Setting up Shop Questions - from an NZ learner

[michael-au]

I have a fog buster type system on my lathe and

mill

 

[DJP]

I like the art work on your walls. Banksey would be impressed.

Hopefully the big clock is for decoration and doesn't actually work. I enjoy my shop more when there is no display of time.

 

[michael-au]

I like the art work on your walls. Banksey would be impressed.

Hopefully the big clock is for decoration and doesn't actually work. I enjoy my shop more when there is no display of time.

The art is from a sign writer that I purchased the property off years ago
The clock has had a flat battery for about 9 years and i have no plans to replace it

 

[joco-nz]

Good looking setup you have there Michael.

 

[joco-nz]

Started making a long overdue dial indicator holder for the lathe and have been using the new nofog cooler. The dovetail holder was hogged out with a 25mm roughing endmill then the dovetails cut with the 60 degree dovetail cutter. All using the nofog cooler. I have to say it did a great job. Air helped remove chips and the coolant with the air kept every thing very chill.

These are the "raw" parts at this point.

I will have more pics tonight after work.

Cheers,
James.

 

[joco-nz]

Some pics of the semi finished DI holder. I say semi-finished as I still need to clean off some blue and generally give it all a sand/polish up. But it is fully functional.

 

[joco-nz]

The welding table build is well underway. It started with getting a 25mm thick section of 250 grade plate steel. Its rough dimensions should allow around 900mm x 1600mm after cleaning up the edges.

As you can see there are some old welds on this side that need to be cut and ground out. A 230mm angle grinder with cutting wheel made short work of them.

All cleaned up and ready to tackle the edges

First cut made with 100amp plasma cutter. Way cool fun! But 900mm long cut took some time to get through.

Finished up the two long runs of 1600mm each.

Now for the legs. These are the blanks, 100mm box section with 6mm walls.

The mounting pads for the castors. 130mm square by 12mm thick mild steel.

TIG welded to the base of the legs. Put on the angle so that the bolts do not interfere with the leg walls.

Making the sub frame for table. This is the first the "H" ends.

The final assembly of the subframe clamped up and ready for welding.

Next stop will be top. At 300KG thats going to be entertaining. Will post pics when done.

Cheers,
James.

 

[joco-nz]

The welding/work table continues. Today was D-Day. I was GOING to get this thing finished enough so I could get it home and into the garage.

First off is getting the plate on the welding table. Having fun today with the forklift.

The placing the stand frame on to it. I did some math and based on the amount of steel in the frame its around 70 to 75 KG. Using the forklift to place this sucker was a much better approach. Still quite impressed I got this placed with minimal repositions.

Back into the neighbours workshop and everything is tacked up ready for final welding. Loving using the 350AMP MIG.

And finally at home. Was a little bit of a mission getting this off the trailer. 370KG of table being controlled via chain ratchets coming off a tipping trailer was a little stressful. Things still to do include: get rid of all the plasma dross, paint all surfaces with rust neutraliser, a bit of grinding cleanup on the edges, 16mm hole pattern over 1/2 the table, probably using a 150mm hole pattern, some under table storage for clamps, angle grinders and maybe some machine tool storage drawers. Also want to mount a solid vice on an end.

 

[rodw]

Looks good. Re your vice, see if you can get some 65mm SHS and create a receiver like a towbar and mount your vice to a 50mm SHS that slides into the receiver. Hold it there with a towbar mounting pin. That way, you can remove the vice and get it right out of the way when required. That was the best advice I received when I built my welding table.

Also rather than waste time drilling a whole heap of holes, why don't you just drill and tap them as required? eg. When you need to mount something, worry about it then.

 

[Stone]

Thanks Joco for the pics.

I would love a nice table like that. Been meaning to make one but putting it off because of the difficulty of working with the heavy table top!!


What is a 65mm SHS?

 

[DJP]

My welding table is a cast top with T slot milled the full length. I can slide a clamp along the T slot to a position to hold down work to the table. The T slot isn't necessary as mostly the work goes to the clamp so drill and tapping a few holes will be fine. I mounted a vice at one corner and placed a Vise-grip clamp in the vise. Between the vice and clamping there are enough ways to hold two pieces (magnet too) for tacking.

Mostly I stick weld (old school) so a scrap of steel on top of the table is a good place to strike an arc and get the rod warm. Stainless rods like to be warm and when welding small components there isn't always room to lay a short bead in advance.

The final observation is that all tables collect stuff. Your large welding table will be convenient for other things like a tool box. Check back in 12 months and let me know if the table is still clear on top.

It looks like your welding table was a fun project. Life doesn't get much better.

