Solid Plate Table, or Movable Strips of Plate?

[Guy Caballero]

I'm a hobby welder. I have a 2' by 3' Klutch table, which is fantastic for the money, but I recently built a 4'-square shooting bench from 2"-square tubing, and I realized it was time for a bigger table.

I am tempted to build my own table, because I'm cheap. I was thinking I might get a piece of 3/8" or 1/2" plate and drill 5/8" fixturing holes in it. I would have to pay for a piece of ground plate. While I was considering this, I started to wonder if it would be better to make a table from several 6" by 1/2" strips of plate. I have a mill, so I can fly-cut them instead of paying for grinding, and I would be able to drill the holes on the mill instead of renting a magnetic drill.

My thinking was that if I had a table with a top made of strips, I could fix them so they could be moved back and forth, opening gaps between them so things could stick through under the table when needed.

I was originally going to do a 3' by 4' table, but now I'm thinking 2.5' by 5' would actually be more useful.

I thought I'd post my half-baked ideas here and see if anyone felt like giving me advice.

[camfab]

I'm a hobby welder. I have a 2' by 3' Klutch table, which is fantastic for the money, but I recently built a 4'-square shooting bench from 2"-square tubing, and I realized it was time for a bigger table.

I am tempted to build my own table, because I'm cheap. I was thinking I might get a piece of 3/8" or 1/2" plate and drill 5/8" fixturing holes in it. I would have to pay for a piece of ground plate. While I was considering this, I started to wonder if it would be better to make a table from several 6" by 1/2" strips of plate. I have a mill, so I can fly-cut them instead of paying for grinding, and I would be able to drill the holes on the mill instead of renting a magnetic drill.

My thinking was that if I had a table with a top made of strips, I could fix them so they could be moved back and forth, opening gaps between them so things could stick through under the table when needed.

I was originally going to do a 3' by 4' table, but now I'm thinking 2.5' by 5' would actually be more useful.

I thought I'd post my half-baked ideas here and see if anyone felt like giving me advice.

Not really half baked. Sounds like your describing a Strong Hand table. For obvious reasons, the thicker the better. If you own a mill, your probably aware that steel plate is generally no where near flat, so add the loss of material during milling over distance and your plates are getting thinner. If you could source some cast nodular iron scrap you'd really score as it tends to be more stable, especially if machined.

[whtbaron]

I see you are fairly new here... if you haven't already, check out the welding table thread under the stickies... lots of good ideas there.

[walker]

Stop thinking about grinding it. The hot rolled mill scale is very useful, as welding BBs dont stick to it. It is very hard and helps to keep things from digging it. 1/2 plate is goodfor a solid top. I would go thicker if using strips. I have been working off solid tables for most of my working life. For the limited times you need a clamp in the middle of the table just tack the piece to the table.
If you can do 3x4, and 2.5x 5, why not do 3x5. The bigger the better.

[smithdoor]

I make my tables out scrap.
But like angle iron for clapping it needs to space for claps for table.

Dave

I'm a hobby welder. I have a 2' by 3' Klutch table, which is fantastic for the money, but I recently built a 4'-square shooting bench from 2"-square tubing, and I realized it was time for a bigger table.

I am tempted to build my own table, because I'm cheap. I was thinking I might get a piece of 3/8" or 1/2" plate and drill 5/8" fixturing holes in it. I would have to pay for a piece of ground plate. While I was considering this, I started to wonder if it would be better to make a table from several 6" by 1/2" strips of plate. I have a mill, so I can fly-cut them instead of paying for grinding, and I would be able to drill the holes on the mill instead of renting a magnetic drill.

My thinking was that if I had a table with a top made of strips, I could fix them so they could be moved back and forth, opening gaps between them so things could stick through under the table when needed.

I was originally going to do a 3' by 4' table, but now I'm thinking 2.5' by 5' would actually be more useful.

I thought I'd post my half-baked ideas here and see if anyone felt like giving me advice.

[Guy Caballero]

Not really half baked. Sounds like your describing a Strong Hand table. For obvious reasons, the thicker the better. If you own a mill, your probably aware that steel plate is generally no where near flat, so add the loss of material during milling over distance and your plates are getting thinner. If you could source some cast nodular iron scrap you'd really score as it tends to be more stable, especially if machined.

I am thinking of something like a Strong Hand table, but I want to be able to move the plates.

Unfortunately, I am in the country in Florida, so I don't have a bunch of big Rust Belt scrap dealers in my area. I pretty much have to take what I can get.

[walker]

One of the other reasons I suggest not to grind it is that the first time you clamp something to it, or apply force, or heat, then you just lost the flatness that you spend so much effort getting.

[Guy Caballero]

How do you get things to lie flat on a crooked table? Avoiding the aggravation of making a flat table would be wonderful, but I want to be able to make things that are straight and square.

To make my shooting bench, I started out with two tubes about 3.5 feet long, and I clamped them down at 90° to each other, and I clamped a 27" bench leg to both at 90°. I had to go around the bench welding the other legs and parts on in similar fashion. How would I pull this off on a table that wasn't flat?

My Northern Tool table is about 1/16" higher in the center than at the sides, but other than that, it seems pretty good.

[camfab]

How do you get things to lie flat on a crooked table? Avoiding the aggravation of making a flat table would be wonderful, but I want to be able to make things that are straight and square.

To make my shooting bench, I started out with two tubes about 3.5 feet long, and I clamped them down at 90° to each other, and I clamped a 27" bench leg to both at 90°. I had to go around the bench welding the other legs and parts on in similar fashion. How would I pull this off on a table that wasn't flat?

