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Mobile shop work fab tables.

Mr Stubs

Mr Stubs

Taste my rainbow, bitches
Joined
May 19, 2020
Member Number
101
Messages
2,032
Loc
Land of liquid sunshine
So although I don’t really have the room for one, I’m thinking that a mobile steel work bench would make my life easier with my next project that I’m about to start.

I’m thinking all steel, castors with bolts that can raise and lower them, 2x5 or 3x5, expanded metal lower storage shelf, room for my spare vice on the end...

So whatcha guys got?

Do’s or don’ts?

Top thickness?
 
Off the top of my head.

Low cog
top bigger than base to keep from knee knockin
built in ground clamp attatchment
hitch reciever for outfeed arm on end
4 gang box with short cord 1-2' w male end (use long cord back to the shop)
 
My roll around table is smaller than that but one of the best things I've done to it was weld a few 6" sections of 1/4" round bar on the base below the table surface for grinding wheel storage. Works for hanging clamps, 3rd hand or squares too.
 
Working on this right now.

You can find old cast iron table saws with broken motors or missing parts all day long on craigslist
Each top is 27" x 20" so a bit smaller than you are talking.
leveling the tops is done with 1/4" set screws and 1/4" countersunk screws set in the mitre gauge slots
Holes are 5/8" 2" on center.
Legs are pallet racking which is thinner than I thought.

Much more to be done, may start a thread or make a general welding / fixturing table thread unless there is one already.

IMG_0670.JPG
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MigGunslinger said:
Working on this right now.

You can find old cast iron table saws with broken motors or missing parts all day long on craigslist
Each top is 27" x 20" so a bit smaller than you are talking.
leveling the tops is done with 1/4" set screws and 1/4" countersunk screws set in the mitre gauge slots
Holes are 5/8" 2" on center.
Legs are pallet racking which is thinner than I thought.

Much more to be done, may start a thread or make a general welding / fixturing table thread unless there is one already.

Click to expand...

I used a cast iron table saw for my work table for years. It's workable but small. I removed the bolt on table extensions to keep them nice. They are a really good size for gluing a sander belt to in order to resurface heads and manifolds.
 
MigGunslinger said:
Working on this right now.

You can find old cast iron table saws with broken motors or missing parts all day long on craigslist
Each top is 27" x 20" so a bit smaller than you are talking.
leveling the tops is done with 1/4" set screws and 1/4" countersunk screws set in the mitre gauge slots
Holes are 5/8" 2" on center.
Legs are pallet racking which is thinner than I thought.

Much more to be done, may start a thread or make a general welding / fixturing table thread unless there is one already.
Click to expand...

I would love to see a thread on this. Great use for those old tables. What kind of structure is underneath?
 
Toreadorranger said:
I would love to see a thread on this. Great use for those old tables. What kind of structure is underneath?
Click to expand...

Here's the top from my old table. It's about a 1/4" thick casting. The stands they're on are usually 1/8 or maybe a little thicker. They're sufficient for pretty much anything you would put on them and I had a bench vise on mine and hammered it a lot and it survived but it sure wasn't overkill. I am much, much happier with a single large stationary steel table.

IMG_20201201_071225_247.jpg
 
I've been watching some transmission guy on YouTube and he works off an autopsy table. Kinda neat.
 
This is a table I build a few years ago. 1” thick plate top I had milled flat. It was a scrap robot plate from a place I used to work running a waterjet table at a robotics mfg. The guys cut all the legs and that for me. All I did was drew out the dimensions for the parts, glued it together and painted it.
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I made this one at the same time from a table they scrapped. It was really tall like 6’ so I cut it down and welded cross bracing, middle table and whelk plates then painted it to at the same time as my heavy table.
 
Landslide said:
I made this one at the same time from a table they scrapped. It was really tall like 6’ so I cut it down and welded cross bracing, middle table and whelk plates then painted it to at the same time as my heavy table.
Click to expand...

So how well does it work always being on castors?
 
Mr Stubs said:
So how well does it work always being on castors?
Click to expand...

