newbie

[weekend welder]

Hello All
I have been a weekend welder for about a year now. I have a red welder for now but I am planning on somthing new and blue in the future. I joined this group because of the great topics and disscussion, much better here than other message boards. My equipment list is fairly short. I have a (red) sp135 plus, a Miller quick change helmet and a few clamps. I have put money down on a weld table that is 48" square and has a 1 1/4 thick top. the table has no holes for clamps or hold downs. I was planning on boring and threading a grid of holes to use clamps simmilar to those used om a milling machine. Any thoughts or suggestions???

Frank aka the Weekend Welder

[NewMexSmoke]

Welcome weekend! New to the board myself and like you have been a weekend welder for about a year now. I had a blue machine but now have a red machine. The price was right (free)

Sounds like you'll have a good heavy table to work on. I too have considered your idea for drilling/threading holes in the top for clamps or hold downs. I'll watch this thread with interest to see what advice others have.

[tacmig]

Well let's see...?

This may turn out to be an interesting thread to watch!? My shop deals mainly with indoor/outdoor railings, grab rails and gates and we have two tables. One is a 4'X12'X1/4" steel table that is used for layout, fabrication and spotting. The other is a 4'X8' steel table with the ability to tilt and swing for final appearance welding. For us and perhaps many here, we don't want holes, clamps or anything else on our tables and will rely on our tools for holding our work to the table or any other position. I think in this case, the less the better. I'm interested however in what others have to say and may learn a thing or two myself. Good luck and welcome..

TacMig

[SignWave]

Hiya WW,
Im fairly new here too. Got a few hours in and doin okay . Im thinking along the same lines as Tacmig. Im not sure i'd wnat holes in my table. Ive tac'ed to the table and jigged off of it in similar fashion by tacking angles where needed. once done grind the table smooth again. Problem woulb be with time that the table will no longer be "flat" Ive considered using magnets like one would see on the base of a dial guage stand - the ON or OFF type. anyways, welcome.

[PLWeld]

Keep it solid

Hey WW, a very big welcome to you!

Just a quick input, You should lean toward leaving your welding table as is and just use clamps or other types of "jigs" to hold your work. When I use my tables (4'X5' and 7'X2'), there is no telling where I need to tack something to the table temporarily to get it fitted up. A few or a bunch of holes might end up being more aggravating than helpful. Use the clamps or magnets. Hope that helps. Again, welcome!

[KBar]

WW

I torched a hole in my table toward the side, then welded a nut in it, then I inserted a little channel shaped device welded to threaded rod to hold long pieces that I was drilling on the press next to my work bench. This little holder was inserted from bottom up when not in use. I have since removed it. The threads were getting messed up with spatter and plenty of grinding dust. If you put holes in your table, count on cleaning them out every time you clean your bench.

As of now, I use plenty of the vise grip clamps, pipe clamps and magnets. Get yourself a piece of rail from the railroad guys sometime. They can make a great anvil until you get a real one.

[Steve]

We have a large 1/2 x 5x8 table top. So holes are not the answer for us. Clamps work along the edge, but else wheres we just tack weld the project to the table, or use old C clamps cut in half, weld them to the table. Clamp your project. Flat grind it smooth afterwards and all is well. There will never be the perfect welding table. So just use what comes to mind. If it doesn't work then I'm sure you won't use it again. Keep the torch away from it.

[Dustyhaze75]

WELCOME !!!!!!!!!!!!!
I would take my time deciding on what to do. don't rush into it. I garentee you'll come up with a better idea after it's already built if you rush into it.

dustyhaze75

[GONWHLN]

Not worth the work involved!!

Tried the threaded hole thing ,won`t do that again,threads get messed up dingle berries ,slag, pulled tthreads,and lot`s of work drilling and tapping.I ended up tacking stuff to the table anyway.Maybe put some holes to attach custom weld fixtures and jigs .Good luck (hammer to fit ,paint to match)

[safetydave]

hey newbie

Just thought I would send some info to you about your table idea I have been welding for some years now and have worked with a drilled and tapped table and also a plain flat one. I myself like the plain flat for the reason every time you want to weld some thing with the pre drilled you always have to clean out or redrill you holes because of weld spatter btu with the flat table all yoou do is just take the pad sander to the top and your good to go, yeah you might have to invest in some extra clamps or other things for clamping but look at it this way you always improving on your tool list no matter how long your in the welding feild. So go with the flat table and build it thick and big, just so you know mine is 1/2"x5'x14' with roller wheels to move around the shop. I LIKE IT