Best material for a welding table?

[A/C Guy]

... I saw Aluminum mentioned as being a poor conductor, not sure what they meant, it is a really good conductor. Perhaps too good for a welding table in the sense that if it where to contact the welded item near the HAZ all your heat is going into the table. ...

I was referring to the electrical conductivity, not the heat transfer. Having the ground clamp on the table and the work piece sitting on top, I was thinking that the aluminum would not be a good choice for the electrical path.

[Canada]

Those Acorn tables are gorgeous! Like a Unisaw something to pass down through the generations. I assume the price to purchase and the shipping costs are the same. Two reasons why I will probably build when I replace my shop and get dedicated working table. My current plan is 1/2 solid surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch plate with some cross bracing underneath. I agree that a flat true surface is paramount. I have my two steel saw horses and an anvil for pounding. The other half would be large open steel squares for clamping and cutting. Depending on the span, but probably 2.5 inch bar stock welded into to six inch squares. its a lot of welds but you only have to do it ounce.

I look at a welding table like tools. Always buy(build) quality and you will never be disappointed.

[DavidShearer]

You can also find Acorn tables on eBay. The "standard" seems to be 5 foot square. They weigh in the neighborhood of 2500 pounds. Most seem to be selling for around $2000-3000. Many years ago when I was living in San Pedro, CA I witnessed the dismantling of the old Todd Pacific shipyard as it was readied for sale to the Chinese for a shipping terminal. I saw hundreds of these Acorn tables in piles being auctioned for scrap iron. Now there was a crime!


These tables (platens) are originally machined to within "0.005 tolerance. So they start out flat enough for the most anal retentive fabricator. But their true beauty lies in their ability to absorb and disburse heat as it builds up during the welding process. That, and all of those holes that are so handy for jigging just about any imaginable form.

[Mikeymetal]

So, it sounds more like you're lookin for a table that is smaller. Me and Hooda's Grampa made this table many years ago from some kind of skid that a hydralic pump came on. It is 2 feet by a little over 3 feet by 34 inches tall. the vice has had a pipe put to the handle more than once. It's an old Columbian. The top is actually 2 pieces of what had to be 1/4" scrap welded together, cuz gramps wass a depression era kid so he would have NEVER used new stuff to make something like this. The second picture is below the tabletop where he made cubicals to store different sizes of rod. It's a sturdy little deal that any guy with 30 bucks worth of scrap and a welder could put together in an afternoon. Load it down with a couple hundred pounds of bits and pieces as pictured. and you got stability! It's been 10 years next month since we lost Gramps, and it's nice to have stuff like this around to remind us of him.