Welding Table Project

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So I am in college again after leaving a 17 year career in the military as a firefighter.  For my fabrication classes, I decided I need a decent welding table for my home shop.  It has since gone a little over board, but I love every second if it.  A little background, the frame is all being built out of 3/16 2x3 steel tube.  Dimensions of the frame are 3x5, and about kitchen counter height (that has fluctuated a little with casters and such.  The top will have four inches of overhang all the way around.  It will be 1/2 inch thick, with slots on one half and 5/8ths holes cut on the other.  Here are pictures of the frame so far, I have the upper frame and lower shelf done.  I will be finishing the uprights and casters this week.Here is the upper frame.  The x slots will be cut in the open side.  I may knock out the extra support on the left, I haven't decided yet.  Opinions on if it is needed?The  lower frame.  It will be about 10 inches off the ground.  Recessed in so I can sit comfortably when I TIG weld.Any more suggestions?  I will be adding clamp racks and  a couple of receiver tube for tools.  I am working in a one car garage so I need everything to stay pretty modular until we build our house.  I am open to suggestions for the project.  It is the first of many more to come.
Reply:Good jobLONGEVITY 250EX w/ 25' weldcraft cs310 torchTorchmate w/ Hypertherm powermax 85   withFLASHCUT CNC PRO SERIES CONTROLS
Reply:Looking good. There's never enough room for all the toys, huh?DB
Reply:You have no idea, lol.  This is just a rental place.  I have my welding stuff, mechanic stuff, and four motorcycles stuffed in there.  Everything will be on wheels and mobile.
Reply:That is going to be a beefy welding table.  Nice work!
Reply:Looks good. Gives me some ideas.Using Tapatalk
Reply:Here's my advice,Don't get carried away with beefing up the frame. I made myself a nice, beefy frame for my tables. Made 2 that were 5x5, 5/8" thick. Frame was made out of 3" square tubing, 3/8" wall. Spent HOURS making sure the frame was perfectly flat and level. Well turns out the tops showed up in a bowl shape. Ends were probably 1" higher than the center on both sheets. When I bolted the top down, it bent the frame just slightly. Maybe not enough to bother you, but I invested big bucks in these tables and wanted them to be perfect. Across the 5' span, there was probably only about 1/16" dip in the center. So I put some washers under the top in the middle of the table, and in the middle of the 4 ends, if that makes sense. Then I countersunk holes on the top for 1/2" flat head socket cap screws and I tightend the 4 corners down until the top was perfectly flat. Nice thing about this is that as time goes on, I make further adjustments if the top warps, or flattens some. Whatever you do, do NOT weld the top to the frame!John 3:16(2) Miller Pheonix 456(2) Millermertic 252Dynasty 210DXHobart 210MVPDoringer D350 SA Cold SawScotchman 350LT Cold SawWebb 10x50 MillWebb 15x40 LatheGeka Bendicrop Ironworker
Reply:Why not do 3 more years and retire?
Reply:Originally Posted by rdop2001Why not do 3 more years and retire?
Reply:Nothing wrong with welding the top on. You just need to check your frame is flat and then check the top to decide the best way to get it as flat as possible. The top doesn't need a lot of weld but needs smart welds. The only way to get the top perfectly flat is to have the top machined or ground flat. For 99% of fab work you don't need it that flat.
Reply:Originally Posted by Welder DaveNothing wrong with welding the top on. You just need to check your frame is flat and then check the top to decide the best way to get it as flat as possible. The top doesn't need a lot of weld but needs smart welds. The only way to get the top perfectly flat is to have the top machined or ground flat. For 99% of fab work you don't need it that flat.
Reply:Unfortunately, no, I am not retired.  The Air Force cut over 15,000 people last year, terminating contracts early.  I was six months short of being able to take early retirement.  But I don't want to get into all of that here.  I am going to tack the top on in a few places.  We have the means at the school to put some serious weight on it to make sure it is flat.  I might see if the machine shop there can grind it, just for fun.  I managed to get the top frame dead flat, so that's a good start.  It is going to be a fun base to start a lot of my other projects.
Reply:Originally Posted by stinky151I am going to tack the top on in a few places.  We have the means at the school to put some serious weight on it to make sure it is flat.
Reply:A rough draft of the table top, courtesy of a friend with some CAD abilities.  I know, short one row of holes, but the finished file has them.  Gonna be sweet tomorrow!!!
Reply:Got a lot of work done on the table today, almost have it wrapped up for now.Frame all assembledPlasma table doing its thingTop attached
Reply:Table is home and in the garage.  Built this out of left overs to go along with it.Holds my little 211i, as well as a full size argon and full size CO bottle.  Need to add some stuff to it still, but pretty nice little cart.  The bottles are chained on now.  This was just for the pic.
Reply:Table looks great! How did you end up attaching the top to the frame?On the other hand, the cart looks a bit tippy to me. Pretty sure once you weight it down with some stuff on those shelves, it won't be going anywhere, however, I think I preffer a somewhat bigger footprint for such a big bottle.Keep up the good work!Mikel
Reply:1.  Thanks for your service.  2.  I'm sorry to hear that you got screwed out of retirement.  I would like to apologize on behalf of many that think that is wrong.  I know you don't want to dwell on it and I'm sorry for bringing it up - glad to hear that you have a good attitude about it.3.  The table looks great.  I like the foot pedal cut-out, and the top is awesome.4.  One of the joys of building stuff is that you build it how YOU want it.  If someone thinks it is overbuilt... good for them.  You only have to please yourself, and you have done that.5.  Size of garage is not proportional to free space.
Reply:I appreciate the kind words on the career issue.  It is what it is and I am not blaming anyone, it's a complicated story.  Best discussed in another time and place.The table MAY be overbuilt, but it's mine, and it's built how I want.  For a first project I am pretty happy with it.  The top is stitched on with a few small welds in strategic locations.  If I ever start making money I would like to replace it with a 1" Blanchard ground table cut the same way, but it's not an option now.  It fits well and works in the space I have for it.   It still has some things planned for it but I can work on them at home at my own pace now. The cart may look tippy, but I assure you it is anything but.  The bottom frame is left over 2x3x3/16ths.  It has a lot of weight to it.  The rest is only .120 tubing.  It is incredibly solid.  It too still has some things I want to do it.