Homemade Welding Fixture Table + Storage Hack — Built for my Home Garage Shop

a quality workbench is one of the most important  tools for a workshop and having a modern one is   even more crucial it gives the my room to  design and create in my journey of metal   fabrication i believe there are certain welding  products that are the first stepping stones   for me it was building a world fixture table for  my home garage to help me bring my ideas to life   hi i'm ron de socenda and in this video i'll take  you through the diy process of how i built this   welding table all from scratch in my garage  using basic tools so kicking off this project   my main goals in mine for this table was it  needed to be large enough to fit my needs   and be able to hold pieces in an accurate and  repeatable way this was what i was working with   before it was a cheap welding table for small  and simple projects but for anything larger   the garage floor was my best friend but like  many home garage floors it was somewhat flat   and there's a saying you can only build something  as flat as a surface you have to work with a small table and an even floor wasn't cutting it  i found it difficult to accurately hold parts in   place and struggled to keep it flat i spent a few  weeks researching different fixturing tables to   buy but they were all really expensive at the  end of the day i decided to take a plunge and   design and build one from scratch this meant i  could take the best features from each welding   table that i researched and apply them into  the welding table i was planning to build   before i order cut any materials i jumped into my  favorite 3d program solidworks to maul it all out   some people like to build as they go but working  first in cad enables me to see the design in 2d   and 3d before anything is made it  also helps me identify issues early on   so let's break down the table design so  when building a world fixturing table   i think these are the four main important factors  to consider one a table top size and hole pattern   two table height three  mobility and leveling and four   tool storage you should also add to it for  anything that is crucial for your workflow   because this table would be used in my home  garage i went with an overall dimension of   67 inches long by 43 inches wide and i used a  half inch thick plate i feel like the 43 inch   width is still a reachable distance without  having to walk to the other side of the table   and using a half inch thick plate would take  the abuse and would less likely warp over time   for the whole pattern i chose to go  with a standard 5 8 diameter hole   on 3 inch center commercially the tables  i've researched are about 2 inches on   center but going that route would mean i  would have to drill 693 holes versus 273 there's a universal rule that says that  comfortable table height it's close to waist level   i use my office standing desk  to get a realistic sense of feel   for me i measured something around 34 inches to  work best the standard seems to be about 36 but   if i ever needed more tail white i think  i could just add some blocks underneath i wanted a table that wasn't too short or too tall   too short may cause you to bend  over making it tougher on your back   or vice versa too tall would cause you to have  to reach up more often causing heart fatigue   to help organize my squares grinders flat discs  and other items i designed in the pegboard system for anything larger i designed in  the storage rack for the bottom base   i kept it pretty simple as i expect  changes as i evolve with the table   now most of the details worked out i created a  build plan and a shopping list of what i would   need to get i'll leave a link in the description  for the build plans if you want to follow along   to pick up this steel material i rented a  trailer and went to my local mounting yard   unloading was a bit of a challenge forklift  would have been nice right now lucky i was   able to call up a good friend to help out it was  a little tricky but unless we got it unloaded i started first making cuts for the  crosstalk bracing and the table legs to make repeatable cuts i made a  simple jig that would serve as a stop   to knock off the burrs that were left over  after the cuts i use a metal belt grinder for the table legs i used some two and a half  square tubing and then cut and drilled out the   holes for the caster plate as i was welding the  legs to the plate i made sure to allow clearance   for the bolt hole for when i installed the casters  so now that the legs are done we're actually going   to build the top part of the framing um you  can see right now we have um one half done   i'm actually going to show you guys how to do the  second half and after that i'm going to connect   the two together so that's kind of the breakdown  of the top frame and yeah we'll see how it goes so when we put our legs up there'll be this gap  right here we'll need to shave down the weld   so that it's smooth and then this could butt up  against it nice and nice and flush and be exactly   perpendicular to this piece here and i'll use  something like this on a die grinder it's kind   of one of those round bits here you can actually  use a flat biss if you have one of those curved   flat discs to get in it but this is kind of what  i have right now so we're just going to use this now to get the four table legs  welded to the cross bracing after everything was welded now was  a good time to install the casters cutting the table plate there's  a few ways to go about this   i use a circular saw with the metal sermon  plate to be honest i wasn't too confident   especially cutting through half inch  thick plate across a long stretch to keep the saw trying straight  i used some flat bar as a guide   i started with a short distance first to see how  this would pan out i would go about 10 inches   then stop and let myself take a break  or until my batteries took a dump to my surprise it actually cut  okay and left the clean surface the other side however didn't go so well  i realized the blade had prematurely dull   i tried cutting slower but  noticed the blade wandering   instead i went back to the traditional carbide  this because it was cheaper and this time instead   of trying to cut through half inch still in  one pass i would make a series of multiple   passes cutting incremental depths of about a  sixteenth and this time i wore a full face mask after making a serie of passes  this seemed to do the trick i wanted to find an accurate and consistent way to  drill these fixing holes i then saw a video made   by a youtuber named retroweld and he seemed like  he made a homemade jig and he used the 5 8 angry   cutter attached to a mag drill now if you have  access to a cnc laser or a water jet even better   but today we're going to focus on how we can get  this done using basic tools to make this jig the   first thing i did was butt up the mag drill to  the angle to measure the distance to the pilot pin   then mark the center the center hole distance to  make my first set of drill holes i positioned the   angle on the table and drilled through both the  angle and the half inch plate once it appears you   want to make sure the mag drill is but flush  