Made some progress on the bench Sunday.

Started out by clamping the 4 pieces that make up one side leg together and down to the top sitting on a couple other pieces of tube.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-L..._105851-X2.jpg

Then took it all apart so I could drill a couple holes in the top piece with the drill press to put bolts in to hold vice mounts in place once finished...then clamped it back down again.

Started running beads and tweaking the welder settings but I couldn't get it to make enough heat just plugged into the 120v outlet near the hoist.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-T..._114314-X2.jpg

So I moved everything to the back of the shop where my 240v plug is and started over tweaking the settings.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-j..._120931-XL.jpg

It went MUCH easier with the 240v feeding the Miller.

Got one side done and ground down the crappy welds before calling it a day.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-B..._124216-X2.jpg

Here's what the floor locks and casters will look like once attached to the legs...

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-Q..._093547-X2.jpg

Things should go much faster the next time I get the welder out, hopefully later this week.

Put a bit more time in on the welder this morning. I ran out of 0.24 wire so I put my roll of 0.30 wire in and put the Miller 211 on "autoset" just to see how it would be different.

This was the first weld on autoset...

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-r..._094540-XL.jpg

After a few welds I liked the higher heat but it was feeding wire too fast for me so I slowed the wire speed down...then started practicing with different positions.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-v..._100155-XL.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-P..._100202-XL.jpg

Overall I'm pretty pleased with how my welding is progressing. I'm still having to grind quite a bit but I'm able to leave some un-ground without being too embarrassed to have them show...

Got both side legs ready, next I'll be working on the cross pieces putting them all together as one.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-M..._103732-X2.jpg

If I could ever get more than an hour or two at a time to work on this, I'd be making much more progress on it. That said...it became much more "bench looking" today.

Got the 3 cross pieces welded in today, everything is square, true, and solid as a rock. I don't think there is any need for any diagonal braces on this...plenty stout as is.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-f..._095954-X3.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-8..._095737-X3.jpg

The top isn't attached yet, just sitting there for now.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-F..._094647-X3.jpg

I'm weighing options now about how to attach the top, whether a front to back cross brace is needed to secure center of top, whether to strip the scale off the top side or leave it...etc etc.

Next time in the shop I'll drill the holes in the bottom of the pieces that will go left to right that the side extensions will slide into then get them welded in. I'll weld nuts over the holes that will let me run a bolt in to clamp the extensions in place. Easier to drill them on drill press before attaching the tubes to the frame.

I would add a center cross brace.

It's kind of a pain but I would grind the scale off the top piece. It will look a lot better.

Let the scale come off own it's own thru use and such , it will help with keeping rust off, also what I have done before is to pour some oil on the surface ,spread it around ,just a light kinda layer every where , let it soak in overnight , next morning use some paper towels or clean rags and wipe off the excess. I've done this with one at work and ten yrs later I still have literally zero to no rust on it .

So I'm back working on the bench once again. I struggled with what to do with the top of the bench long enough...it's time to decide whether to remove the mill scale or not.

I decided that I'd prefer a raw steel top...so the mill scale had to go. For those not familiar with the process...it does NOT come off easily. So I broke out the big guns...a half gallon of muratic acid. :D You can see the marks in this first picture where I unsuccessfully tried to remove it with a brand new flap disc.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-q..._094748-X2.jpg

This was after the first round of acid was neutralized...

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-N..._100922-X2.jpg

Decided I needed to get it out of the sun and leave the acid on longer. Getting there...

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-N..._101737-X2.jpg

4th times a charm... Cleaned up pretty good with a flap disc...now ready to weld to the base.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-s..._114259-X2.jpg

More and more of the little pieces of steel are joining the one big piece of steel...

Today I drilled the holes and welded the nuts on for the bolts to hold the slide outs in place...

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-D..._131626-X2.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-9..._131638-X2.jpg

Then it was time to weld the top on.

With a creative use of alignment shims and clamps, I was able to tweak the top to dern near completely flat across the whole thing. There are a couple small less than 1/16" dips in a couple spots but other than that is is flat and secure.

After that it was time to hang the tubes that will hold the side extension slide outs. Only set myself on fire a handful of times but I will say I am getting better at welding on the bottom of things...which is a nice side effect of doing a project like this.

Quick coat of Eastwood Rust Encapsulator and it's ready for me to start building the extensions and device holders.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-Z..._153312-X2.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-w..._153327-X2.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-N..._153234-X2.jpg

I have to say it rolls around pretty good on the casters and is pretty steady on the floor locks as well. Can't wait to start doing work on the bench instead of working ON the bench itself...

Nice welding project. It is always fun making stuff and seeing your progress as you develop new skills.

Very cool project--that table should be sturdy as hell! It's really cool when you start figuring out the effects of good voltage, torch positioning, and max heat settings with the welder. It makes you want to find other things to weld together . . . :thumbsup:

Thanks guys...its been fun with it finally coming together.

Sprayed the bottom half today and put feet and casters back on for last time. I'll paint the rest of it once it stops raining and I can roll it back outside again.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/i-D..._161558-X4.jpg