Posted by Chris Ray on October 01, 1997 at 17:39:04:

Do you have a big job to do in the studio and you don't have a big enough welding table to work on? Here is a solution that I employ and it works very well.

My basic welding table is three ft. by four ft. and for most things this is an adequate size. Because of space limitations, I don't want a fixed postion welding table any larger than that in my forging area, so I use what I call a flying bridge extension whenever I have gate sized work to do.

It's helpful to have your main table perfectly level, (I have adjustment screws for each of the six legs on my table), however if your table is not level on the floor you may do one of two things. First you can make a simple yoke to hold the main cross bar which I'll describe in a minute and incorporated into the yoke you would mount four adjustment screws and use those to level the bar with. The second alternative is to use what is known as winding sticks and these are two very long straight sticks that you place at the extreme ends of a surface to be leveled and by sighting the alignment of these two sticks, you are able to acheive a flat plane.

Okay, now on with the description. I have a number of assorted one and one half inch iron bars cut and painted so they may not be confused with my regular forging stock. My basic set ranges from nine ft. down to two feet and you will understand why as I continue with this. These loose pieces by the way, make it very easy to efficiently store the components of your table when not in use rather than always being in the way.

As an example, let's say we are making a six ft. by eight ft. leaf for a double gate and we need a table for that job.

To set up your temporary table, start with the main bars and simply lay the two longest bars of the set on the table (adjust the spread to fit the job) and the other ends rests on two adjustable stands (I keep two special stands in reserve for this use). Next put two cross pieces on top of the longer bars and spread them apart to the appropriate length. Now use a spirit level, lying it on the cross bars then the length bars and adjust all four corners so that you have a level plane between them (you may use the winding bars in lieu of the spirit level if you wish).

This is your basic setup and as you begin work, you may add a couple of more cross bars to the table wherever you may need them. It's that simple although this is not a rigid arrangement and certainly not as good as having a single cast steel acorn table, it does the job and very well at that.

Two twenty ft. lengths of one and one half inch bars can provide you with the material to make one extension, add two more full lengths and you may cut a variety of stock sizes to fit different sized work without the excessive overhang you might have from a single large set.

Why one and one half inch solid iron bars? Because first of all, this is a stock size available at most mills. Secondly, although two inch squares might be even better, the extra dimension adds a considerable amount of weight which is okay if you don't mind lugging this stuff but it isn't really necessary to go that heavy. The standard bars are heavy enough with it's own weight and strength to prevent most weld areas from warping when your work is clamped to these bars.

Finally, these stock item bars are relatively inexpensive and for a modest cost you can have a welding rig that enables you to do more than what a simple welding table does because of the adjustability of the bars. This enables you to adjust the bars beneath any area of your work and provide a stout clamping surface between the bar and the work itself. It is an alternative to the many stake holes that an acorn table provides. Best of all, it can be put away after the job is done and you have freed up more floor space in your shop for other things.

Chris Ray

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