I’ve seen a few tables here with complete shelving/ riser legs / caster setups and have been trying to figure out the best way to do something like that.
It seems like a lot of guys take the existing 2"x2" square legs and drop them inside a larger square tube (sleeved) to get the additional height. But what specifically did you use? I’m going to place an order with my local steel shop and have a few options:
2-1/2" x 2-1/2" x .188" (3/16" wall) has an inside clearance of 2.125" which seems like a decent fit for the 2" square legs of the CrossFIRE PRO table… enough clearance for an easy slip-fit but not so tight that you need to grind-down the seam on the inside of the tube.
2-1/2" x 2-1/2" x .238" (telescopic fit - seamless) - gives a 2.024" inside dimension with no seam and would be really slick. Not sure if my local metal shop carries this in stock or if it’s a special order item.
Is there an easier way, or is this how you guys are fabbing up your caster/shelf setups?
Reference Photos from the forums (not sure who’s this is, but it’s nice and similar to what I’d like to do.
2 inch square tubing for the frame
L3x3x3/16x0,3" with a custom base plate for the legs outfitted with the original leveling feet.
I also plan to install some threaded rod with leveling feet. This will serve two functions level the table quickly and unload the caster wheels when not in motion to keep them from getting a flat spot… I guess I could just use steel casters and simplify it a bit… but I struggle with simple.
Attached is a quick sketch to give you an idea… not the final design. I haven’t decided on the base plate thickness or configuration yet. Still playing with it.
Nice work! I had a similar objective with respect to adding some leveling feet along with casters.
As the weather in Austin, TX gets nicer it would be good to do my cutting out on the driveway instead of inside and enclosed shop. It would be great to simply roll the table out there on a nice set of poly casters and then crank down the leveling feet (since the driveway is slightly sloped to the street)
The swiveling casters I picked up are just over 6" tall, and the table legs (minus original feet) create a work surface at 29" off the floor. The overall result is an almost perfect 36" table height.
McMaster-Carr sells a set of swiveling feet with a 6" adjuster screw thread. Those should work perfectly. One thing I learned from past mistakes is to use a big enough diameter caster that it can go over debris / uneven surfaces more easily and make SURE that the leveling feet can be raised WAY up out of the way so they don’t end up hitting sloped concrete or the concrete lip at the apron of my garage floor.
That is exactly what I had in mind was operating the leveling feet with an impact. I was going to buy some threaded rod and turn a ball at the end of the rod on the lathe and make my own feet and socket but I think I like the idea of the off the shelf ones you sent. Not sure why I always think I have to re-invent the wheel and make everything… its a disease! Similar to having to look up at the roof of every building I walk into… Planning extra time at the airport so I can look at how they hung the stair tower from the structure… Its a disease I tell ya!
Thanks again for sending that! and the sage advice! I’m going to order those. You are right the time it would take me to make those myself could be better spent doing other things. With three kids from 3yrs to 6 weeks I don’t get allot of shop time these days. I keep telling my wife we should invest in a TV in the bedroom.
Feeling this one in a very personal way lately. This was a big motivation for the purchase of the plasma table in the first place. I’ve been templating and hand-cutting all of my bracketry for 14 years now… and with less and less time available each week to work in the shop the lack of forward progress on my build project really shows.
It’s a small step backward to learn set up a new tool, and learn the software to get it running but it will be orders-of-magnitude faster to do my designs, revisions and get my work into final form.
The Revopoint 3D scanner will be just as useful. Everything can be planned out and validated for clearances and function BEFORE the steel is cut & welded. That will save hundreds of wasted hours building ideas that don’t actually work.
Building tool carts is a great way to practice TIG welding which is really new to me. There are lots of different opportunities for butt joints, fillets, etc. on this project
Goals were to keep electronics out from underneath so that area could be used for material storage. Ended up putting most items out back and have a 16G fluid tank coming today or tomorrow as well. This space is largely wasted anyway when the unit is pushed up against the wall so the overall footprint doesn’t change.
With the majority of items mocked into place, it was time to pull the table up and out of the base so that everything could be finish-welded in a more reasonable and accessible way…
nice work…nice shop…
do yourself a small favor…on the wall AC unit…get some filter media and place it over the intake of the fan…the dust from the plasma will destroy the unit and clog it up…
Thanks! The plan is to roll this out into the driveway as much as possible for cutting projects. With the leveling feet it shouldn’t even matter that the driveway is sloped down to the street.
hmmm…rolling it around…hmmm…not the best of ideas…
although you are building a frame to reduce twisting when rolling…be very slow and careful…this is a machine designed to be stationary…you can knock it out of square a little bit at a time with moving it around…
a trick I learned a long time ago to see if bolts work loose from vibration or tampering…paint a little nail polish around the bolt head…if any movement happens from the bolt movement the polish cracks…I think Red would look good on the Crossfire…lol…seriously it works.
