Welding table controversy

[Ammocan]

well i came here to stir the pot and get some ideas. I have lost sleep over this topic. i have been living off a very small home made welding table and it’s way past time to upgrade.

I have tossed around building my own table with some features i think would make a very versatile and useful table. i know langmuir has the arc flat table which in the category is by far the most reasonable and fireball just seems obscene.

this is where i will spark some debate. when it comes to fixture tables, I’m not convinced. what am i missing? People talk about fixture tables like the verdict is in and i can’t have a seat at the table without one.

My current design allows me to clamp anywhere on the table my clamps can be used on and off the table unlike fixture table clamps. My materials list for a heavy duty 48x96 welding table will be about 500 bucks. An arc flat table which is by far the most reasonable for a quality table will cost me north of 4k for the same size table. a fixture table is meant for clamping and squaring and reliably flat. i am 100% confident i can achieve all those things with a carefully crafted home made welding table and a few good squares and save around 4 grand.

will my table be as flat as an arc flat? no, but you’d have to get out the machinist tools to tell.

Am i missing something? is it hype? is there some sales pitch that can convince me that i need to spend the 4 grand?

2nd question:
what features can you not live without or are at least worth considering on your welding table? Just looking for good ideas I haven’t considered yet if i build.

I’m either buying or building very very soon and i want this to be the last table i buy or build.

[Bigdaddy2166]

I have been welding on a piece of 5/8 96x60 A36 plate table for 40+ years without a single problem. I just tack the stuff down if it’s required. Although they are very nice, the holes in the table turn into a nightmare for anything else but welding. This is just my opinion.

[RunsWithScissors]

I have never worked on a 'real welding table" before, so I can’t make a informed comment about the holes getting in the way.

But like @Bigdaddy2166 my “homemade welding table” (only about 4’ x 4’) made from a single piece of 5/8" mystery metal that was rescued from the scrap yard, has done me well for ~20’ish years.

With that being said, I am purely a “hobbyist”, so maybe a more “serious hobbyists”, or a professional might benefit from spending the 4K and getting the “machinist flat” tables and the holes.

I suppose it kind of depends on what your end goal is (and of course how much “extra” dough you have to outlay. )

Either way, “pictures of it didn’t happen”

[Knick]

I just had a new table top machined and will be making a frame as soon as time permits.
I agree if you are using the table for other stuff the holes are a pain, as nuts, bolts and anything small drop through them. I cant image tacking to the table for the stuff I build. It sounds like you have already decided you don’t need a fixture table. I say if what you have works, use it. I currently have a table with holes on a 4" grid. I wanted a two inch grid. and I wanted the holes installed with more precision.

So I had a new one milled, did I need a new one? NO but I have the disease!!!

If you don’t have the disease be thankful and keep your current table.
For me I could never work on a table with no holes now that I have one.

[Kwikfab]

There really is no debate, or controversy.

A tool that works for me, might not work for you. No need to lose sleep over it as it’s pretty cut and dry.

If you’re not convinced, don’t buy it.

I’ve welded on many different table types, having done most of my work on MIG and part of it on TIG. In the shops I’ve worked at, I had large, heavy duty tables I did all my work on whether it was a park bench or lamp fixture, to a large frame as part of a conveyor assembly - much of the work I did were pieces over 10-15’ tall and we all had to be forklift certified to even set up our parts.

All the tables were flat, and solid (no holes).

The difference with having worked in these shops is I had at my disposal a plethora of material, consumables like no other (including gloves and respirator), a ton of tools, and the means of making permanent jigs I could place on my table whenever I needed to use them.

This also meant I had a much larger area to work with cause having large welders (whether it was one of my transformer-based Miller CP300’s or a Miller 350P) take up a lot of room.

So why does this all matter? Because my garage is significantly smaller, and I still park a car in there when I need to. I don’t have the means to purchase and go through material to make jigs for a bunch of different items I don’t mass produce. On top of wasting time and material making those jigs, I’d need a place to store them all along with the tools I currently own.

For me, a fixture table allows me to use basic tools for setting up stops, as well as many different clamp styles to fix items in any way I see fit, quickly and easily.

I found value in owning fixture tables and own two. Had I known that the smaller Fireball Tool tables used 5/8" holes (instead of 3/4" like they’re popular setups) I would’ve purchased one of those instead.

