parasonic

So, I totally got my Syncrowave 350. I need to come up with a design for a steel workbench. It will be a while before I have the funds for such an item, but I'd like to start planning now. I can come up with designs, but it would be nice to build one that's more than just a basic table. Some of you have experience in this area. What works for you?

Engloid

Congrats.
Did you get a NEW machine?

If money is an issue, you can use wood for your legs and supports, but a metal top is a good idea... It the top is too thin, it will want to warp up when you put hot stuff on it.

parasonic

Egh. I'll probably save and not necessarily say, "money is no object," but.....
I'd prefer all-metal construction, something that I can disassemble with bolts to move it. I will also put enough money in to get a nice huge slab of 1/4" steel.

The welding machine is used. It was a Christmas present, so it cost about 1/3 to 1/2 that of a new machine. It came from a machine shop, works well, and definitely hasn't failed me yet. It would be nice if it had a pulser feature, but I don't think that I'm going to find that add-on anywhere. I have the 350 model that's about 5 to 10 years old.

philipwight

four our table we bout two 20 foot sticks of 4x4 tubing and a 1/2 inch think top that was 4x8 or a little more and welded taht up. cost a pretty penny but the out come was very nice.

the top alone was over $200

david@didrace.com

We have a welding table made out of 8"x 4" Aluminum "I" channel. It came with the shop when we moved in. It's about 10' x 5' x 3.5'. The bench probably weighs 500 lbs (completely rough estimate) and can only be moved with a fork lift.

I'll take a picture of it when I get some more time.

mike_belben@yahoo.com

i have a heavy steel cart on steel casters with a clean surface plate and a vice on one corner. all the clamps hang on the push/pull handle of it which is also good for propping things up when welding. the other table we have was a 4 spindle drill press table,, solid steel, forkliftable only. perfectly falt, lots of jigging holes, etc. ive seen quit a few get tossed out during old industrial plant closures and things like that. ours was free. keep your eyes peeled at the local mills/foundry.

Goullish

Sorry for the blurry pic and the ugly guy taking up most of it...



I can't remember the name of the company that made our table top, I'll try to get it for you later. They make smaller one's as well.

This would probably be way out of your price range (no insult intended, it's way out of mine too, University funds are nice), but just to show you what you could do with a thicker piece of steel if you wanted to spend a lot of time doing this sort of thing yourself. The holes you see in the table are 1/4 coarse threaded, in a 1x1x1 pattern (The larger holes hold stands, like the one's in chemistry lab). Our table really becomes it's own jig many times. When that's not an option, it's really easy to make plates and extrusions to hold parts (See the jig coming up, to the far right. That took about 10 minutes to make, so simple.)

Plus, if you did it yourself, you could do just a small section, or whatever size grid pattern you wished. All it would take is some patience and a good bullet tap.

Cons about Ours: Under each hole is a nylon cup, the bottom is not open. To clean them out, you have to use high velocity air blowing across the hole to "suck" everything out. To clean the whole table, it takes about 5-6 hours to do it right. Needless to say, we don't do it that often.

It's also incredably heavy, with the network of 2x2x.125 holding it up. It takes 6-7 guys to just slid it across the shop floor (which is smooth)

Ca$h

Check out some welding forums. I prefer the hobart forum http://hobartwelders.com/mboard/ use the search, alot of great ideas and pictures available.

parasonic

Weird. This showed up at the top of my post favorites the other day...and it showed no author...and when I clicked, no new messages to the thread:

Good welding bench plans Contains Images
Forum » Welding/Fabrication
Creator » parasonic 7:49 PM 1/30/2005 <---updated ???