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Greetings, I have been thinking of doing a heavy duty welding table that has more capabilities than my little metal table in the garage. My requirements were the following: The table must be able to hold at least 2000# in addition to its weight. I work on engines sometime and if this was a general purpose table as well, it would be nice.The table must have surfaces for cutting with my torch and plasma.The table must have a funnel to catch sparks from cutting and channel them into a removable cleaning pit.The table must have the ability to add clamps and other jigs easily.The table must be able to take the heat of torch, tig and SMAW without significant warping.Below is a picture of some initial design ideas I whipped up in my CAD program. I created the table with 1/3 as a cutting surface and 2/3 as a welding and clamping surface. The cutting area is a grid of 1/4 inch by 3 inch steel bars set on the side in slots cut in the side rails. The idea is when a slat gets damaged by cutting it can be replaced. What isnt shown in the drawing is the funnel underneath. It will be a 4 sided funnel made of 12ga sheet and leading down to a collection pot. The welding area is composed of three 12 inch wide, 1/4 inch thick steel plate. Each plate is placed 2 inches from the previous to allow the insertion of bar clamps and so on. In addition, the plates are drilled through with 1/2 inch diameter holes every 3 inches so that stainless steel bolts can go through the surface to rig up clamps. I have thought of welding the surfaces to the frame but I think it would be better to fix them with stainless steel bolts so they can be replaced when needed. The top frame is .321 wall 4" by 1.721" C channel. I opted for C channel because it is provides a clamping surface as well as being less prone to corrosion than enclosed rectangular tube since air and moisture cant get trapped inside like a tube.The legs are currently designed as 4" x 5" x 1/4" rectangular tube though I might try to go C Channel here as well. I will have to brace them a bit more against racking other than the welds holding them. I havent put those braces in the drawing yet. The legs sit on heavy duty double locking casters from northern tool.The whole thing weighs, by my calculation of volume vs .35# per cubic inch of steel, 471# as currently designed which is making me wonder if I am getting too extreme in the engineering here. Perhaps I can use C channel with a shorter web (3" maybe) or thinner walls. The top surfaces do need ot be 1/4 at least for heat warping reasons since I use a torch a lot. However I am thinking the legs are perhaps too big and I could get by with C channel and a plate welded to the end of the channel to bolt the casters to. Comments? Attached ImagesMiller Syncrowave 200 Runner (Home)Victor Journeyman Torch Rig (Home)Jet Horizontal and Vertical BandsawMiller Spectrum 375 (Next on the List)
Reply:The taper on the C channel may give you issues clamping. I've run into that issue before. I'd also go way heavier than 1/4" on a top designed to take 2K on it. While we used to move heavy items with the loader bucket, with very heavy buckets you could see the floor flex. We had a 1 1/2" thick bench we used to work on heavy items. If you choose heavy plate, then over hang it by 2-3" and just clamp to the top plate. Personally I'd suggest 2 tables, one to cut on and one to work at. That cutting area will be worthless space when working on a project, unless you design it to be covered with plate. You will then need a good way to secure the plate to a surface that may be irregular from cutting. You will definitely have issues loading that area with a 2K item. That means heavy plate secured with bolts, but then you have the issue with removing it to cut..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:Originally Posted by DSWThe taper on the C channel may give you issues clamping. I've run into that issue before. I'd also go way heavier than 1/4" on a top designed to take 2K on it. While we used to move heavy items with the loader bucket, with very heavy buckets you could see the floor flex. We had a 1 1/2" thick bench we used to work on heavy items. If you choose heavy plate, then over hang it by 2-3" and just clamp to the top plate. Personally I'd suggest 2 tables, one to cut on and one to work at. That cutting area will be worthless space when working on a project, unless you design it to be covered with plate. You will then need a good way to secure the plate to a surface that may be irregular from cutting. You will definitely have issues loading that area with a 2K item. That means heavy plate secured with bolts, but then you have the issue with removing it to cut.
Reply:i think 4x5" 1/4 wall might be over kill for your 1/4" plates. I have a 48x48x1/2" on 2x2x1/8" tubing. I have no doubt it will hold 2000lbs.Maybe the trick is to use smaller tubing or smaller C channels and brace them correctly. 2x2x1/4" if braced correctly should be able to hold 2000 lbs.as for thickness of the top, some are happy with 1/4" some say at least 1.5"... it really depends on what you're welding. somebody making one-off-artsy-fartsy metal lamps dont need a 2" thick welding table, while 1/4" thick might not be enough to hold up a big V8 engine block (i dont know, i dont weld engine blocks, but you get the drift.)i too have limited space, two car garage that has a car and a motorcycle parked INSIDE every day. just make a smaller cutting table, perhaps a foldable one. love the idea of the holes on the top for clamping, btw. wish i had the foresight to do that when i was building my table.
Reply:You could do a solid top with a pull out grill for cutting over, like a drawer without a bottom.My name's not Jim.... |
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发表于 2021-9-1 00:38:00