I think the challenge of maintaining a workshop can often be overlooked. Tools, cost of maintenance, general upkeep, and the headache of finding a suitable place to build up a workshop in the first place…it can be a lot! Over the last few years I have occupied 3 shop spaces including my current location, and in each move I was forced to make some tough decisions about what came with and what had to go. One of things that didn’t make the cut was my old welding table. It had served me well for a number of years but there were some things about it I never liked and I knew at some point I wanted to rebuild it. Well finally, after yet another recent move, I have finally gotten around to that nagging project list and crossed something off!
Here she is!
This newly rebuilt table features some of the same engineering as the first but in it, I tried to address some of the faults I made in the first go around. You’ll notice the table top is made up from 6 individual plates rather than one solid plate. In my original design the plates were spaced 2” apart allowing for the clamps to reach all parts of the table top. This was sort of a quick and easy way to design a table with a lot of capability. I also liked that the smaller individual plates allowed for easier set up and breakdown as one person. What ended up driving me crazy was how often tools or parts would fall through the open areas of the table! Later on I made the switch to fixture style clamps. I drilled holes in the plates and placed 2” bar stock in between to fill the gaps. In this design I omitted the gaps completely and smashed the plates side by side for a more seamless table top. I still have the ability to easily break down the table if needed. I also get some added benefit of the plates being somewhat modular. The plates might have specific holes drilled to mount different tools and I can switch the plates position on the table as needed. Pretty cool!
The table base in the first iteration was always a problem. I used 4” x 4” x 1/4” angle for the legs and even with some extra support welded in the table felt a bit wobbly with the heavy top on it. This time around I went for a really solid tube steel construction and this has proven to be the correct solution.
This table serves double and triple duty in my small workshop as the main workstation for whatever I’m doing, be it metalwork, woodwork, leather, or wrenching on vehicles, so additional storage for common use stuff and easy access to things like grinders and clamps was important.
In any metalshop it’s hard to think of a more important piece of equipment than the humble welding table. It’s the true heart of my work space and without a proper table it’s such a struggle to build anything. I’ve chosen to go the DIY route on this table to save money and because I love a good challenge. There is a feeling of great satisfaction in getting to build something you will be working with for years to come.
If you’re interested in building something like this for yourself, I’ve gone ahead and taken some of the headache out of the whole process by making the plans available for download. Head over to the PLANS section and download today! No fancy tools required!