My Portable Welding Table

[FabTech]

I got the idea off this miller site, welding projects under In The Shop on page 14, someone has plans but if you look into them his photos contradict the drawings.
I needed to make some revisions to get to work.

In step#2 the holes in the 1 1/2x3” are shown in a strait line in the photo he left the ends on, no openings

In steps #3-4 legs are different lengths ones 30” other 30 3/4” what’s up with that. I’ll get to that later

In the photos next to step#7 the drawing shows the bolt holes aligned, in the photo to the right the bolt holes are offset, now this will fold up if he cut open one of the ends on the 1 1/2” tube

In the photo in step#9 his bolts are offset but the end of the 1 ½” is not cut, again the legs will not fold in side

Now looking at the photo in step#10 the bolts are offset this would make sense for having one leg 30” and the other 30 ¾”

This project goes south in step #2 the holes need to be drilled offset of one another for it to work

[FabTech]

Hi Leefy
I did that on the first go around, the leg had to much slop table moved around to much so in took them off

[m.k.swelding]

not very heavy but im shure it works good for you. look good

[Fruecrue]

I found my next project in your pics..... The 90 degree clamping whatsamajiggit in pic. # oo6. Pretty handy I'll bet, they come in 45's too?

[FabTech]

Yes they do, these are the small 5” ones. They’re made of aluminum pretty handy

[tom37]

Nice work Fabtech, I believe that your table could be handy for a lot more then just welding.

[tube_guy]

I made a very similar welding table using the Miller plans. The plans were really poor and I made a lot of modifications to make the table work properly. Like you mentioned, the holes in the joists need to be staggered so the table will fold up properly. That staggering makes the front and rear legs different lengths, but not the lengths that are specified in the plans. Also, the linkages on the legs in the plan were all wrong. Wrong length and wrong locations. I made a scale model out of cardboard to get the linkages right before I cut any steel. The secret to making the table stable with a folding link in the leg linkage is to set up the linkage stops so the linkage droops past neutral when the table is unfolded. In your pictures, it looks like the linkage stops make the linkage sit straight when the table is unfolded. With the straight linkage, any play in the linkage at all will really show up as movement in the table. That, and the linkage can accidentally flip up and unintentionally fold up the table. If you set the stops up higher off the link, so the linkage droops a bit, the stability of the table will increase quite a bit and you won't have to unbolt the linkage to fold up the table. Of course, that's also combined with the third solid link in the linkage.

[FabTech]

Not knowing a thing about what I was doing or how to do something like this I would have to tackle one that had poor drawings. So that’s why there was movement in the legs when I first had the linkage set up. Thanks a bunch of the info I’ll try that, I just reread the comments under that project. You still got your table? Thanks again

[tube_guy]

Yeah, I'm still using it. Built it about a year ago and I've been pretty happy with it. It could use some holes cut into the middle of the top so I could use clamps in the middle of the table. Other than that, it's been really good. I've finally joined the elite group of weldors that don't have to work off a pair of sawhorses or on the ground unless they want to.

[Joe from N.Y.]

I know it's a bit old, but do you have any plans you can post or point us to? This project would be a great fit for my situation.
thanks