Welding Table with Clamp Holes

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

I was watching a welding clip on YouTube and I noticed the welding table or work bench.

Does anyone know what these tables are called and who makes them?

The holes are where a rod shaped-back of type of "G" clamp is positioned. What are these types of clamps called?

I saw a similar type of table used for positioning anchor bolts for building car chassis and panel beating.

The clip accessed 11th January 2020 from, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSe8vHgpNrk

Thank you in advance for your replies.

Kind regards
Lionel

[Matthew P]

Called a "Fixture Table" or "Fabrication Table".

Here's one maker:
http://buildprotables.com

Matt

[Jordan Baker]

Lots of people make their own as a welding/ fabricating project. If you do searches on google or Pinterest there are a lot of how to projects.

My own table was given to me by a friend who’s dad made it about 50 years ago. It has a 4’x8’ plywood top but also a steel straight edge down one long side and one end. I added wheels to it so it was easy to move around. I also picked up from my local steal dealer a roughly 14” width of thick steel C channel. I clamp my stuff to this to get a nice surface for welding on. The size also makes it easy to move around and use the work table for other things. At one time I thought about adding a large metal plate to the work bench. However 6 years on I’ve never had a use for it and gotten by just fine.

[Lionelgee]

Hello Matt and Jordan,

After Matt supplied the term "Fixture Table" I chased up YouTube again. Yes Jordan, you are right about DIY - I found this link on YouTube. Accessed 11th of January 2020 from, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2fwGGeyfKc

Kind regards
Lionel

[Mike Cecil]

Lionel,

I've never had a dedicated welding bench, but do have a bench that is ordinarily used for welding among other things.

The bench has a steel sheet top and a swivel vice at one end. The other has a 'work bar' - a 6 inch x 1.5 inch x 3 feet MS bar which is clamped onto the bench with two pieces of 1.5 x 1.5 x 1/4 inch MS angle, each angle clamped to the bench with a pair of 1/2 inch bolts. By loosening the nuts, the bar can be slid inwards or outwards to provide a varying length of support appropriate to the job in hand. Work can be clamped to the bar, and the angle piece can be used to hold work against. It is a pretty simple arrangement but has proved adaptable to virtually every job I've used it for.

Every so often, I sand off the weld splatter from the bar and re-dress the edges back to right angles. It is useful for a wide range of jobs, not just welding. My other work bench has a similar arrangement, but with the workshop having a wood floor, I don't use that bench for welding, just the one in the garage with concrete floor.

Mike

[Lionelgee]

Originally Posted by Mike Cecil

Lionel,

I've never had a dedicated welding bench, but do have a bench that is ordinarily used for welding among other things.

The bench has a steel sheet top and a swivel vice at one end. The other has a 'work bar' - a 6 inch x 1.5 inch x 3 feet MS bar which is clamped onto the bench with two pieces of 1.5 x 1.5 x 1/4 inch MS angle, each angle clamped to the bench with a pair of 1/2 inch bolts. By loosening the nuts, the bar can be slid inwards or outwards to provide a varying length of support appropriate to the job in hand. Work can be clamped to the bar, and the angle piece can be used to hold work against. It is a pretty simple arrangement but has proved adaptable to virtually every job I've used it for.

Every so often, I sand off the weld splatter from the bar and re-dress the edges back to right angles. It is useful for a wide range of jobs, not just welding. My other work bench has a similar arrangement, but with the workshop having a wood floor, I don't use that bench for welding, just the one in the garage with concrete floor.

Mike

G'day Mike,

Thank you very much for posting the photograph of your work bench and bar. I have not seen a "work bar" before. I can see its flexibility of use though.

Can you please provide the dimensions of your table: width, length and thickness of bench top; plus the overall height from the ground up to the working surface of the table top?

Are there any supports underneath the workbench if so what are they made of and to what centre spacings?

Thanks again for posting Mike.

Kind regards
Lionel

[Mike Cecil]

The bench in the images in my first post (above) is:

5 feet x 3 feet top, 3 feet high floor to bench top. All-welded Legs and frame made from 1.5 x 1.5 x 0.25 inch MS angle. A leg in each corner with angle bracing. The top is a layer of 1.5 inch thick planks, held in place by screws through the frame from underneath. The top is a sheet of 16 gauge (1/16 inch) Galvanised Iron (GI) sheet, attached to the planks with counter-sunk screws from above. The bench frame is attached to the frame of the garage with coach screws.

The second bench, images attached to this post, is in the workshop and is made from standard medium duty pallet racking as the frame. Pallet racking has a step in the longitudinal beams, so the 1.5 inch thick timber planks rest on that step, front to back. On top of the planks is a sheet of 1/8 inch MS, folded with a 2 inch turn up at the back (which prevents stuff falling off the back of the bench), and a 2 inch turn down at the front and sides. I also attached a 2 inch x 2 inch x 1/4 MS angle piece at each end which are used for clamping jobs onto the bench top. There is a shelf several inches below, the pallet rack beams that support the shelf providing more rigidity to the frame.

Like the other bench, there is a swivel vice (both horizontal and vertical) at one end, and an adjustable work bar at the other. Dimensions are 6 feet x 3 feet and 3 feet 1 inch high to the bench. The surface is untreated MS, so takes a bit more maintenance than the GI. I buff it off from time to time with some emery paper and wipe a little WD40 onto it, which keeps the rust at bay. (The light surface rust started after I used acid to de-zinc nuts and bolts for painting. The fumes started eating the bench top!) The bench is attached to the 3 inch-thick timber floor using coach screws.

Bench sizes are constrained by my circumstances: they fit the spaces available, but I also think they are about the right size for most jobs. Having previously had a bench along 30 feet of workshop wall in Australia, it ended up being mostly covered in 'stuff', and I really only used about 6 feet of it at one end for actual work.

Hope that helps.

Mike

[Lionelgee]

G'day Mike,

That helps a lot. Thank you very much Mike. It is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards
Lionel

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

While we are discussing workbenches. Has anyone come up with a reasonably strong retractable caster system for a work bench?

I came across this clip on YouTube where a bloke used two caravan jacks - one per end of the workbench. There is a big winding handle to wind a beam up and down. I think it is a lot of faith being applied to a bit of timber. Some nice thick walled steel hollow section would inspire more confidence for me.

I have thought about a mounting system that can be fixed via lynch and clevis pins so it can be anchored to the ground when used as a work bench.Then un-pinned when it needs to be shifted elsewhere.

YouTube Clip accessed 13th January 2020 from, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V29wVeMNQDw

Kind regards
Lionel