Garden table/Workbench hybrid.

[Chipmonk]

As per my other posts, I've been learning welding in order to make a substantial frame for a garden table, so I can do woodwork and metalwork outside on dry days. It's primarily an outdoor dining table, though, so it's got to look nice.

I got a lot of practice accidentally doing gasless mig-welding with non-gasless wire (just standard mig-wire). That taught me a lot, but I'm still having to free-hand (superman pose? I think someone called it) my welds, since I don't have much to lean on, on what there is is wobbly as hell (hence the need to make a decent frame). I'm building a table top out of random off-cuts of various hardwoods, it'll be 2000x1200x40mm.

It's 3mm mild steel box, 60x40mm. I cut it all to length and then did some quick joint welds before capping the ends (I drilled a small hole in all tubes afterwards to allow humidity to equalise). I ground down the welded frame with grinding discs, flap discs and these new-fangled fibre-mesh discs, which I have to say are excellent for the last-pass finish before priming. That was 2 and bit solid days of grinding. I kept finding bits I'd missed. I would have sworn to god, someone was playing tricks on me.

The 'ears/wings' are to support my 17kg vice. I'm going to cut a simple square jig to anchor to some pre-drilled holes in the work surface. I can then just quickly pop the vice on and off when I need it. The ear will support it right up to about 5mm from the edge, so it should be plenty strong enough.

I put on a few layers of galvafroid (95% zinc) and then some QD poly top coat. It's ultramarine blue, in case you're wondering.

Here's the progress so far:

 

[Chipmonk]

Now I'm working on the tabletop, which I've just randomly selected a load of misshapen 3m offcuts (from my woodpile inherited from a retiring carpenter), they've been dimensioned using a thickness planer and a jointing jig (shimmed for topside, then flipped for parallel faces).
I'm doing varying widths of the wood-type 'lines'. The wood is all wonky, so I've cut to 700mm staves/batons and am just dimensioning those since I only have small tools and they are all so random (2-3m in length and 30x30->70x70 and all sizes in between). Once that's done, I'll pick a pattern of alternating lines of colours/shades and then varnish with boat varnish.

Here's the wood. There's beech, iroko, walnut, sycamore, mahogany, sapele, and others (maybe cherry or pear). My favourite is Iroko. It's so beautiful when it's oiled.

 

[gaz1]

my advice is keep your table as a dining table and build something else that you can use for woodwork and metal work

theres plenty of portable tables on youtube that you can use including foldable

 

[Chipmonk]

my advice is keep your table as a dining table and build something else that you can use for woodwork and metal work

theres plenty of portable tables on youtube that you can use including foldable

Thanks, I should have mentioned space is a big issue and I have a plan for covering it when I'm going to be spraying the area with molten metal! (fibrelgass sheet and plywood cover at first, but then a meta grid/welding surface later) But I already have a workbench in the conservatory for when I just need a quick surface.

 

[Islander71]

When you come to attach the wooden top to the metal frame, make sure. to allow for expansion and contraction across the grain.

 

[Bobupndown]

My wife wants new patio furniture, can't imagine she'd want me to weld her some though...

 

[Chipmonk]

When you come to attach the wooden top to the metal frame, make sure. to allow for expansion and contraction across the grain.

Thanks, I have thought of that. I'm going to anchor the center, but have slots for the outer fixtures, so they'll slide sideways while still being secured down.

 

[chunkytfg]

Thanks, I have thought of that. I'm going to anchor the center, but have slots for the outer fixtures, so they'll slide sideways while still being secured down.

They will expand more in width than they will in length. Keep a gap between them lengthwise. If the table is for outside you want to keep it as dry and possible at all times, get a proper decent cover for it and make a small fame to go under the cover to keep the cover off the table top to let it breath.

 

[selectedgrub]

That's going to look nice

 

[Chipmonk]

They will expand more in width than they will in length. Keep a gap between them lengthwise. If the table is for outside you want to keep it as dry and possible at all times, get a proper decent cover for it and make a small fame to go under the cover to keep the cover off the table top to let it breath.

Cheers, yeah, I'm thinking of an awning at the mo, since I'd rather not have an umbrella. But now I think of it, it could handle the forces from the wind around here (it's very much a belt and braces build). Hmm. To be decided!

I just cleared up all the sawdust from the patio and it's filled 4 50L bin liners!

Next project is a briquette press. All the amazon ones are complete junk and there doesn't seem to be a market between that and the automated ones that are very expensive.

EDIT: Just a point of fact, you don't need to separate them, as long as you allow for the movement*. So don't 'box' them in. I'm not using a surround/edge, it'll be free to move outwards from the centre. Wood doesn't really expand along its length (along the grain), at least any more than 0.1%, but moves 1-5% across the grain, depending on environment and species. If your wood is side-by-side, the entire board will expand and contract width (cross grain)-wise by as much as 5%. So one metre wide means ~2.5cm of movement with my wood varieties in total, which will be the far less than the size of my slots (through which the table is bolted to the frame through those L-brackets at either end).

*unless you don't want to manage 'moving fixtures'.