Wanting to get a light duty / hobby use welding fixture table 'kit' plasma / laser cut.

[Gazz292]

Not sure exactly where to post this, so thought i'd try here.

i finally have a small space to set my welder up permanently, and i'd like to get a welding fixture table 'kit'. one of those with the holes in it for clamps and 'fixtures', with side 'skirts' to clamp metal to that i want to weld at 90 degrees etc.

Something like this... it would be fixed to 1 meter tall legs with braked castors on them :

The size of the table i'd like would be 750mm deep, by 1500mm wide, with 2 or 3 'hole tall' side skirts... the holes being on whatever is the standard centres used for these types of tables (can you tell i don't really know much about fixture tables)


it would only be used for hobby use, welding things up for myself,
so it doesn't need to be cut from very thick steel, 6mm at the most?, maybe 4 or 5mm would be better?

It would comprise of a top, side skirts and then stiffener pieces that slot into tabs in the sides and top, and some plates to bolt legs to the underside of the table,
Basically a laser or plasma cut kit of parts that i can weld together to make the table.



As this is for hobby use, cost is a bit of a factor, and the reason why i don't just buy a 'kit' from people who advertise them,
I was wondering if someone on here with a laser or plasma table would be able to supply the steel and cut it for a reasonable price.


I know it would be a heavy thing, so pallet delivery would have to be arranged, i live near Scarborough, and can travel say a 100 or so mile radius to collect.

 

[Munkul]

The clamps that go in the fixture holes are secured by wedging the pin in the bore.

6mm tables I imagine wear the holes out quite quickly.

My own table is 20mm thick and some of the holes are wearing out after around 4-5 years of part time use.

I'd go 10mm minimum, that's just me.

You'll never regret spending more money on it, but you might regret spending less...

 

[Gazz292]

i'd love to get a 10mm thick welding fixture table,

But i don't have the £1000+ people ask for them.

 

[bourbon]

i'd love to get a 10mm thick welding fixture table,

But i don't have the £1000+ people ask for them.

and you think £1000 is excessive? Have you priced up just the steel involved for that?

 

[Erie Fred]

Just for Informative purposes...

https://reading.craigslist.org/tls/d/fawn-grove-welding-fixture-table-kits/7743971817.html

Unless you fancy a trip to Fawn Grove pa.

 

[hotponyshoes]

There are plenty of plans online, just submit one of the top piece files to an online place for an instant quote on laser cutting.

Once you have done that the kits look like good value for money.
I think a lot of the people/places selling kits are the laser cutters themselves and are using spare/empty machine time/capacity or they are having other parts laser cut in large quantities and getting priced accordingly for the work that way.

Certainly, last time I looked into having some fairly average tables laser cut I would have had to have 12 sets done (based on ebay prices) to get mine for free.
Thats a lot of money to lay out upfront, plus 11 tables to store while you wait to sell then have to pallet up and ship out.

Plus steel is expensive. The last 6mm thick top I had cut was a couple of hundred..

For a budget version you want to find a second-hand sheet of steel and mag drill it yourself.
Or thick steel tables are low prices. The last one I sold had a 40mm thick solid top and solid sides & 6 solid legs. I think I sold it at 50p per kg which made it less than the cost of buying a new sheet of 20mm steel.
You still have to be able to move that somehow and drill the holes but if you can get hold of something like that it makes the metal cheap and a lot of the fabrication is done already

 

[Erie Fred]

Learn to crawl before attempting flying.
Grab a steel table from anywhere, curbside, salvage yard, etc.

Use it.
Learn what you like
Learn what you don't like.
Change tables.
Repeat.

 

[addjunkie]

Mine is just a 6mm top on a 40x40 box frame…….how often do I actually clamp to it, not very often. All depends what your making I guess. The on line kits are reasonable value as stated above.

What do you intend to make?

 

[Gazz292]

yeah, i figured with steel prices nowadays it won't be cheap, i was expecting a few hundred quid just for the steel.

I really only do hobby welding stuff, little personal projects that really i'd be better off paying other people to make for me as i want them, having ADHD i sort of change hobbies around weekly sometimes, and a few years ago i decided to add tig welding to my list of ever changing hobbies.

This goes with a lathe and milling machine that i got because 'i've always wanted one' and i do use them occasionally, but again, the projects i've done would probably have cost me a quarter of the machines costs to have them made by other people / firms.

At least i am better than when i was younger, i no longer sell the machines when i don't use them for a few months, only to re-buy them again when i want to get back into that hobby... i sold and re-bought a wood turning lathe 5 times over the course of a few years when i was in my early 20's.

:

The reason i want a welding / fixture table..... the last thing i was making was a welding cart, and i was really getting annoyed at not having the space to lay the metal out and clamp it in place properly, getting it all level and straight before welding, ending up welding bits together backwards etc.

Not helped by everything having to be brought out and put away again after playing with the welder, including covering the machines up when grinding etc.


I now have a small space i can shut off from the rest of the 'workshop' and will be setting my welding, cutting and grinding stuff up in there permanently, so wanted a metal welding fixture table to go in the new space just to make things nicer for when i wake up and think 'today i must weld something'

 

[Gazz292]

So, it seems i'm looking at about £650 for one to the size i want (750x1500mm) but it's only made from 4mm plate.

