Need advice on cutting clamping holes in 3/4" welding table

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Ryan
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Need advice on cutting clamping holes in 3/4" welding table

Post by Ryan »

I have a 3/4" 6'x4' top for my welding table. I have not secured the plate to my table frame yet because I cant decide if I want to add some slots to it. My biggest concern is messing it up. I also am not sure what to size the slots. I dont really want holes. I just use the traditional "f" style welding clamps and c-clamps. I would prefer just enough slots to allow me to clamp most things. I have not designed anything yet. I did leave a 6" lip around the table to allow full reach of the clamps. Just wondering if anyone has done something like this on this thick of material. Any tips or suggestions? Thanks!

I have a JD2 MAD 4x8 water table with a PM85
Stout
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Re: Need advice on cutting clamping holes in 3/4" welding table

Post by Stout »

The biggest issue with plasma cutting holes in a table top is warpage. I had a 1" work table for years that I welded and removed fittings to for clamping and bracing. Over time, the application of heat did cause the top to warp. You might get lucky and it won't warp, but I doubt it. A water table would help to minimize the heating. If you do decide to cut the plate, measure runout before and after the cuts. I'd be curious to know what happens.

I wound up purchasing a 5'x5' cast platen table. These are cast and then blanchard ground smooth. Runout is 0.03" corner to corner. Weight is about 3200 lbs. But i hate it as a work table. I'm always dropping crap through the holes.
Victor Simonis
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Sector Technologies Photon 5x10 water table machine with Hypertherm Micro Edge Controller, Powermax 105
plasmartist
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Re: Need advice on cutting clamping holes in 3/4" welding table

Post by plasmartist »

Something else to consider is the amount of kerf angle from a plasma cut hole. If your intention is to make a welding table with clamping positions that will be square to each other, the. Plasma is not going to be the right direction to take. If that doesn’t bother you, then Plasma may be just fine. I personally would recommend using a magnetic drill press to cut perfect holes.
Ryan
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Re: Need advice on cutting clamping holes in 3/4" welding table

Post by Ryan »

Well I do have a water table and plan on setting the level up to the plate. I am thinking instead of round holes for the expensive clamps to just do some slots spaced out so my "f" style clamps have a full range across the table. If that makes sense. something like six 2"x12" slots spaced evenly. It doesnt have to be super flat. It's not perfect to begin with. I am not sure if it will deform the plate or not. I will have to do some test runs on some scrap 3/4" pieces. See how well it pierces. The book says 3/4" is max pierce capacity. So far this machine is cutting with zero problems and excellent quality.
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Scratch
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Re: Need advice on cutting clamping holes in 3/4" welding table

Post by Scratch »

I have a 4'x6' 1" thick table and decided to drill 5/8" holes in it instead of slots. I'll have to modify F clamps to work with holes but Ill be able to use a bunch of standard sized pins, fixtures and clamps for some of the other well known tables. I'll be renting a mag drill and spending the day drilling them.
I think I'm the oldest 10 year old boy on the forum...
hsolve
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Re: Need advice on cutting clamping holes in 3/4" welding table

Post by hsolve »

I have just built mine about 4 weeks ago and used a mag drill with a 'rota broach) annular cutter. Cutter was 16mm with about 300 holes. Got clamps with 16mm spigots. So you just push them into the holes and screw the clamp down. A week later added a 600mm extension to the 2.4m length with another 300 odd holes, all done with the same cutter, go figure, did take some time though.
Ryan
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Re: Need advice on cutting clamping holes in 3/4" welding table

Post by Ryan »

Im thinking about just going for it. Dont see it being a big problem really. Will let everyone know how it went when I get around to it.
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