[Shop-talk] Welding table

[Scott]

On 1/3/2012 12:02 PM, David Hillman wrote:
>    The ends have sagged, or the middle?

The ends.  The middle is where the 'leg' is--a single column about eight 
inches in diameter.

>   Usually the ends are supported better than the middle.  If the ends 
> have sagged, you'll want to heat the top side.  The surface you heat 
> will shrink when it cools, so you want to heat the longer side.

Interesting...I didn't think about just heating the top of the table and 
seeing if it'd shrink and pull up the ends.

Am I just crazy about putting some thing bar stock over the top, then 
trying to crank the ends up to it, then welding more stock to the bottom 
to keep it flat?  I'll probably have to get railroad rail and the 
world's biggest clamps, but the droop really isn't that great.

>    I don't see any reason why this would be necessary, but as long as 
> you get the threads in the top lined up with the threads of the nut, 
> no problems should result.  I'm just going to drill and tap my 4x8 
> 1/2" table.  Welding underneath it is no damn fun at all, so I'm not 
> looking for excuses to do it.

I figure I'll flip it over and do it all at once. I could use the 
practice anyway.  Even thought about then welding some strap or thinner 
plate between the nuts.  I figure more mass is better here.

>    Why not just run the cable from the underside of the top all the 
> way to the welder, and cut out the middle man?

I could.  It was more an attempt to keep the whole thing as 'clean' as 
possible.  I could just attach to the tabletop and strap the lead to the 
column/leg.  I'm trying to have less stuff to trip over or get tangled in.

>    Your top is 408 pounds, fwiw.

Huh.  Now I must calculate what the column and foot weigh.  The thing is 
*heavy*.