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What is the minimum steel thickness would you want on a table you're going to use for welding?


I've started my storage shelves. And putting out the fires between welds on my current wood work bench isn't cutting it.

A friend had one that was about a 1/4" thick but they can start to become impractical to move around, depending on how big you need it to be. I think you could do well with a 10 gauge top and that's not too expensive to get from your local steel supplier. You can weld some channel under it if you need to stiffen it up easy enough.

I saw a nice one that a friend had that was an angle frame with expanded diamond mesh top and angle legs. Things (bits of metal) that he ground off fell through and it was sturdy enough to hold parts he worked on.

If you're planning on using the table to layout large stuff, make it heavy. The one our local blacksmith uses for layouts is 5' x 8' x 1" with 4" dia pipe legs. You can only move it with a forklift, but it never burns and never bends. Of course, it might be overkill.

Thanks I think i'll do the ten gauge steel. I have a nice steel work bench now I just has a wood top. I do have to roll it out when I'm working on any thing of size so weight is going to be a problem.

Here are a couple of pictures of the local fabricator’s benches; just some ideas
With the heavy duty wheels they are able to roll them around pretty easily