Help with suggestions for building welding table

[pnw215]

Hello, all. I bought a Millermatic 215 last fall and have been getting things ready on my property to be able to use it a lot this year. I don't have an inside shop and am busy creating an outdoor workspace. I had a 12'x20' cement pad poured outside my 12'16' outbuilding. I will be covering it to protect myself from the rain. I have power to the building in place, and want to build a metal table which will be my work bench, and also to accommodate a vice.

I need help with figuring out what size to make the table, and also a list of the materials I will need for it. I'd like the table to be on the smaller side so I can move it around by myself, but heavy duty enough to handle an array of projects. Since I live in an area with lots of rain and humidity, rust would be an issue so am wanting to hear peoples' thoughts on that. I welcome any and all suggestions. Thanks.

[Meltedmetal]

If you are not already on Welding Web there are some ideas here: http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php...ighlight=table
and here : http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php...ighlight=table
As usual it depends on what you foresee yourself doing in the future. I have 3 at home all have 1/2" tops which is sufficient for me. One is a re-purposed table from a robot and is semi circular the other 2 are rectangular 3' x 5' and 4' x 5' if I recall correctly. The latter 2 have wheels and one has 1 vise installed and the other has tube sockets to mount tools etc. (vise, shear etc.)
Some people like trailer hitch tubing to mount tools, I used 3" sch. 40 pipe for the sockets and 2 1/2" sch. 40 pipe for the tool mounts. I bolt the tool pipe in with two 1/2" bolts with a 1" bushing that passes though a 1 1/16" hole in one side and though a 17/32" hole in the other. They tighten up quite tight that way. It suits me anyhow.
For rust my semi circular table is outside and I let it rust. If I need a clean spot I buff/sand/grind it off. I expect I'll wear out before the table disappears. All 3 are painted except for the top.

[ryanjones2150]

You're just gonna have to live with the rust if you want a welding bench. Paint the rest of it. You can hose it down with oil to slow down the rust. <br />
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My welding bench is too sturdy....said no weldor ever. <br />
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As stout as you can make it to fit your needs of moving it around. If it's light weight, you will not be happy with it as a welding bench.

[xryan]

Welding table, never is it too big, no matter how big you make it. I wouldn't make it under 1/2" thick AT MINIMUM. 1" seems to be a really nice in my opinion trade off on dimensional stability and thick enough to use a variety of interior clamping methods like threaded holes or plain holes for dog style clamps.Wheels on all 4 corners with at least 2 that have some type of leveling pad which also locks the table in place from rolling. Paint the table except for the top, put some light oil on it if not being used for a while. Otherwise just a quick buzz of the surface with a flat grinding wheel keeps it rust and spatter free.

[MAC702]

It doesn't matter what table you build first. You're going to wind up with five different tables anyway.

[BD1]

As stated, check out WELDINGWEB. Here's a table I worked on with one of my students.

http://weldingweb.com/showthread.php?430711-Small-3%92-x-5%92-rolling-welding-table&highlight=