Need some help to figure out a best course of action.
I have the original Crossfire. At this point, my water table is very warped and wavy, and the slat holders don’t sit flat anymore. Heat from welding bungs and cutting 1” plate did most of the warping
Should I:
Reinforce the areas where the slat holders sit with some 1/4 x 2 flat bar
Just try and hammer/heat out the dents
Buy a new LS water table ($150)
Have a local shop brake one out of 16ga(or other) mild steel (?? $$)
Table gets drained after every use, not real concerned about rusting.
I tend to overthink things, and then get stuck, so I appreciate any advice.
Does it leak? If it’s just aesthetics, then it’s your choice. I made one out of 11-gauge stainless steel. If a shop made one for you, it shouldn’t be over $500. I would go with Stainless, but again, it’s your money and choice. Cutting 1 inch of A36 can easily ruin a pan. I put a 1/4 steel plate on the bottom if I cut 3/4 or above as a safety net. Overthinking can be a pain in the ass sometimes. I have a wife who mulls every decision till she talks herself out of it. I feel for you.
Now this might sound like over-kill, but if you plan to continue to cut thick plate, is this not the time to consider lifting your gantry up a bit and install a deeper water table to help dissipate the heat?
Here is what some folks have done with the Pro. (But it could be Pandora’s box)
I don’t plan on cutting much thick plate; its not a regular occurrence for me anyways.
The pan is leak free, and no issues there. The main problem is that the areas near the screws, where the slat holders sit on, is so badly warped/dented that the slat holders won’t sit flat.
This has made it difficult to get all the slats level. I’ve considered building different slat holders as well.
So, I tried straightening out the dents, and I’m pretty sure I just made more. It was a quick 30 minute experiment, so not much lost.
I remember someone talking about a washer machine drain pan as an option.
Closest readily available size is 30 x 32. 18ga, 304SS, and $85 shipped. Seems like a pretty darn good deal. Original water table is 28 x 33, so I’d have to trim an inch off the slats, but that’s no big deal.
Only other restriction is this horizontal tube/beam that would get in the way. Structurally/in terms of alignment, could I swap this tube to the other side of the legs, (shown in red) to gain the extra two inches needed to fit the 30x32 pan? It’s been forever since I assembled the table originally, and can’t recall how critical all that is.
Otherwise, I may just weld/bolt in a shorter tube between the two legs. I have no problem modifying this table, as I’ve got caster plates and a shelf already welded on it.
Looks like swapping the tube to the other side could work. Just need to figure a way to bolt into that bottom tube. Thinking of cutting a 2” piece of 2x2x1/4 angle, and using that as the means to join the two. Gonna order the Vevor drain pan and see how it fits up!
Seems to fit perfect with that tube out of the way. Pan is sturdy, flat, and leak-free. Trimmed the slats lengthwise to 31.75” and thats a perfect fit. The pan is a bit deeper than Langmuir’s, which is nice. Has a side drain hole punched in, and will probably end up using that.
Shouldn’t be too much trouble to relocate the tube. Just wanted to post this in case anyone else was curious how stuff fit up.
