I've come to the conclusion that there isn't a single 'best' solution to this.
I have cast iron surface plate tables, fabricated mild steel tables etc. I keep thinking about a big table with t-slots or holes over the surface for clamps etc.
They all get used for different things.
I would go with mild steel if I only had space for 1 table. Stainless will cost the earth for limited benefit (especially if you're not a stainless-only workshop). The surface will eventually get lots of mild steel dust / chippings etc in it which could still contaminate your stainless projects. Better to rely on pickling paste / mechanical cleaning after manufacture if required IMHO. Also, if you do lots of mild steel work on your stainless table, it will itself become contaminated & start rusting...
Copper / brass etc isn't good. Soft as crap, so it'll be dented / not flat in no time. Its not like a steel table doesn't conduct enough electricity to work as a welding table!
Mild steel means you can buy a decent thickness at reasonable cost. Weight is an important factor. Rust is no prob with a very small amount of oil on a rag wiped over the surface every now and then. Paint the rest up to the top surface, then leave that plain steel. Its fine, even in a dripping workshop like mine.
Cheers, Al.
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mike13u said:
OP, if you want to go with the slat table design and like the hard edge and the better dimensional tolerances available from cold rolled steel, it is usually slightly more expensive depending on your location than the hot rolled but it makes a fine slat table...and no mill scale!I got a warehouse full of cold rolled steel and people that come-in to buy it to work on steel projects daily. Same with aluminum tube with hard edges (think storefronts and glaziers). Maybe your experience in your part of the country is different. It's a big part of what we sell and fabricate with.OP, if you want to go with the slat table design and like the hard edge and the better dimensional tolerances available from cold rolled steel, it is usually slightly more expensive depending on your location than the hot rolled but it makes a fine slat table...and no mill scale!
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Yeah I priced it out; Metal Supermarkets has a store near me that I've been going to. Their price on cold rolled though is nearly double that of hot rolled (roughly $340 vs $175). From what I've read, most people just use hot rolled A36. Is the cold rolled that much flatter overall? I've never dealt with any of the materials I'm looking at for a new welding top first hand and as such have no real idea of flat etc. they truly are. I don't need perfectly flat, but my current top made of table saw tops is pretty flat as they were ground during manufacturing...Lelandwelds, you made it sound like it likely won't matter as long as the support structure under is sufficiently flat/stable. My concern with a solid plate top is the weight, I just can't physically & safely move around a piece of steel that heavy (if I went 3/8"+ ).My thought on using the slat design is that I could effectively get a thicker top because each individual piece will be within a weight that I can move on my own. This brought up the concern though as to whether or not the flat bars would be "flat" enough... This may be a silly question, but are those kind of dimensional tolerances generally published and standardized?
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