those same tables were great for me when tig welding, sitting on a stool or standing.I'm also only a little taller than you, find a good stable step you can stand on when needed and move easily. If you are able though, make the table height adjustable. Changing height for different projects will keep from getting a sore back.Airco Ac/Dc 300 HeliwelderMillerMatic 200 (stolen)Miller Maxstar 150STLMiller AEAD200LE (welding and generating power) Hobart MIG
Reply:Originally Posted by Equilibrium I also noticed that I had to get my face in real close to what I was doing....  much closer than photos I've seen of others welding in these threads so that's going to need to be factored in also.
Reply:Build your table with NPT couplings at 30" Then it's easy to screw in nipples of varying lengths to fine tune it. I like 32"
Reply:Originally Posted by weldermikeIm just a little taller than you, 28". You have to remember some projects that wind up on your table are tall. You gotta leave some room.
Reply:Originally Posted by weldermikeIm just a little taller than you, 28".
Reply:Originally Posted by BistineauDang Mike, you look taller than that in your avatar.
Reply:weldermike> so very glad you commented. I'll run with your 28". --SquirmyPug> MIG. I got my 1st chance to weld last week and toward the end of my "session".... I realized my arms were at the wrong angle. He put some blocks out for me to stand on and I was able to get the gun in a better position above the puddle. The wood blocks he let me stand on made a tremendous difference (slaps self up side of head for missing the obvious). --An adjustable height table would sure be nice.... I saw a few here but have no clue how they made them "adjustable". I'm thinking a welding table is going to be my very 1st project. I'm only going to get one shot at whatever I do since I won't be able to get a slab of 1/2" steel as scrap. If I go for adjustable legs... they're going to need to be something simple that I could do by myself.  --DSW> I have classic old age vision issues.... I need reading glasses... my arms just aren't long enough to read a restaurant menu or the numbers of my mobile phone any longer and typing.... well.... voice to text sure comes in handy after you spend a week or so training it.  My Rx is from an ophthalmologist not an optometrist... no offense to any optometrists out there it's just that I needed an MD. I read several threads here and brought cheap cheaters with me which I wore under safety glasses he gave me to use under the hood. The AD helmets I used were too dark but leaps and bounds better than the fixed helmet he let me try for snickers and grins.... as I said to someone else... I have no clue how people made a living using those old style helmets. They have their place.... I just don't see where anyone with impaired vision could use them. Once I added soapstone marking lines to the scrap and the halogen light was turned on.... I was able to see a little better but I still had to get in close... real close. I'm going to actually have to find a head AND hand position that works for me and a helmet that has a larger viewing area than the Miller helmet that was around $125 I originally thought I'd be able to use. I'm right handed but my ocular dominance is to my left eye. This is not all that uncommon. My left eye is pretty trashed. I just explained it to someone else so here goes.... I woke up one morning feeling as if someone had plastered a black contact lens on my cornea. My husband looked.... I looked.... nothing. I flushed the eye several times... still couldn't see out of it. Was sure there was something in it.... there wasn't. The night before.... the eye was fine.... the next morning.... it was like somebody was holding up a dinner plate 10" in front of that eye moving it where ever I tried to look blocking ~ 70% of my vision. Blood vessels blew in the eye over night. It's called macular degeneration and it's not repairable. I can see around the dinner plate if I hold my head just right which.... is what I do. I made it through appleseed with this vision by modifying my rifle and I'm within 20 points of being an army expert on redman (pats self on shoulder) and I've done remarkably well with a handgun at the pistol range so.... I'll make it through welding... it just may take a little more playtime discovering and working out kinks than others have to spend before they can get going. If there's a will.... there's always a way. --Willie B> thank you for suggesting NPT couplings. I'll find out what they are.I've always heard to build the table 2" shorter than half your height. I am 5' 10" tall and my table is 34" tall and seems to be perfect for me. It is a 5'x8' and I have no problems reaching to the middle.
Reply:i've always heard about 2" shorter than your elbow joint, my current welding table has slotted chanel legs so it can be adjusted up and down. I bought it used that way.
Reply:NPT- National Pipe Taper or sometimes referred to as National Pipe Thread. It's the standard pipe tread connections used to connect "black iron" steel pipe. All the pipe parts in steel at home centers are NPT. You can get threaded flanges, couplings and so on as well as the threaded pipe for legs. Depot/Lowes will also cut and thread pipe to length if you ask so you aren't stuck with stock lengths like 24" 36" etc. In fact it's often cheaper to buy a 10' length and then have them cut and thread it vs buying shorter lengths, say 5 24" pieces. Down side is some of the guys aren't the greatest running the pipe threader and the  pipe threads don't always come out exactly the same..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 Bob & AluminumWelder.--DSW> Thanks for letting me know what that acronym stood for. I'm going to a steel yard next week. I'll take a look at any National Pipe Thread they have in stock and pick up a catalog while I'm there. That will help me out a lot. --I've been checking around for steel prices.... OMG. Evidently steel has gone up a lot in the last few years... no wonder why everything not nailed down around where I live is getting ripped off in broad daylight... including my copper wind chimes and an old steel potato fork I had leaning up against my garage. --I did want the experience of welding my own table.... now I'm not so sure. I might be better off buying something off Craigslist considering what the cost of a 3' x 8' plate is out my way. We'll see.
