New steel workbench plans

[SSLance]

I believe this is called "project creep"

Friend just showed me his and now I'm rethinking several things with the design...

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...d.php?t=400967

[dontlifttoshift]

.....down the rabbit hole he goes.

Check out Dukers table, too......oh and Dr Clydes. I think there is a guy trying to amass all of the table threads into one thread.

In the end, simplest is best for me. I built two, 4x5 tables. They are identical, have 8 receivers, leveling feet, ground 1" tops with no holes, and no wheels. I have a pallet jack to move them around.

Put the welder on it's own cart. Dragging the whole table to tack something on the car is nuts. I don't like shelves underneath either but opinions vary on that.

I had a 3/16 table for a while and didn't much care for it. Steel tables turn up all the time on CL, it's worth looking.

[DBasher]

A buddies CL score. After cleaning the top with a wire wheel and flapper disc it’s ready to do work. It’s as heavy as it looks and doesn’t move.

[SSLance]

Originally Posted by dontlifttoshift

Put the welder on it's own cart. Dragging the whole table to tack something on the car is nuts. I don't like shelves underneath either but opinions vary on that.

It's on a cart now that is not very user friendly. Maybe that can be my first project on the new bench, build a new welder cart...

I'm bouncing between closing the table in completely or using expanded steel for lower shelf. Just remembering the grinding dust and slag mess on lower shelf of my last bench and trying to keep that from being an issue again.

[gerno]

Originally Posted by SSLance

I plan on it being my work bench for most everything I do, including welding, fabrication, assembly work, tinkering... It's on the small side is the reason for not putting the vice right on the top and making the other devices removable as well. You are happy with 3/16" top? It's about $50 more to upgrade to 1/4" and I'm considering that.

How do you like the expanded metal lower shelf? Would you do that again or put 3/16" sheet down there instead? Pros or cons?

I like the clamp bar, want to do something like that as well. I think I need to raise the top a bit to make a bit more room on shelf below for argon tank and welder side panel to lift. Maybe 2" up to 38" total height.

I would go at least 1/4" if not more. Crazy how quick metal warps when its heated/ hammered on.

Like other's have said I would use the receiver idea. Almost everything I have in the shop is on 2" tube so I can move to the 2.5" receivers i have everywhere.

I really like the expanded metal vs a solid plate for shelves. It keeps the dirt levels down. I have long shelves on the walls too with expanded metal. I use the shelf for random things but I would not use it for the welder as others also said. its a pain if you need to move it around all the time.

As far as height, I made mine so it was comfortable when sitting on a stool and welding. Newer weld table is a but taller and can no longer sit. thought that would be an issue but it really hasn't been as of yet. I also thought to use a wieldable top then add a cover out of steel or wood that has 5/8" bolts aligned to the holes in the weld table so you could remove the solid plate top if needed for fixturing.

That car from Trick tools is pretty bad ass too

[SSLance]

As with most plans...things change!

After looking at a bunch of "welding tables" on GarageJournal and YouTube...and lusting over them. I've decided that while I want a cool welding table, I really NEED a big strong heavy work BENCH.

So my plans have ventured back toward the work bench design. I've also decided to just modify the welding cart my Miller is on now to make it more user friendly and not try to incorporate it into my work bench.

So here's where I'm at now. The open design in the front will not only let me get under it on a stool and but not having a shelf under there to collect grinding dust and slag...along with anything else I can fit on it will also be a nice feature.





I learned a bunch of other nice little tips and tricks from this video which I hope to add onto the bench as I get it up and working. The ends that slide out to expand the overall length of the bench really interest me.



A friend also offered to loan a cut off saw which means I can buy long lengths of tube and cut it as I need it instead of trying to figure out all of the lengths ahead of time for the metal shop to cut. Hope to start buying steel soon...maybe by next weekend I'll be making sparks.

[dontlifttoshift]

That will be much better.

[SSLance]

I'm starting to get pretty good at this Sketchup stuff...

Here is where I'm at now. 1/4" steel bench top 30x48 with a 24" slide extension out each end and two bar mounts out the front for vices, grinders etc. The top is 33" high. The outer blocks on the bottom bar are 4" floor locks and the inner blocks are 4" locking casters (2 swivel, 2 rigid).







I'll add diagonal gussets in later where needed for strength.

Now, I just need to figure out what material to get...

A trip to IMS yesterday led me to two choices.

Smaller choice is 2 x 2 x 3/16" square tube for majority and 1.5 x 1.5 x 11 ga for the pieces that slide into them.

Larger choice is 2.5 x 2.5 x 1/4" square tube for the majority and 2 x 2 x 1/4" for the pieces that slide into them.

I want it to be heavy enough that it won't be moving around when cranking on something in the vice and was leaning toward the big stuff because of this...until I got the quote!! The bigger material bill is more than double the little bit smaller material.

So I'm leaning toward the 2 x 2 and 1.5 x 1.5 sq tube option. Any thoughts on this?

[dontlifttoshift]

You can never make it too heavy.

They make a special 2.5" tube that is already reamed to accept the 2" tube inside of it. Make sure you get that or it won't work.

[SSLance]

I have found a few wholesale type steel places that should have better pricing than IMS and have my list of materials ready to shop them in the morning.

Using the weight lists on the supply house websites puts the bench right at around 500# if I use the 2.5" sq tube. I'm leaning that direction and hoping I can find it a bit cheaper than IMS rates.

Added some color to my design...just because...