workingdog
GOLD Star
I'm going to add a fixture table to my shop 3'x6' or 4'x8' and I'm looking for recommendations for inexpensive but decent quality.
fixture table recommendation (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter workingdog
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workingdog
GOLD Star
- Thread starter
- #3
Fixturing stuff ...
General fabrications. We're getting more involved fabrication on our various vehicles but also on art/decorative projects that end up around. I have a table right now that is both the tool table (mag drill, swag jig saw, grinders, etc) and our make work area, and it's always a mess. I want to have one dedicated table for work product and a dedicated table for cutting and grinding.
General fabrications. We're getting more involved fabrication on our various vehicles but also on art/decorative projects that end up around. I have a table right now that is both the tool table (mag drill, swag jig saw, grinders, etc) and our make work area, and it's always a mess. I want to have one dedicated table for work product and a dedicated table for cutting and grinding.
MrMikeyG
SILVER Star
My fixturing setup looks like the remains of a Gypsy camp, so I feel your pain. There are a couple of recent youtube vids regarding a chinese assembly required table the looks decent, but there's the whole made in China thing.
You could scour your local classifieds for some scrap steel plate and throw some legs on it.
Fireball tool has a long (54 minutes) weld table review. He also built a cool one out of perforated "tiles" where each tile is able to be leveled independently. It's elaborate but pretty neat.
There are a few videos regarding this table:
www.eastwood.com
$3000 though. Much like with our cruisers, it seems like budget and/or time are the main factors. If a table will kick you into a whole new level of productivity, the initial investment may not be that big a deal.
You could scour your local classifieds for some scrap steel plate and throw some legs on it.
Fireball tool has a long (54 minutes) weld table review. He also built a cool one out of perforated "tiles" where each tile is able to be leveled independently. It's elaborate but pretty neat.
There are a few videos regarding this table:
BuildPRO Welding Tables Slotted Table; 4 ft x 4 ft - Standard Finish, with Adj. Round Legs TMR54746
4×4 Slotted Table, Standard Finish with Adjustable Round Legs
These are good setup for smaller work, mostly 2D type of parts.
Home
Weldsale offers welding platens (welding tables) layout tables, welding benches, and welding fixture tables, and assorted welding tooling.
The Weldsale style are much better for larger parts and more 3D type of weldments.
If you can pick it up by hand the Siegmund stuff is the way to go. If you use forklifts and cranes to move your parts you need Weldsale.
I don't have either of those. I use an old T-slot table from a metal planer that is 30" x 15' for fab stuff and I have a 50x60 Challenge cast iron surface plate I use for precise TIG work. I have a machine shop with lots of setup hardware for T-slots so the T-slot tables make sense for me. If I were buying new I would go with the Siegmund stuff.
workingdog
GOLD Star
- Thread starter
- #6
Thanks for all the replies.
I found this on Etsy, seems like a decent price for the size and it also seems fairly well made.
www.etsy.com
I found this on Etsy, seems like a decent price for the size and it also seems fairly well made.
Welding Table, Fabrication Table, Fixture Block, Welding Bench, Slot and Tab Tables - Etsy
Only 2 left and in 14 carts. 30% off sale for the next 6 hours.
www.etsy.com
Thanks for all the replies.
I found this on Etsy, seems like a decent price for the size and it also seems fairly well made.
Welding Table, Fabrication Table, Fixture Block, Welding Bench, Slot and Tab Tables - Etsy
Only 2 left and in 14 carts. 30% off sale for the next 6 hours.
That's just the table for $3400. You need a bunch of hold down hardware specific to that table in order to use it. If you don't have all that stuff then buying into one of the package deals could be a better deal.
If you plan to fab stuff at the capacity of a 4x8 table I would buy a table considerably heavier than one made from skeletonized 1/4" plate.
^ if it has good rib bracing underneath, a 1/4" thick top plate might be just fine if you are not going to deal with parts that are a thousand pounds, I would think. And easier to move around than thicker stuff.
^^^ thought about a DIY steel plate too, but dang that is a lot of holes. Would need to get a magnetic drill and spend a couple of days just for the holes and they'll probably never align just right... I think I'd rather go with a predrilled plate and build bracing and frame myself.
