Any Good Fab Tables out there?

[CPK_Jim]

Well, I want to build a nice fabrication table, and am wondering what you guys use. So anyone have any good ideas for fab tables?


Thanks,

Jim

[Scratch]

I did alot of searching when I built my table too. Here's some pics of what I did.
I ended up getting a 4' by 6' piece of 1" steel plate for free, that sat around my shop for about 6 months before I started the build.
I built the frame using 1/4" wall 2" OD square tubing.

I made the legs out of receiver tube, so I can use the same 2" OD tube, on the legs for adjustability. I plan on (but haven't yet) using 900 pound capacity locking scaffold casters for the wheels.
I also used receiver tube for "extensions" to the table. You can see them in some of the first pics. The extension is a 48" X 6" piece of 1/4" steel bent at 90 degrees and welded to the 2" tubes. It stays on the end of the table but I can also move it to the front of the table if I need to. You can see the legs on the floor of the first pic.

table_11.jpg

I also added some angle on the two ends for clamps. I thought about this way too much though...
Should I use round bar, square bar, or angle?
What would be the best shape for the largest variety of possible clamps?
How large of material should I use?
What thickness?
Maybe flat bar would be better?
Which design will attract the most chicks?
In the end, I went with 1? angle, and tried a bunch of different clamps on it. I?m happy with it. And the chicks dig it.

table_7.jpg

I saw on the History Channel that cavemen used to clamp their work leads to the "Edge" of the table when they welded. What a bunch of Neanderthalls... I aint no caveman so I made four of these and welded them on.

table_8.jpg

Was thinking about using some sort of ?grate? or extruded metal for the lower shelf so it would stay cleaner but then realized that I have another table with that on the lower shelf and I?ve covered it a sheet of plywood because stuff kept falling through so I found some 16 gauge sheet laying around, and screwed that down in case I do decide to change it in the future.

table_9.jpg

Was going to go with 6 outlet power strips on each corner but didn?t like the look of any of them so I just went with 4 outlets on each corner instead. If I did it over again, I?d move the work lead locations down about an inch or so but there?s still plenty of room there.

table_12.jpg

Ran all the wire in Flexible metal conduit for protection and coolness...

table_13.jpg

And capped it all off with a 25 foot, 12 gauge Hi-Visibility cord and some wrap up posts.

table_14.jpg

Here it is with the 1? table top on it. And just in case you and 14 of your friends decided to come and carry it away, I decided to put a label on it to identify it for the cops.

table_15.jpg

Here is the extension slid out. It?ll go out about 40? safely, at least that's what OSHA tells me?

table_17.jpg

Oh yeah? here's a shot o it pulled out of the end of the table, and slid into the front, in case I ever need the table wider.

table_18.jpg

[Scratch]

Saw one of these on another forum somewhere and thought until I get holes cut in my table top, it'd be handy. And Boy I tell ya... having a holster on my old table, then not having one on my new table was really annoying right away!
Anyways... thought I'd post up a pic of it in case somebody might see the need for one, it's kinda handy!

mig_holster.jpg

So here's what I'm thinking for the table top. The top will overhang the frame by 4" on all sides. These are 1/2" round holes spaced 12" on center, 1" square holes for my Hardy tools spaced 6" on center, and a couple 2" square holes for possibly something involving 2" square tube...? I know a guy with one of those fancy CNC plasma table-y things and I'm hoping I can sweet talk him into cutting me these holes out... we'll see if he's up to it or not.

welding_table_top.gif

Hope this gives you some good ideas of stuff to do to your table. Post up some pics when your done!

[Scratch]

Oops I just realized a most of those pics are pretty big.... sorry admin.

[fyrpower]

Nothing fancy, I use 2, 10' long I beams with a 6" flange. Legs welded on like saw horses, You can adjust them to any width and the 6" flange makes it easy to clamp work down. works great.......

[plain ol Bill]

Now that is a fab table! Looks like you have hardy holes, pritchel holes etc in there too. Nice looking leg vise in the one pic. Are you into forging too?

[Scratch]

Now that is a fab table! Looks like you have hardy holes, pritchel holes etc in there too. Nice looking leg vise in the one pic. Are you into forging too?

Yes I am. Love working with metal any way I can.

[CPK_Jim]

Now that is a fab table! Looks like you have hardy holes, pritchel holes etc in there too. Nice looking leg vise in the one pic. Are you into forging too?

Pardon my newbness on this one but, what are hardy holes and pritchel holes.

Looks like you have a nice table scratch!!! Great luck on someone giving you that sheet of 1". I called for some prices and its not too cheap, but not bad for what you are getting. I too am going to put some sort of hole pattern in the table top but I was thinking 1/2" dowel holes and tapped holes spaced about every 6". I still have a good connection at the shop I used to work for and they have a blanchard grinder so i was thinking on having the top ground and having them put the dowels in. I fugure with the dowel holes i can make different jigs that drop into extact placement, but im not sure if this is taking it too far, lol.

[Scratch]

Now that is a fab table! Looks like you have hardy holes, pritchel holes etc in there too. Nice looking leg vise in the one pic. Are you into forging too?

Pardon my newbness on this one but, what are hardy holes and pritchel holes.

Hardy holes and Pritchel holes are what they call the big square hole, and smaller round hole on the face of an anvil. The square hardy hole is somewhere around one inch by one inch square and is used for putting in hardy tools like dies, cutoff tools or pretty much any type of tool that you want to be temporarily mounted to a solid object like an anvil.

The round pritchel hole is around a half inch and is used for punching out pieces and prying and stuff.

[howdaydodat]

Wow, kinda scarey! your table is way tooo much like mine, .... but I used a peice of 3" angle on two sides with the corner left open... will try to post a pic later...
but anyway.... the angle used as a trough makes 90 degree joints on pipe real easy... just lay them in the trough and, with the open corner you can weld the entire joint without having to move the parts. Its real handy if work with round stock...
hope this is useful for someone.
thanks for the great reading.
Tatum

[admin]

Wow, kinda scarey! your table is way tooo much like mine, .... but I used a peice of 3" angle on two sides with the corner left open... will try to post a pic later...
but anyway.... the angle used as a trough makes 90 degree joints on pipe real easy... just lay them in the trough and, with the open corner you can weld the entire joint without having to move the parts. Its real handy if work with round stock...
hope this is useful for someone.
thanks for the great reading.
Tatum

That's a great idea Tatum, I'm going to use that one.

Admin