My Northern Tool table is about 1/16" higher in the center than at the sides, but other than that, it seems pretty good.

Yeah I hear you, after 25+ years of fighting a warped table, I took the plunge and bought a dead flat table. Wish I had done it when I had eagle vision. Anyway, half the enjoyment of being a hobbyist is being creative and designing something you can be proud of. The way I always made large things flat was/is by working off my concrete garage floor. Take a large level and find the high spot, from that point work outwards and use thin wedges to get your entire base perfectly flat. It's time consuming, but you'd be surprised how perfect you can make it with patience. Good Luck

[walker]

You can make hings flat in a crooked table, but that is another topic altogether. Since you have not had a table, much less a flat table or a crooked table, you are misunderstanding then need for flatness. You are thinking that it needs to be within a few thou in order to build things on that are flat, and you are wrong. When you clamp a piece of tube to the table (the tube BTW is 2” out of true because it was cut from a 40’ piece picked up in the center by a forklift) and while the untrue tube did flatten out quite a bit, your table flexed up to meet it some too. So there never is a flat table until you really get into a cast iron acorn or something like that. The certiflat and 1/4” piece together tables seem nice, until you have a thousand pound weldment on it, or you drop it too fast while flipping it over, they are never flat again.
If you take a piece of run of the mill 1/2” plate, and build a frame for it that is stout you can level out he plate while tacking it down with shims and do a pretty decent job of it. It is still going to flex a bit. But ince you have leveled it out you can get it to within a 32nd end to end pretty easily. This is closer tolerance then a lot of folks can cut their steel to, much less deal with warpage during welding, so it doesn’t need to be a great deal flatter than that.
When you need to get tighter than that you start by shimming your piece off the table, then shimming up or down using a laser or machinist level. You would still need to do this on a table you had blanchard ground, as little welding bbs and grinding dust can cause issues there.

If you insist on milling, or having it ground you can use a comparitor with a surface plate on your pieces, then, as soon as you get them all tacked down try it again. You will find that it is worse than when you started. Its kind of like chucking something in your lathe and turning it to perfection, taking it out, then rechucking it to find out it is off by a couple thou after. It is a moving target and hitting it twice is hard.

[Guy Caballero]

Maybe I didn't make my requirements all that clear. I don't need a table to be flat within a few thousandths, and I don't plan to use it to straighten heavy tubing. As I said, my current table has a 1/16" crown (1/32" per side), and it works fine. What I don't want is a table with 1/8" variations all over it. I don't want everything I put on the table to be 1/8" off the surface at one end when the other is against the table's surface.

I have created a number of mobile bases on my table, and I learned to be very careful about clamping things square before welding. It's so easy to end up with a 4-wheeled base with only three wheels that actually touch the floor.

The tubing I used for my shooting bench wasn't crooked at all. It was very straight, because it was short. As a 40-foot piece, it may have been bent, but the 3.5-foot pieces I used laid flat on the table. A two-foot carpenter's square laid against them just fine, with no serious gaps.

I didn't use clamps to straighten it. I used clamps to hold it against reference surfaces so I would know the project was square when I welded it. I don't know how to square material up prior to welding, on a table with big bumps and bends in it. It sounds a lot like welding on a lumpy garage floor. I would like to have a table flat enough to avoid fighting with it.

As for milling, I wasn't hoping to create perfect surfaces. I just want to make them as flat as, say, a well-made dining table or kitchen counter.

If I had metal that was so crooked I couldn't square it up, I would probably try to straighten it with a torch instead of hoping clamps would do it. I don't know a lot about welding, but using force to take bends out of 2" tubing sounds like desperation. I would think even a hydraulic press would be easier than wrestling with it.

[walker]

A piece of 1/2” plate is more than likely well within your tolerance, any minor deviations are easy to fix.
Clamping to straighten tubing works very well. Using the torch is maybe step two or three. I work with tubing and plate all day every day. Start with what is easy.

[mbarasing]

It's so easy to end up with a 4-wheeled base with only three wheels that actually touch the floor.

I have always liked 3-legged furniture and have several tables/chairs I built with 3 legs. It's always stable. Of course, I'm used to working in dirt and am only just now accommodating to shop life.

Here is a 3-legged shooting bench I built out of left over wood when I built the shooting pavilion. Stools wobble, table is solid.

[BD1]

My main table is 1 and 1/4" thick and 4'x4'and solid.
For what I do one flat surface is best.
It depends on what type of work you'll be doing. I never had any issues clamping anything down.
If I had slats, I'd always be picking up something that fell between them.
Same with drilled holes, I wouldn't even consider it.
I've pulled and straighten on my table. I would never try that with slots.
It comes down to what your needs and uses are.
If you go slats, you could always have a one piece of plate to set on top.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[86turbodsl]

It sounds like you want very flat. There are surplus cast iron acorn tables in toledo that show up on an eBay search. Maybe a quick way to get what you want for no real work.

Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk

[G-ManBart]

It sounds like you want very flat. There are surplus cast iron acorn tables in toledo that show up on an eBay search. Maybe a quick way to get what you want for no real work.

That's Yoder in Toledo....they just advertised 4x4 platen table tops for $500.

[86turbodsl]

DAMN! They dropped the price again?? I might have to go get one! 80 miles away.

[G-ManBart]

DAMN! They dropped the price again?? I might have to go get one! 80 miles away.

I just saw that price in an e-mail from them recently. I'm only about 45min away and keep thinking maybe I'll buy one even thought I've already got some good tables.....hard to resist!