 

[hotponyshoes]

So, it seems i'm looking at about £650 for one to the size i want (750x1500mm) but it's only made from 4mm plate.

I think you will be disappointed with one that is only 4mm thick.

5mm-6mm with 10mm-12mm holes is just about bearable.
Although it depends what you are doing obviously,
For something like making a welding trolley 4mm would be fine for laying out as you'll probably just tack it all up on the table and it won't need to stay perfectly square when it's welded.
It's when you want to clamp things down to prevent distortion the thickness comes into play as 4mm thick will start deflecting before the clamps are fully tightened.

I reckon a rough rule of thumb is the table top needs to be at least twice as thick as the material you want to weld on it.
You can stiffen up a thinner top with fancy design (usually lots of ribbing) but that normally costs more than paying for a thicker top in the first place.

 

[Gazz292]

i am really worrying about it being so thin,
it does have ribs under the table for stiffness, but i am worrying about buckling when heat gets to the bits of table between the ribs.

This is what the 1 meter by 2 meter table the guy sells for £750 looks like in his advert:

 

[gaz1]

id rather go down a plasma table route and then be able to replace damaged slats or in my case would be easy bought 3x1 or 4x1 rectangle steel

the frame is how you want with angle iron facing upwards



then slot your 3x1 or 4x1 onto the angle iron and an angle iron top to clamp it down to the other angle any damage just replace the rectangle box section again when needed

 

[addjunkie]

7050 Welding Plates

Our Custom Made Welding

www.7050ps.com

Just pay to have the top cut, and make your own frame/ legs. And if you need a vertical face get some clamping plates cut to make up vertical stands.

 

[Gazz292]

7050 Welding Plates

Our Custom Made Welding

www.7050ps.com

Just pay to have the top cut, and make your own frame/ legs. And if you need a vertical face get some clamping plates cut to make up vertical stands.

Thats an idea,

i've seen i can get a 600 x 1200mm x 6mm top with the holes in it for £100,

I did like the idea of the 'kit' having the tabs and slots that all the pieces fit together before welding..... but i guess that isn't totally needed, after all the welder 'glues' the metal together.

 

[Gazz292]

thought it was too good to be true, £100 for a 600 x 1200 x 6mm plate with holes in it was never going to be real.

absolutely no response when asking for the price of a 750 x 1500mm one of these.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Where abouts are you, anywear near Frome, Somerset?
I've got one of these, (bad photo as it's in storage)


Not quite the size you want but it's 850mm x 1250mm
6mm thick top, laser cut in S355 steel.
It's been micropeened & painted.
16mm holes on 50mm centers.
Studs on the underside bolting it to a frame made from 60x30 box. 2 center supports running lengthways.
There is also a bit of 8mm thick plate about 330mm wide running the length of the underside in the center.
The box sides have the 60mm width to the edges so could be drilled or you could remove the 8mm plate and use that for the 2 long sides at least?
It's on stumpy legs (40cm) at the moment but might have the material for longer ones and probably have a suitable set of castors as well.
I also have a large amount of siegmund clamps etc. I think most of them are for the bigger 28mm tables but might have some 16mm stuff in there..

I can get it out and take some proper photos if required

 

[Gazz292]

Where abouts are you, anywear near Frome, Somerset?
I've got one of these, (bad photo as it's in storage)

oh wow, that would do me.... 850 deep is pushing it as i have 875 between the wall and door opening it will go next to,
but i might be able to cut a 100mm strip off one edge, and make that the front dropdown bit for 90 degree clamping.

Unfortunately i'm near Scarborough, North Yorkshire

 

[hotponyshoes]

oh wow, that would do me.... 850 deep is pushing it as i have 875 between the wall and door opening it will go next to,
but i might be able to cut a 100mm strip off one edge, and make that the front dropdown bit for 90 degree clamping.

Unfortunately i'm near Scarborough, North Yorkshire

You could cut a strip off then turn the cut side of the table away from you and fix the cut edge of the strip up under the clean edge on the top.
That would make a tidy job of it.
Yorkshire is a bit far though,
I could probably get it on a pallet if you can't find anything else..

 

[Gazz292]

ok, so about 2 weeks after i sent the message, the guy on facebook marketplace offering 600 x 1200 x 6mm tops cut for £100 got back to me.

Wanting to get a light duty / hobby use welding fixture table 'kit' plasma / laser cut.

Not sure exactly where to post this, so thought i'd try here. i finally have a small space to set my welder up permanently, and i'd like to get a welding fixture table 'kit'. one of those with the holes in it for clamps and 'fixtures', with side 'skirts' to clamp metal to that i want to weld...

www.mig-welding.co.uk

£140 for a top that's 750x1500 in 6mm
£250 for one the same size but in 10mm.


He's in huddersfield, so i'd be able to collect it... then i'd need to sort out some decent sized box section to make it into a table etc.

So that's looking to be my best option in terms of closest to me.

don't suppose anyone knows this guy... is he on here?
name of Nicholas Wright, from 'Shepley, Huddersfield'