 

[joco-nz]

Looks good. Re your vice, see if you can get some 65mm SHS and create a receiver like a towbar and mount your vice to a 50mm SHS that slides into the receiver. Hold it there with a towbar mounting pin. That way, you can remove the vice and get it right out of the way when required. That was the best advice I received when I built my welding table.

Also rather than waste time drilling a whole heap of holes, why don't you just drill and tap them as required? eg. When you need to mount something, worry about it then.

Good idea re the vice. Will look onto that.

On the holes side of things I get to borrow a magdrill and 16mm bit over easter. So the plan was to make holes while I had access to the right gear. The hole sizes align to the Strong Arm style of clamps. So i can either buy or fab my own. The hole spacing and half table idea I got from This Old Tony from youtube.

Cheers,
J.

 

[joco-nz]

Thanks Joco for the pics.

I would love a nice table like that. Been meaning to make one but putting it off because of the difficulty of working with the heavy table top!!


What is a 65mm SHS?

Yeah, that heavy top was a challenge. You need some form of crane or mechanical lifting machine. It would have been really challenging if my neighbour hadn’t offered me use of his workshop and tools.

SHS = square hollow section. And the 65mm being the dimension of the square. The wall thickness is missing. Given the intention to slide in 50mm box section I would guess a 6mm wall.

 

[bazmak]

You certainly have come on leaps and bounds since your first post.Most of us have been in a factory environment
and now classed as home model engineers.You seem to be doing it in reverse Best regards barry

 

[packrat]

quote { if my neighbour hadn’t offered me use of his workshop and tools.} sounds like you have a nice neighbour..
That is one nice table. I just got a 1/2 inch steel plate here in the USA and it was not cheep.

 

[joco-nz]

quote { if my neighbour hadn’t offered me use of his workshop and tools.} sounds like you have a nice neighbour..
That is one nice table. I just got a 1/2 inch steel plate here in the USA and it was not cheep.

My plate was flame cut from a larger section which looked to have been used for some kind of construction work as it had residual concrete on it. The supplier had a whole stack of these. So LOTS of cleanup work required. BUT the plate only cost me 340NZD including shipping. There was no way I could source new steel for anything like that.

 

[joco-nz]

A little more done on the welding/work table.

First off was to add some fixture holes. I'm using the standard 16mm hole so I can use some purchased tools as well as home made stuff. The spacing is 180mm. I didn't want to turn my top into swiss cheese so I felt this was a reasonable balance. I also only did holes on half the table top. Again not wanting or needing to have the swiss cheese effect. I also wanted a part of the table I could work at without having the risk of small bit going down a hole and risk being lost.

So ... pics.

Everything marked out and the borrowed magdrill ready to rock and roll.

The first of 16 holes with the ejected plug. Very cool how these gadgets work.

And on the 6 day there were holes!

Right now for clamps. I already had some cheap Warehouse F-Clamps that I thought I could convert. So step 1 was to cut off the fixed jaw as that was no longer needed. These clamps did not have a pin in the jaw. It was a press fit, so much easier to just cut off and not muck about with heat etc. The "pin" that goes into the table is turned on the lathe. I have seen people using long M16 bolts with the thread cut off. But I had the right sized steel and a lathe. The pins are total length 40mm. 30mm at 15.8mm as this gives a nice close but still easy sliding fit into the 16mm holes. The top is 25mm by 10mm thick. I then milled a 5mm wide by 3.5mm deep slot which nicely held the stem of the clamp. Then zapped things with the MIG. Super fast and east. Job done. The welds are not works of art. If I wanted that then TIG would have been the answer. This was about getting them built and done with no fuss.

Two clamps "doing the business". I'll expand the collection and add in a few larger sizers (i.e. more reach). These ones are 75-80mm but I will get some that are in the 100-120mm range.

 

[DJP]

Over the years, welding splatter will attach to your table top. If you consider the clamps as the negative electrodes then you could place a sacrificial sheet of aluminium foil between the work and the table. Just a thought for your consideration.

 

[bazmak]

Used to use large steel tables 5x4m for building stair stringers and balustrade
Angle cleats were tack weld on the top to locate other after the first as a jig
This meant that the tack welds and spatter had to be ground/linished off
before starting another setout the table top was damped down with water
The light rust made it easier to mark out the next Regular light sanding
does no harm to the table top

 

[joco-nz]

Over the years, welding splatter will attach to your table top. If you consider the clamps as the negative electrodes then you could place a sacrificial sheet of aluminium foil between the work and the table. Just a thought for your consideration.

Interesting. I take it that’s just to stop the bbs from to sticking? I have been using antispatter weld spray. It seems to be working well. Also the light rust is also helping in preventing spatter from sticking.