I have a heavy duty 3'X5"wood work bench and I want to turn it into A welding table. What kind of steel should I use and how thick for the work top? thanks

 

Are you going to be welding on it? If so I'd go as thick as you can. I have a 1" thick top on my table.

 

I have a regular wood table for home use kinda like those folding ones at sam's or costco. For the part where I weld, I have a 3' x 3' x 1" aluminum sheet on it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by paulzy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a regular wood table for home use kinda like those folding ones at sam's or costco. For the part where I weld, I have a 3' x 3' x 1" aluminum sheet on it.</TD></TR></TABLE>


HAHA, 1 inch "Sheet". I think at that point it's well into PLATE territory.

 

I have 1 table that's 3/16 and one that's 1/2". Both are fine, i'm not sure what the fascination is with ridiculously thick tops.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have 1 table that's 3/16 and one that's 1/2". Both are fine, i'm not sure what the fascination is with ridiculously thick tops.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Its not the thickness, its the motion....

I'm using like 3/16 but below that is spacers then wood, we get wood for free so I took advantage of using wood. Never had an issue at all with fire, although my beard does occasionally catch flames.

 

My welding table is 2" thick 4ft long and 3 ft deep. I have yet to warp it like my 1/2" thick one which looks likes ocean waves. I went 2" because I was at the scrapyard and saw this piece of material fresh from shop that was a internal drop with rounded corner etcs. Cost $230 and weighed like 600lbs.

Tony I dont have a fascination with thick welding tops its more about functionality. Ive warped and bent 1/2" tops but then again I dont do Autoparts I have a vise bolted to mine so I can give stuff a good beating when needed.

 

What are you welding that is warping a 1/2" steel plate?

As far as i know, neither of mine are warped, and if they are, i could care less, it doesn't affect my work. It's not like i'm using the table as a frame jig or something.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
It's not like i'm using the table as a frame jig or something.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Or are you, that would explain why all my obx manifolds are warped... burn.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Howitt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My welding table is 2" thick 4ft long and 3 ft deep. I have yet to warp it like my 1/2" thick one which looks likes ocean waves. I went 2" because I was at the scrapyard and saw this piece of material fresh from shop that was a internal drop with rounded corner etcs. Cost $230 and weighed like 600lbs.

Tony I dont have a fascination with thick welding tops its more about functionality. Ive warped and bent 1/2" tops but then again I dont do Autoparts I have a vise bolted to mine so I can give stuff a good beating when needed. </TD></TR></TABLE>

that is ridiculous, what are you welding 3/4" I beams?

 

prolly at least 4'' bro.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by h22chilton &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">prolly at least 4'' bro. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Is that a joke ? 4 inches, are you guys parking cars on these table tops. A 4 inch piece of table tob, 12 inch by 12 inches would need a jack to get up there.

 

I have a 2' x 2' 3/4" thick plate I think its AR plate too ? i just slap down on my rolling bench works nice for home stuff.

i think 3/8 or 1/2" plate would work with some flat bar or angle stiched down in a grid on the back side would work nice for home use.

 

The table warped when we were doing production welding with a jig on top, about 7-8 hours a day of continuous mig welding. We welded day after day week after week, different jigs put heat in different spots. The parts we were welding were 1/2" thick about the size of a pizza box
Then if you just tried to weld something with out a jig you couldnt even lay items out flat

 

Yeah, i think for the other 98% of the world, 1/2" is more than sufficient.

 

i had 25 safes i got from banks going out of business all filled up with molten steel then allowed to cool. i then had a machine shop make them all perfectly square. then i drilled them and put dowel pins in them and connected them together to form my table. i go through like 5 safes a week because i warped the **** out of them making my aluminum downpipes for my friends. the dowel pins let me replace them when they warped. **** looked like river rapids it was so warped.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony1 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i'm not sure what the fascination is with ridiculously thick tops.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Mine wasn't a fascination, My top was given to me for free when I bought my drill press from a local guy who shut down. So instead of buying sheets to make a welding table, I just used what was laying around

 

So how do you take care of it? just wipe it down with wd40? But if you do does it get over your metal and contaminate your welds?

 

I don't do any thing to it, if there is rust on it i just buff it with a wire wheel on my grinder. It shouldn't rust much at all if its indoor, even if you spill water on it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hootiehoo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i had 25 safes i got from banks going out of business all filled up with molten steel then allowed to cool. i then had a machine shop make them all perfectly square. then i drilled them and put dowel pins in them and connected them together to form my table. i go through like 5 safes a week because i warped the **** out of them making my aluminum downpipes for my friends. the dowel pins let me replace them when they warped. **** looked like river rapids it was so warped.</TD></TR></TABLE>

honestly the funniest thing ive read for a while

 

so is aluminum top bad? i was gonna go with like 3/4 or 1" aluminum top.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDMorgan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so is aluminum top bad? i was gonna go with like 3/4 or 1" aluminum top.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I use aluminum with no problems.

 

My next table is going to be a slab of aluminum with some holes drilled and tapped on it.

 

Depends on what your doing. For the fabwork that I do, my table frame is made out of 14" I-beams with a 2" thick top. But for most DIY at home 1/2" steel top is more than sufficient. I personally would not use aluminum just for the possiblity of needing to weld a part down to the table.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HT Chaplain &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">So how do you take care of it? just wipe it down with wd40? But if you do does it get over your metal and contaminate your welds?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Acetone.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Howitt &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The table warped when we were doing production welding with a jig on top, about 7-8 hours a day of continuous mig welding. We welded day after day week after week, different jigs put heat in different spots. The parts we were welding were 1/2" thick about the size of a pizza box
Then if you just tried to weld something with out a jig you couldnt even lay items out flat</TD></TR></TABLE>

I should of known, coming from the guy that does everything huge