Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi all,
Perhaps a right-of-passage for a new (hobbist) welder such as myself ... but I thought it time to get a "better" surface to weld on aside from my tool box. Could also double as a work table for general projects. I wasn't in a hurry, but as fait would have it, I scored this section of steel tread-plate !! It's just begging me to make a table out of it !

Edit:
(Note: do not use a c-clamp in this mannor or for lifting heavy loads. The clamp in this pic was used for balancing in-order to make the photo, thus was not use to support the total weight of the plate. Regardless, thanks to another forum user whom pointed this out to me, so I just wanted to make sure I'm not promoting unsafe practices here in the observation of the following pic.)




It's 3/8th - 34" x 48", approx. 180 lbs. Tread pattern on one-side, other is smooth.
Fairly straight/flat ... well, straight enough for shade-tree stuff.

So I'm thinking 11awg 2" square tubing for the legs/frame.
Here's what I tacked-up the other night :



Basic design, without lower cross-support for foot room.
Going to be putting electrical outlets on it and caster wheels so I can cart-it around when needed.
Note the four holes on the top. The idea is to weld studs onto the plate/top to bolt onto the frame. Sure, I could weld it, but I thought about having to move residence one-day, consider 180 lbs for the top & another 100 lbs for the frame, it'll be easier in the future when I can split the weight on this thing again.

So I recently started on cleaning up the surface. After reading pros/cons on keeping the mill scale or not, I decided NOT.
What a PITA to remove that crap! But, I did discover (trial & error) that soaking with CLR drenched paper towels, then a paint-remover/eater disc on my grinder was the best method. Just time-consuming.

Finally, with all the scale gone, went with 80, 320, 500, 1000 grit "wet" sanding with my buzz sander. I say wet, but I used WD-40 silicone spay lube instead of water. Worked great. My paper lasted way longer without clogging.
Soap/water wash, then immediate follow-up with metal polish and car wax and my result was the following :





I'm not looking for super polished, just clean. I plan to just keep it treated with Mothers polish & carnuba wax so it won't rust on me. The underside (tread side) will be cleaned an painted.

Ok, so on to the bottom of this plate.
Luckily I built an outdoor concrete table last month but it's really coming handy today - LOL !!
First I hoisted the plate onto the table, then set the frame ontop in order to mark the stud holes.



So I chopped the heads off of 1/2" stainless bolts.
Placed the stud at the marked location & taped to a square so I can get an initial tack.



Here it is with the plate wire-wheeled & all studs welded on.
Since the plate is mild steel and the bolts stainless, I went with 409 rod I had laying around. Hope that's ok.




Now painted - rustoleum metal :



If all is lined-up properly, I should be able to lower this onto the frame and bolt it up

I really like the table! I never thought of making a welding table with a removable top. Genius!
-Jonathan

That's gonna be one nice table.

~John

I found this welding table on YouTube. It has a lot of time involved in design and building. A lot of good ideas here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoU5SAyjc-w
-Jonathan

Hey ... got a quick concern/question ??
I plan to keep an extension-cord hardwired to the table to bring power to the two outlet boxes you see welded to the frame. These will only power handtools - not the welder. So, in regards to these AC outlet receptacles, all is metal (obviously), so I'm concerned with the ground wire ... in that usually the outlet box is grounded, which would mean the entire table would be subjected to earth-ground if I were to plug the extension cord into the wall. From a safety standpoint, this is good, but from a welding standpoint I'd imagine not-so-good if I attach electrode pos/neg to the table. Commonsense says remember to unplug the table AC power before using it as a welding table vice using the table as a workbench.

That all said, now I'm thinking perhaps NOT to wire the boxes to earth-ground. The ground prong in the outlet will still be earth-ground (for the tools safety), but I'll not run a additional pigtail ground to the boxes themselves. Does this make sense??

Quick response is isolate the AC plugs and all associated parts from the table with rubber. This will not allow the electrical current to flow through anything. This way you can leave it plugged in at all times.
Another thought is do not use metal boxes, rather use the blue electrical boxes that are meant for the wall.