So really, the work you do should dictate what you want or need. Not someone else, because that someone else might perform different work than you.

[Ammocan]

based on the responses so far, i believe i had a misguided understanding of the opinions of the fabrication community regarding fixture tables. i thought for sure @Bigdaddy2166, the man with every cool toy as soon as it’s released, had 5 arcflat tables.

i may have watched too many YouTube videos of people in committed relationships with their fixture tables or maybe one to many fireball advertisements.

much like @Kwikfab, I too have my garage to work in so my space is limited and my table has to be on casters and serve many purposes.

below is a picture of my current table and i really do like the design because I found it to be versatile. it was built for a much smaller garage but im thinking of doing a very similar design but much bigger with a much stiffer frame.

again any cool design ideas are welcome. especially guys who have clever ways to make the most of limited space.

[Kwikfab]

On the subject of tiny shops, here’s mine.

I use roughly 1/3 the space in my garage for the shop. The remainder is space for a vehicle to drive in and walk around.

The left corner (not shown) houses shelving and tool boxes for all my other tools IE welder, bottles, fridge, bandsaw and more.

The wall (across from the table not shown) is where I rest sheets of steel mostly and misc tools hanging.

[Kwikfab]

That table looks like it’d work for a lot of people.

Again, some people prefer certain tools over others.

I can understand asking, in the event that any one person makes a point you hadn’t considered. But if you’ve really spent any amount of time trying to find a reason to own a fixture table, and you can’t come up with one, then there’s no reason to buy into one.

And no one should give you any crap for it either.

[Bigdaddy2166]

It’s all personal preference. I rarely make parts like @Kwikfab or @Knick. I can agree that a Fireball or Langmuir table is a great tool. I am almost 70 years old, and my way of life works for me now. You do what you want and never look back, my friend. If I were making Sema# racecar chassis or something like that, I would have one.

[Kwikfab]

No shit, wouldn’t have guessed it.

You’ve got way more patience than I do and I’m 30 years younger…I must be old inside

GET OFF MY LAWN

[Knick]

@Kwikfab

GET OFF MY LAWN

That’s funny!

[Ammocan]

thanks everyone. if i had a much bigger shop, a lot more discretionary funds and this was more than a weekend hobby business, i would probably get a high end fixture table.

i don’t feel like im missing anything right now so i can spend 4k on other things like a Titan 25T (which i just put a deposit on).

gonna build my table this weekend.

[RunsWithScissors]

@Kwikfab

On the subject of tiny shops, here’s mine.

I hear ya, my brother.

I don’t personal;ly know of anyone that has a “big enough” shop…

Kinda like I also don’t personally know anyone that has “extra money”

Here is my mine. My biggest problem is that it’s in the basement so getting things down there is a PITA.

Gonna be fun getting this “new to me” lathe down the stairs this weekend.

Hahaah…my second biggest problem is finding someone to clean the damn place…

[TomWS]

LOL! Is that chair calibrated to your table height or vice versa?

https://forum.langmuirsystems.com/uploads/db6772/original/3X/8/3/835076613cad0bb3409a92e27778164f84f69a10.jpeg

[RunsWithScissors]

Hahaha…no, but it just happens to be the right height to double as a “poor mans” work support stand.

Just lucky I guess

[Knick]

So you’re going to carry that down into your basement? Wow you are a man’s man!

[RunsWithScissors]

Well…It will be more of a “slide” rather than a “carry”, but that’s how I got/get all that stuff down there.

The real challenge was getting this bad boy down there.

It’s quite a “bruiser”

I called 2 “safe moving” companies and they both refused to do it. They guesstimated that it is between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds.

And after moving it, I concur…

It will not be coming back out though, that much I can guarantee

[Knick]

You slid that down your basement stairs? Who ever built your stairs cut no corners🤣

[RunsWithScissors]

Yep,

But trust me, I “shored them up” big time before I began that adventure. They were not going anywhere.

The next house I build, will have a nice “pole barn” so I don’t have to take things down the stairs anymore.

[Bigdaddy2166]

I like the fact that you can push RUN on FireControl and take a crap at the same time.
Having a toilet close by is aways a plus.