against the angle before each hole is drilled   you can look at this like your datum or  reference point to do the next set of holes   i would need to add three plates to the jig and  drill the holes so that they were positioned   three inches on center from the hole previously  drilled on the angle hopefully this makes sense   after getting the three place  position i tacked them into place   just completed the jig to drill the remaining  holes more consistently here's a quick concept   i simulated using solidworks to keep the jig  from moving i used my friction clamps and used 5   8 shoulder bolts instead of the standard  ones because they held the tighter tolerance   this would help reduce the tolerance stack as  each set of holes were drilled after i finished   my second set of holes to check for proper  hole alignment i use a long square to see   if my holes are straight and perpendicular to one  another you want to do this for each set of holes   drilled to make sure everything is still lining  up it took me about two hours to do 39 holes 14 hours later 270 holes were drilled i  was pretty happy how the jig had performed to give the table a more professional look and to  break the sharp edges left by the drilled holes   they needed to be chamfered to get good  results i actually got a tip from 6l designs   he recommended that i use a wood router with  variable speed and set it to the lowest setting   using a carbide to flute chamfer router bit i  didn't set my desired depth and speed and plunge i was actually surprised how well this worked it  left a clean uniform chamfered to do the other   side i used my engine hoist with some straps  and eyeballs to flip it over to keep me from   catching the four corners of the table i rounded  it off using a flat disc and chamfered the edges   i think adding power is a great option for a  welding table most of the time i find myself   having multiple tools plugged in i thought about  using a power strip but decided to wipe some boxes   because being able to access power at any of the  four corners just makes things easier also it   seems to be a more durable and permanent solution  at first i was going to weld the top plate to the   frame with a series of tacks underneath but  i was afraid it would cause a plate to warp   instead i decided to bolt down the  plate using some countersink bolts   i then measured and marked  where my holes would be drilled you can see here i used some half inch bolts  to temporarily keep the plate sandwiched down   and to prevent the plate  from shifting while i drilled   i grabbed my mag drill and swapped out the head  for a drill chuck i drilled through the table   plate and tab using a slightly larger  bit to give the bolt some wiggle room then use a one inch countersink bit and drill to   a depth until the head of the  screw was flush with the table i had about 28 d's to do and lucky i got a  little help from my little three-year-old son then for the last time remove  the top plate yet again to get   better access to the tabs to finish up the welds   while the tabletop was off i figured this would  be a good time to get the catch trays installed now it's time to put the table top  back onto the frame for the last time   originally when i was building my table legs i  left this area to allow clearance for my legs   for when i would sit down at the table at work but  i also knew i wanted a place to store large items   after weighing the pros and cons i went in  the direction of having more storage space i decided to give the metal cutting blade a try  and this time to cut like butter especially on   thinner sheets i used it to cut down some 16  gauge perforated metal that were served as the   rack after it was cut to size i didn't notch  the corners to clear the table legs to install   it i'd use some self-tapping screws this would  allow me to easily remove it from when i would   paint the frame or change something down the line  to organize items that i would use frequently i   incorporated a metal pegboard into the table  i've seen this used on the walls of my garage   and i thought it would be a good idea to have an  installer on the table i went with one made by a   company called wall controls normally this would  be installed into wood studs but because it was   going on a welding table i used some 5 8 tubing  and insulated behind the form part of the pegboard   to keep the install clean i riveted them in and  installed the board onto the table using some fast   so the table sits pretty flat right now and  i think i can make it even flatter um the way   we mounted the table to the actual table frame  uh we're gonna with this with those tabs we're   gonna use those nuts and adjust it so that it's  even more flatter so i'll kind of show you how i   do that here with this quick example so here's my  mock-up of how i'm going to adjust the top plate   or adjust flatness well with at least half inch at  least this is your top boiling plate and this is   the tab that was welded underneath um so how we're  gonna adjust flatness is pretty much um you have   your countersink screws here which is this screw  here and then you have your three nuts underneath   so let's say you had a low spot so let's  exaggerate that real quick so this is a low spot   you can see and you wanted to adjust  it up what you would want to do is   first loosen the bottom nut and then tighten  this nut so that it raises up you see that there   um and vice versa so let's say you had a  high spot and you needed to bring it down   loosen this guy up and then tighten it and then  tighten both nuts so that it won't go anywhere after adjusting the bolts and  nuts while using a long leveler   i was able to get the table  flat to an allowable flatness after a few weekends i finally have a welding  table that puts a smile on my face every time   i work on it and this grid layout of holes  across the table now lets me use a wide range   of fixturing accessories in turn helps me hold  pieces in place allows me for better alignment   and support while i weld overall that's my  process of how i built this table it took a minute   wasn't easy but was absolutely worth the effort for me the learning part is why i do diy projects  like this i got to use a mag drill for the first   time i always get a chance to improve and i get  to learn to cut steel sheet in different ways   because this table is so versatile i try to find  any reason to use it even for woodworking projects   i now feel more confident in the quality  of work and the result i can produce if you like this video hit the thumbs up  and subscribe for more stuff like this   that's it for me thanks for watching

Channel: Ratha Sochenda

Views: 1,863,111

Keywords: diy welding table, mig welding, welding projects, welding clamps, how to, metal fabrication projects, footmaster caster, fixture workbench, workbench, diy table, garage table, weld fixture table, magnetic drill, how to use a mag drill, cutting metal with circular saw, chamfer metal, annular cutter, table build, fixture table, metal pegboard, home made, solidworks, ratha sochenda, storage hack, Homemade Welding Fixture Table, Built for my Home Garage Shop

Id: 1F1qezitiN4

Length: 16min 50sec (1010 seconds)

Published: Wed May 12 2021