Reply:Locating a table is a job in it self. It is unlikely you will find what you want. See what's out there and modify and add to what YOU want. You might find a top with four legs on it of which 3 out of 4 touch the ground not to mention any type of framework . Somebody got the bug and then priorities changed, it happens. Started a new hobby and just don't have the time to finish. When I find something on Craig's list it usually a road trip. Never across the street.
Reply:What part of Illinois are you in? There is a guy in the Chicago suburbs who sells welding tables on Craigslist. His prices are pretty reasonable and I think he custom builds them as well.I would not worry too much about adjustable height. Just start with a table on the low side (28" sounds good). You can add pads, shims, casters, etc. as needed.JohnA few weldersA lot of hammersA whole lot of C-clamps
Reply:Eeesh... typo in that last post of mine. I meant to type 3' x 4' not 3' x 8'. --If this question has been asked before.... I couldn't find it. Can a slab of 2" thick marble that isn't "veiny" be used to weld on as opposed to using it as the surface of a pretty coffee table? I know where I can pick up a chunk of 2.5' x 4.5' marble free but... my little voice is screaming at me, "stupid is as stupid does". I doubt seriously if the thickest marble supported properly could withstand being hammered on. It'd probably crack apart into a thousand pieces within.... oh.... 60 seconds. However....  I use a hammer for tenderizing meat on a granite counter top and never had a problem whacking away with wild abandon in 15 years and the kids did all sorts of hammering projects on my counter tops when they were little and they never split or even cracked so I figured might as well ask even though I'm like 99.9% sure I already know the answer to the question. --And.... my neighbor mentioned checking into fractional plates of steel that could be picked up much cheaper than a standard size of say.... 3' x 4' which makes sense to me but going one step further.... is there anything wrong with trying to pick up scraps of the same thickness and piecing them together for a top something like this-That's not my photo. I found it at Instructables while trying to figure out what a welding table apron was. I still can't figure out what part of a welding table would be the apron and that's not for lack of trying. -- BD1> You're right.... I won't be able to find exactly what I want but.... I might be able to come close. A 3' x 4' plate of 1/2" steel is about $260 wit tax. When I start adding in the other materials and something to cut them with.... I'm at more than 3x the price of some of the welding tables I've seen on Craigslist and that's including gas to go get them. I've never found anything I wanted on Craigslist that in the same town I live in either. Come to think of it, I've never found anything I wanted that was in the same county. --Silicon-based> I am north of Chicago. 28" was the height I decided to try. I just need to figure out whether it's cost effective trying to build my own or not.
Reply:Check the price of 3'x4'x3/8" to see what the price difference is. This may be all you need for your table. The thicker plate helps more when you are using ALOT of heat often and heavy pounding with a hammer. Both of which may be outside your welding experience that you are going to encounter. That will leave you some cash to get the material for the legs and frame.
Reply:I take it from the silence here that y'all are too polite to spit out that even thinking about using a free slab of marble... for anything but a coffee table or the surface of a kitchen island.... was lamebrained. I'm ok with that but.... what about using scrap plates like somebody did in the photo of the welding table I posted?--Bisteneau> "Both of which may be outside your welding experience" (smile) Both of which ARE outside my experience. I figured I'd go with the 1/2" in part because every thread I read here says buy the thickest we can afford. The 3/8" thick 3' x 4' was about $200.  I might not ever be able to pound heavily enough to warp it but.... odds are one of our kids will show an interest in learning how to weld somewhere down the road. I figured for $60 more.... just buy the 1/2".
Reply:I can't answer your question about the use of the marble for a welding table top. It may be best used for a patio table or something later when you can build a nice frame for it.The use of the scrap plate you mentioned, would not be a bad idea if it is cheap enough, and you can get enough to make the size table you want. If you can get more than you need for the table, so much the better. Put it back, and use it for another project later on.I didn't give consideration to one or some of your sons using the table, so yeah you may be right in going with the heavier plate for that reason.
Reply:I'm passing on the slab of marble. I really don't have a use for it.... let it collect dust over at my brother's house. Better there taking up space than here. --That's what I was thinking about "quilting" together a top of scrap... if there even are any pieces of the same thickness available when I go to the scrap yard next week. Any left overs could be used for something like this,Or this,Aren't those genius? And they can be pushed out of the way up against a wall when not in use.--Out of the 5.... I'm banking on the one that wants to be a Missionary when he gets out of college being the 1st to show an interest. He's already hanging over my shoulder looking at photos and he pulled out a broken copper trellis and asked if it couldn't be repaired. Sooner or later.... curiosity will get the better of them and they'll probably all want to experiment.