The heavy table I planned on welding threaded bosses on for adjuster swivel feet pads buuuuuuuut, I forgot them until after it was painted. :homer:

I plan on installing them on there but I’m having trouble willing to fawk up my paint job on it. I spray gunned them with rustoleum fire red paint and it’s one of the best paint jobs I’ve done. I’m no painter either. :laughing:
 
bgaidan said:
I think I posted a thread about his one a while back. You really can't beat it for the ~$150 it runs with the regular NT coupons. You can barely buy the clamps and accessories from the other guys for that.
Click to expand...

I Wasn't too impressed with how square I was able to get using a scribe and a drywall square for my hole layout. Could also have been my chinesium mag drill I guess. For that price I will probably pick one up for the tooling and use the top to help layout the rest of my holes. I can then cut it up for more accessories or whatever I need.
 
MigGunslinger said:
I Wasn't too impressed with how square I was able to get using a scribe and a drywall square for my hole layout. Could also have been my chinesium mag drill I guess. For that price I will probably pick one up for the tooling and use the top to help layout the rest of my holes. I can then cut it up for more accessories or whatever I need.
Click to expand...


You can get within a few thou laying something out by hand....but you can completely fuck it up when it comes time to cut/drill.

Best trick I found with a mag drill is to use a center, tap center, or something else with a very sharp point. Chuck that up first and get it dead on your center punch marks, leave the magnet on and then swap over to your drill or broach.
 
bgaidan said:
You can get within a few thou laying something out by hand....but you can completely fuck it up when it comes time to cut/drill.

Best trick I found with a mag drill is to use a center, tap center, or something else with a very sharp point. Chuck that up first and get it dead on your center punch marks, leave the magnet on and then swap over to your drill or broach.
Click to expand...

I used the spring loaded center in the 5/8" annular cutter and set it in the center punches I made but there is the slightest bit of wiggle in them. Would it be more accurate to have a center in the chuck, magnetize, and then swap the annular cutter in? Would the increase in accuracy be worth messing with the 2 set screws on the weldon shank for each hole? I have seen jigs made where you use the OD the cutter set in the ID of the jig which indexes in previous holes in the table which is what I was thinking of.

 
So I’m looking at building a 3’x 6’ table.

Would you go four legs or six? I’m afraid of going six legs with castors and ending up with a rocking horse...

Whatcha think?
 
Mr Stubs said:
So I’m looking at building a 3’x 6’ table.

Would you go four legs or six? I’m afraid of going six legs with castors and ending up with a rocking horse...

Whatcha think?
Click to expand...

I think you should intentionally build it so that it rocks and then weld some big bolts to the four corners and bolt a torpedo level to it so you can make it level and not rocking wherever you want it.

It's way easier to turn a table or cart with 3000lb of shit on it when there's two wheels in the middle for everything to pivot about.
 
My main welding/fab table is on wheels 48"x32". The whole shop is 12x24, if it wasn't it would be a constant problem.

There are a lot of times its really nice. Just being able to rotate the whole thing rather than trying to get around it with the mig gun or moving the welder when the cable is too short is a big one. There are a few times its a pain, like when you have something anchored to it and are trying to bend or loosen it and the table moves instead.

Put storage on it, but for what you need. No shelves. Shelves gather shit and then all that shit is in the way or falls over when you go to move it
 
Mr Stubs said:
So I’m looking at building a 3’x 6’ table.

Would you go four legs or six? I’m afraid of going six legs with castors and ending up with a rocking horse...

Whatcha think?
Click to expand...

I ran 1/4 wall square tubing 4x4 for four legs and framed it in with the same tubing between the legs under the table top and lower to the floor part of the legs. You can see in the photo I posted earlier. Same principle will work with a larger table top.

I have my top extending over the leg frame assy by a couple inches. Give you room for clamps to grab onto. At the underside of the corners of the table top I ran 3/8” gussets at a 45 angle from corner post of the legs to the corner edge of the table top. This prevents the corners of the table top from pulling down when welding it all up. Not sure it that makes sense to you or not.
 
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