I do not see any current going through the ground at all. If you are grounding to your metal box, there is a problem. Even considering you welding your box and conduit to the table, there shouldn't be any current or ground at all transferred to your electrical system. Hope this makes sense, if I am understanding the question correctly.
-Jonathan

If I understand your post correctly I believe all modern welders will isolate they're output from the incoming mains - so in theory there should be no current flow to mains earth from either the positive or negative terminals on the welder - I'd test this with your machine to be safe - but I believe only HF from a Tig or plasma will attempt to pass to earth from the bench & this is at such low current it should'nt matter - some old oil cooled stick welders had no intrinsic isolation - I had one years ago that would light up on anything earthed - but it's very rare now unless the machine is faulty .

Jonathan - you & I think along the same lines. Finished wiring the outlets last night, however, metal boxes are done, welded-in, and too late. More bad news is that I was NOT able to isolate grounds from the table because the receptacle’s mounting bracket itself is indeed tied to the ground prongs - thus to the box, thus to the table.

That said, I do understand (and agree) what ‘noddybrian’ is saying about the welder circuit likely being isolated. Yet, just to be double-safe, I’ll still opt just to be disciplined enough in not using the AC extension if purposing the table for welding activities – no biggie.
Thanks for the comments on this.

Smitty151
Do you have any pictures of the completed table?
-Jonathan

YES !!!

Finally finished

Pics :

Cut & drilled these plates for the casters:


Entire frame was suspended so I could prop the plates to the feet:


Quick self-etching primer dusting:


Then 1st coat of red:

I like your color choice, the red really stands out. Looks like you are ready to weld on your new table! Very good job!
-Jonathan

Next was rigging up the electrical when I want to use this as a regular workbench:


Time to hoist & lower the top.
This is how the studs link into the frame:


And now the final reveal :
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V


Now I can finally get down to some real welding - LOL - (joke).
Thanks for following along.
There's much more I want to do here, but time was a factor and I'd figure I'd upgrade/mod this table as I go.

Nice table.
Don't get it dirty now.

This is not a criticism in any way, just a real question... why did you opt for hardwired electrical boxes and outlets connected to your extension cord instead of an industrial sized power strip with an internal breaker switch?

Bill

A very nice welding table. I know how nice it is to get on a table. That was the first project that I did and I don't even have a top yet. It sure beats working on the uneven garage floor.

Plus 1 on paul_s, its great to have one or two welding table in a shop or garage where one can easily start and do a project. Working on the garage floor sometimes is really back breaking specially when you are nearing retirement age. LOL

I think this table is useful one for these kinds of work

Nice table
I'm planning on making me one after ive put up a fence, built a brick bbq, layed a load of decking..... oh, and bought a welder i don't think i can bring one home from work

Thanks all !

I was able to use the table as a work-bench today
I had to solder-up a relay harness for my Suzuki DR560, & was nice to pull-up a bar stood in comfort and work on a nice solid table without fear of burning anything (but myself - LOL) ! So the outlets are working out just great. Simply plugged the iron in & no cords to trip/knock over.
I didn't notice before, but the GFI outlet on the left has a small green LED to let me know there's power avail.

Speaking of ...

tradetek wrote:This is not a criticism in any way, just a real question... why did you opt for hardwired electrical boxes and outlets connected to your extension cord instead of an industrial sized power strip with an internal breaker switch?

Bill

None taken - & to be fair, I did want to put a strip on it. Had several in my hands down at the local Depot. But the most "industrial" quality (metal) one I could find was like $45. Sorry, just principle & the fact that I had those recepticle boxes just collecting dust in the garage - I just had to enlist them.

But the most "industrial" quality (metal) one I could find was like $45. Sorry, just principle & the fact that I had those recepticle boxes just collecting dust in the garage - I just had to enlist them.

Ouch! I've had my heavy duty one for so long I didn't realize how much they cost now, I would have done the same.

Thanks for the answer and enjoy the cart!

Bill

Really like the design. Might have to make something similar to that for our shop.

I think I've used those same casters on a recent project - they roll great, and I like that they lock the swivel too. That makes them pretty solid.

Nice table.