I've been browsing through this forum for the past year or so checking out everyone's projects. I got hooked and really wanted to get a welder and start doing projects of my own. My fiance told me I had to take a welding class to learn how to work the machines so I dont shock myself to death! LOL. Well, I did and after about 2-3 weeks I found a great deal on a dynasty 200dx on craigslist and I jumped on it. Since then I stopped going to class because I figured I could practice on my own. I started by welding up my 3in exhaust in my small 1-car garage but with the small space I got tired of banging stuff around trying to find good position to weld. I pretty much stopped welding until now...I moved in to a new house with a 2-car garage and plenty of space now so I decided to make myself a dedicated welding/work area and that included a welding table! The purpose of this thread is mostly to get some critizism on my welds so see the pics below.

The welder was set at 90amps with the gas flow at 15cfh.














This is my garage. Still not organized but it should be soon LOL. Moving sucks!

 

Just something great about everytime I see a picture with the colorchange in the metal on welds, its almost like artwork. Nice table, maybe you can replace my plastic card table one of these days? LoL

 

nice garage, looks nice and big for working on projects. don't **** off the wifey too much with em thou

 

I dont think that can happen. I noticed her peeking into the garage while I was working on it and she was enjoying watching me work. She is always impressed with what I do, way more than I am with myself! It makes her happy to see me happy which is why I am with her

 

LOL yeah it is pretty cool. The welds on this table are actually the best I have done in terms of gas coverage. Most of the welds I did on my exhaust were more on the grayish side. After each weld I flipped up my visor and saw how "pretty" it looked and yelled in my head "LOOK WHAT I HAVE CREATED!" just like Tom Hanks in Cast Away! LOL

 

Is the top 1/4?? Pretty sturdy? Looks nice

 

Looks good, but that brace across the front is gonna be a PITA w/ trying to run the pedal.

 

run the pedal out side the brace....
nice work man

 

Have to lean that far over a bunch for an extended amount of time will take a huge toll on the back. Its nice to be able to sit under your bench in an upright position.

 

The top is 1/4in and measures 2.5ft x 5ft. The table height is at 33.5in. I drew the table plans on paper and figured out what lengths I needed to make it and ordered the metal cut to length. I did not realize how expensive metal was until I put the order in. The table came out very sturdy and sits completely flat.

I thought about putting the front brace at the top so that I would not have to reach for the pedal if it was inside but I sat in front with the pedal inside and its perfect. I dont have to reach for it.

How do you guys have your vice set up? Is it bolted to the table or does it just sit on top? The one I have will just tip over when I open it enough to hold anything larger than 2.5in piping but I am afraid of drilling holes in the table to bolt it down and then realize it is in the way. Maybe i need a heavier vice?

 

HF has some pretty beefy vices for fairly cheap. Secure it to the top with a nice c-clamp, and you should be alright, unless you plan on pounding crap in the vice.

 

I'll have to swing buy HF and pick one up. I have a 20% off coupon so I'll buy some other stuff while I'm there.

 

You have 75% of your weld down! Gas coverage and heat are damn near perfect, all you have to work on is your torch stability and filler rhythm.

 

Thanks! I am working on it but I feel that the torch I have is too big and heavy. I believe I have the Weldcraft WP-26 so its diameter is pretty big. Also two lines(power and gas) going to it make it pretty heavy. I am sure I just need more practice but do you think it will be easier if I step down to say a WP-17? I dont think I need a 200amp air cooled torch although I am just swap it if I am going to weld anything on higher amps.

 

I use this everyday...
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=94429

retails 79, but I got it on sale for 49 last year. Use it for CV joints, trans rebuilding(with soft jaws), holder for a BFH, etc

 

Thats a beefy one! I'll add that to my shopping list. Thanks!

 

thats a nice table skip the WP-17 and go with a WP-9,its smaller and all the front end parts(nozzles,collets,gas lens...) are interchangeable with the water coled WP-20 if you later decide to upgrade.

is that a 55 chevy you got there?

 

You dont think it will get too hot? Are those amp ratings pretty conservative?
Yeah thats a 55 Chevy. Its my fiance's car and I will be doing some work on it when I get the chance. Maybe some headers and exhaust when I get more practice and the tools.

 

your lady's car... thats awesome

weldcraft's amperage rating is at 100% duty cycle, if you hold your torch by handle you can crank-up the amps and go to town with it but if you have the habit of holding the torch by the neck it will get hot.. assuming your just welding parts for your car/hobby you should be fine with the wp-9.

 

I would just drill holes for your vice and back them up with some scrap plate since the top is only 1/4". Even if you end up taking it off, it's great to have some extra holes in your table. You can use them to bolt down fixtures and bend rods and things like that.

 

Lawlz you beat me to it... been there, done that and hated it. Angle grinder w/ cutoff wheel FTW.

 

yea thats what i was going to say too.i welded at a job for several months on a table that had a shelf maybe two feet off the ground.right where your shin would hit it sitting in a chair.so my table at home has no side braces.just braces on the sort ends.

nice job on the table.its a bitch filling that big round edge on that thick wall tubing?makes a huge gap.

 

as i scrolled down your welds got better and better haha

 

All in all, everything looks great. Like Agtronic said, gas coverage and heat are right on the money. The consistency will come with practice. Most of the welds have alot of undercut, but welding tubing, "end to side" is a hard joint and requires alot of filler. One part is beveled(the side of the tubing), and the cut piece is squared off, which gives a weird joint. Youll just need to add more rod until you see the joint "fill up".
Keep it up though. Looks great! I concur that its awesome your old lady has a 55 Chevy! HAHA

Kyle

 

I know! LOL. This is because I was welding it on the floor so I had to press the pedal with my knee! I felt uncomfortable because I had not done that before but I got the hang of it pretty quick.


I did notice I was not filling up the gaps when I was welding but those helped keep the the top sheet flat onto the its cross supports. When I place the frame on the top sheet it all was touching so I did not have to fill up gaps along those supports, although that is not why I left them undercut! LOL. Just happened to work that way.