DIY welding table

[Ian hall]

Hey looking for some advice I've not been welding all that long bought a new welder that should be here by the end of the week and thought I better make myself a welding table that I can clamp things down on I am looking at making one similar to this

What would you guys think of these types of tables and what sort of size would you recommend making it . My garage is 30ft by 16ft .
Many thanks Ian

 

[tom2207]

Hey looking for some advice I've not been welding all that long bought a new welder that should be here by the end of the week and thought I better make myself a welding table that I can clamp things down on I am looking at making one similar to this

What would you guys think of these types of tables and what sort of size would you recommend making it . My garage is 30ft by 16ft .
Many thanks Ian

Id love a garage that size ,,,, the question is , what size of stuff do you work on ,,, you dont need an 8x4 table if you do bike exhausts ,,, but may be something long and skinny would suit , say if you did custom bikes .
or square , if you did gates , ,, you get the idea..

 

[Ian hall]

I'll be honest it's what sold me the house
Ill be honest I'm not sure really it will be little projects for fun to begin with but I thought maybe 7 by 10 incase I need to make 6ft gates , just want to make it as versatile as possible .

 

[rtcosic]

I like that table.
Add a cantilevered shelf off one end to carry chop saw or bandsaw? Set the tool's table at the same height as the main table?
I would be adding shelves underneath to carry the welder etc rather like this one:

 

[tom2207]

I like that table.
Add a cantilevered shelf off one end to carry chop saw or bandsaw? Set the tool's table at the same height as the main table?
I would be adding shelves underneath to carry the welder etc rather like this one:

Ah , I dont like things under where Im welding ,,,, maybe Im not that tidy of a welder ,,
Build something handy that can slip into the wall and become a bench when you dont need it , say 4x2 , but build two of them ,, then it will sit against the wall and take up little space , or use two like saw horses and build everything on them ,,, if in the future you want bigger , build bigger and the two small ones can take a drill , grinder , or vise ,,built in future proofing .

 

[Ian hall]

Yeh that looks good I hadn't thought of adding shelving into it looks a good table thanks for the video given me some ideas. Like I say I'm newish to all this so any help is greatly appreciated as I want to get as much right as I can from the start

 

[Ian hall]

Ah , I dont like things under where Im welding ,,,, maybe Im not that tidy of a welder ,,
Build something handy that can slip into the wall and become a bench when you dont need it , say 4x2 , but build two of them ,, then it will sit against the wall and take up little space , or use two like saw horses and build everything on them ,,, if in the future you want bigger , build bigger and the two small ones can take a drill , grinder , or vise ,,built in future proofing .

Yeh that would make sense I suppose making to smaller ones would mean I can potentially make larger stuff across the 2 if necessary but not having to have a big bulky table in the middle of the garage all the time .

 

[James1979]

I had a big bench in last workshop. 8x4 ish and 1” thick. The top was from the scrapyard. Anyhow. Was great for a while. Then it got smaller and smaller or at least the useable area did! It’s amazing what crap you can fit in that space.

i sold it and build a 4x2 tab and slot thing with a matrix of 16 mm holes like a certiflat. Much easier to keep tidy. I can get round all of it. For outsize stuff I’ve got a couple of adjustable stands built from acros but I’ve now made a 200x600 piece for the top with matching hole matrix.

seems much better.

 

[Shedendman]

The most important thing in any workshop is the bench.
The most annoying thing is, its never big enough

 

[Ashley Burton]

As others have mentioned a welding table is never just a welding table

The main consideration I would have is how bigger project will you need to fit on it?

Personally I wouldn't go any wider than 3ft as 4ft can make it harder to reach across if need be

 

[Ian hall]

Alot to think about the new chopsaw... (Which I hope I made the right choice with) should be here tomorrow so may start on it tomorrow once I've decided what size to go for ... May go smaller but make 2 so it's more versatile

 

[Ian hall]

Thank you everyone for the help will let you know how it goes

 

[Rrobson]

As above, fit the biggest bench you can! It doesn't matter how much space you've got it always seems to get filled!

I've got a single garage (so 10x20) and I've got a wooden topped bench along the back wall and a folding welding table about 3' square. The amount of times I've needed to disassemble something and I didn't have any room!!

One thing I would definitely recommend is have your welding bench as far away from everything as possible. I haven't got space and whenever I grind cut weld everything at that end of the garage accumulates a thick layer of dust which is very annoying!

 

[Morrisman]

The most important thing in any workshop is the bench.
The most annoying thing is, its never big enough

When I built my last 5 x 6m workshop I was chatting to a mate, telling him I planned a 2’ wide bench along two whole sides. He told me not to bother, you’ll end up with crap piled over all of it but for a couple of feet working space.

He was right... No end of stuff that doesn’t really have its own storage space gets put on the bench ‘just for a while’.

 

[Shedendman]

Quite a while back i popped into a fab shop looking for scraps,later have a chat inside i commented oh the huge work table in the middle of the shop floor this was about 8m long by 3m wide with different tops and legs on,i asked why the difference,they said it started out much much smaller but as work got busy we just built a metre or so on over the years,lol

 

[James1979]

Fab shop I worked at for a short while had benches maybe 6x2 which were on wheels and levelling jacks. You could use them individually or in any configuration if there was a bigger job. They used to tack angle between the legs if they needed to Have them in a certain configuration for a while

 

[James1979]

Fab shop I worked at for a short while had benches maybe 6x2 which were on wheels and levelling jacks. You could use them individually or in any configuration if there was a bigger job. They used to tack angle between the legs if they needed to Have them in a certain configuration for a while

Simple but effective. Too much for home use but you can use the idea. We could swap benches too. Like if I’d don’t my bit on something that was jigged / tacked to bench I could wheel it to you for another process. Really handy idea. Makes space more useable which is what it all about I guess

 

[minimutly]

When I built my last 5 x 6m workshop I was chatting to a mate, telling him I planned a 2’ wide bench along two whole sides. He told me not to bother, you’ll end up with crap piled over all of it but for a couple of feet working space.

He was right... No end of stuff that doesn’t really have its own storage space gets put on the bench ‘just for a while’.

Big difference between a fab shop and a home workshop - putting things down "to do later" is the norm I'm afraid.
I have two benches, plus a couple of B&D workmates, and a lightweight bench. All full....

 

[cjordans75]

Hi, quick question for those in the know as I am also building a workbench with steel top - do you do anything special with it to stop it rusting? Any coating that can be welded on or just an occasional wipe with WD40?

 

[Barking Mat]

Just a quick wipe with oil or diesel suits me.