^^^ thought about a DIY steel plate too, but dang that is a lot of holes. Would need to get a magnetic drill and spend a couple of days just for the holes and they'll probably never align just right... I think I'd rather go with a predrilled plate and build bracing and frame myself.
workingdog
GOLD Star
- Thread starter
- #9
So, if I do anything that big, and I might, it won't be heavy. What I'm thinking is that my current set up was DIY 3/8 - and I was shocked to get it here and it wasn't flat. The thing about this table is that way it's built, it's flat. If I need a heavy durable surface, I can use the other table.
if the ribs are precision cut and they span the table, yes, it should be very flat. And even if you bang it up it should just be a local dent and the rest should be fine.
At that kind of money, though, I wouldn't dare weld on it, I'd just look at it in my living room, being sure to put a dolly under my espresso while my SO looks at me with that puzzled look....
At that kind of money, though, I wouldn't dare weld on it, I'd just look at it in my living room, being sure to put a dolly under my espresso while my SO looks at me with that puzzled look....
NicksFJ40
Doesn’t read post longer than two paragraphs.
I have this 2’x4’ with legs and wheels. It’s been a great table.
weldtables.com
Certiflat 24"X48" Heavy Duty Welding Table
Look How Easy It Is To Build A Quality Tool That Will Last A Lifetime PRESS PLAY NOW CertiFlat's PRO Series welding table top kits were designed from the ground up, with the welder in mind. These are the exact same tables we use in our shop daily. In addition they are in use by dozens of OEM...
weldtables.com
ntsqd
technerd
Were I building a fabrication table I'd start with a slab of Mic 6 Cast AL tooling plate cut to whatever size was appropriate. Budget no problem I'd have a machine shop put in a grid of 1/2-13 Timeserts.
Mic6 is very soft unless you anodize it. Anodizeed aluminum is non-conductive. Aluminum alloys available in plate form change dimensions dramatically with temperature.
Timeserts don't work well in fixtures. They come loose and get stuck on the hardware you screwed into them. I've had some real messes caused by timeserts and similar thread inserts in aluminum.
I would use steel whenever possible.
I would pick a table design that is correct for what I am fixturing. Grids of tapped holes can work really well for some applications. Welding is not usually one of them.
ntsqd
technerd
My 4 ' x 4' fab table is aluminum, though not Mic 6. It works extremely well and spatter doesn't affect it or stick to it. Less likely to arc-spot as well, although when critical I do still use a jumper cable to ground the work to the table.
I have not seen Mic 6 change it's dims with temperature like I've seen 6061 plate exhibit, and it starts out one hell of a lot flatter than typical AL plate.
The timeserts that I have used have keys that are staked into place so that they can't come loose, and I've never had one of those come loose.
For a production shop working with heavy stuff or doing high volume GMAW welding I'd buy an iron (NOT steel) "Acorn" table for the jobs that didn't get dedicated fixturing. For the part of the shop doing precision GTAW work or for a home shop I'd do as I first posted.
I have not seen Mic 6 change it's dims with temperature like I've seen 6061 plate exhibit, and it starts out one hell of a lot flatter than typical AL plate.
The timeserts that I have used have keys that are staked into place so that they can't come loose, and I've never had one of those come loose.
For a production shop working with heavy stuff or doing high volume GMAW welding I'd buy an iron (NOT steel) "Acorn" table for the jobs that didn't get dedicated fixturing. For the part of the shop doing precision GTAW work or for a home shop I'd do as I first posted.
not cheap by any standard but very well thought out, beyond high quality and made in the states.
fireballtool.com
The Workbench (60"x30" Cast Iron Table)
fireballtool.com
not cheap by any standard but very well thought out, beyond high quality and made in the states.
The Workbench (60"x30" Cast Iron Table)
Boy, for that money you could buy a big boy table- 16’-4” x 6’-7” T-Slot / Acorn / Weldsale / Platen / Welding Table Layout Plate | eBay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/324840068990?hash=item4ba1fa177e:g:1MMAAOSwqvdhb1pC
