machine MKII

[ned]

Hey all,

I'm contemplating building a water table, because i saw this one, and loved the space saving aspect of the design, its so simple.

I'm short on space in my shed.

I want to take it a step further and instead of legs have a central column, attached to an 8mm sheet of plate steel on the ground, that will keep it stable.

anyone see problems?

the table will be 160 x 80 x 6mm box section, which allows the recommended six inches of water depth for a water table.

will prob use a 3mm plate as the floOr of the water tank. it will need re-enforcing at several points, but then there will be a support structure under the main beams anyway, to connect with the column.

I mean, if it has an 8x4 sheet under it, and its properly balanced, it shouldnt tip over, right? - have to consider that 8mm plate is going to be loaded onto it from the front... might be a little dodgy.



any and all thoughts appreciated, feel free to ramble, go off topic, post pictures of puppies etc.

 

[TomCGB]

Is your floor flat? If its not perfectly flat, you'll have a wobbly table. Also, depending on how much heat you put in to the column/floor plate fillet, the floor plate might not end up that flat anyway.

If you want to do it this way, I'd put in tapered stiffeners out to the corners of the floor plate from the central column, drill the corners, weld a nut underneath and have adjustable feet.

Sorry I'm fresh out of puppy pictures.

 

[ned]

lol

you make a valid point. but the tapers, if im picking you up correctly, will negate all the useful floor space underneath.

what i was thinking was, adjusters, where the column (gammy word to spelll...)

adjusters where the column meets the underside of the table top

 

[ned]

if the floor sheet was way wobbly, i could drill and tap holes, then drive bolts through it into the floor, to lift certain sections of it.

 

[TomCGB]

For the tapered stiffeners, I was thinking 150mm high at column end to 30mm high just short of floor plate corner. I was assuming (mother of all ****ups) that you would use leftover 8mm plate for the stiffeners too. Although this would divide into 4 the floor space underneath, its impact on the actual free area underneath would be relatively small. That does rather depend on what you were planning on putting under there though.

Adjusters where the column meets the table top may be a good idea, but it would only act to level the table top. If the base is wobbly, the whole lot will be wobbly. If you put the adjustment in the base somehow then it should allow you to get the table top level as well as give the whole table a firm footing.

I realise that this wont give you the nice flat to floor result you might be after. If you want that, then I reckon the easiest way would be to scrap the column and go for a 4 leg design.

The other option, although a lot more work, is to cut the floor plate into 4 pieces and make it into a shallow frustrum. That way, it stiffens itself and you have the plate meeting the floor at the edges. The floor plate would then be on the huh though...

Oh if you want to drill into the floor, then you don't need half as bigger plate. Just bolt it down.

 

[DaveColeman]

Neat idea, if you could get the hub off an hgv trailer you could make it swivel!

 

[ned]

Tom will re-read that reply in a little bit, sorry in work right now, dont fully understand what you mean so will, re-read it and ask questions.

Dave I love that idea. What do those hubs look like?

my old table is for sale, in case anyone is reading in Ireland


http://www.adverts.ie/power-tools/cnc-base-table-for-sale-8x4-foot-for-router-or-plasma/13829528

 

[DaveColeman]

Typical, the one day I get asked, we have no axles in the workshop! Usually got several kicking about but here is one of the scrap units rear axles for frame of reference

 

[ned]

i seee... i thought you were referring to the fifth wheel

dunno if there is any opoint doing that, its hard to swing a cat in my shed nevermind a 300-400kg water table

 

[DaveColeman]

Yeah you'd probably inadvertently slot out a wall if you put it on a swivel

 

[ned]

the hub might be an interesting device to adjust the level of the table. if the diameter was bigger. Truck rims also might do for the column, if you welded a few together. I dont really know where im going to get the steel for that. 30 inch pipe would be the ideal but where do you get 3-4 feet of that diameter pipe?

 

[DaveColeman]

Yeah truck rims would work well, we have 4 columns made out of steel wheels that we put vans on, so they would be strong enough

 

[ned]

photoshop mock up, not great but you get the idea.

dyou reckon it would wobble? i think it needs to be a bit thicker.

im seeing some drums/tanks on donedeal, with flanges. If i had flanges i would not need to weld it and would avoid heating the steel sheet. going to need low but heavy girders on the underside to achieve maximum clearance underneath.

 

[DaveColeman]

If it did wobble, it'd be easy to fix later on. You might be over thinking it. Just get it started and address any issues along the way. The idea is sound!

 

[Hood]

Make the centre column big enough and you can have that as a water reservoir and use air to flood the table and release air to lower the level again.

 

[knighty]

so... whats the advantage of the center column over 4 legs ?

if it's just the storage space underneath... you won't get much extra space vs 4 legs ?

 

[Hood]

so... whats the advantage of the center column over 4 legs ?

if it's just the storage space underneath... you won't get much extra space vs 4 legs ?

That would depend on the size of the article being stored, might be too wide to get between legs easily.

Also a central column looks a lot cooler

 

[ned]

hood thats genius. dave thanks for the 'just get a move on' - seriously!


steel is going to cost 750 euros. I dont think i can bite off that much this month so ill by the tank below and plan for next month. I have other bits ive commited to buying like a machine torch for the plasma and ive had the spindle for the gerber rewired for 230 three phase, that cost 250, so yah, next month.


i found a nice metal tank, the guy says its 5 or 6mm, 150 euros delivered to my door, to be honest i didnt find much else so i dont have a lot of options, plus it does look ideal, and is a very good diameter

Hood i love that idea of water in the tank. thats all kinds of cool.

 

[angellonewolf]

carefull welding that looks galv to me

 

[ned]

it does indeed, ill just grind it off in the areas to be welded.