BackBone Fabrication Grinding Table

8/17/2019 BackBone Fabrication Grinding Table

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http://www.instructables.com/id/BackBone-Fabrication-Grinding-Table/

Food Living Outside Play Technology Workshop

BackBone Fabrication / Grinding Tableby Bender-BackBoneFab on April 27, 2014

Table of Contents

BackBone Fabrication / Grinding Table .............................................................................................

Intro: BackBone Fabrication / Grinding Table ......................................................................................

Step 1: ..................................................................................................................

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Step 6: .................................................................................................................. 1

Related Instructables ........................................................................................................ 1

Advertisements ............................................................................................................... 1

Comments ................................................................................................................ 1

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Author:Bender-BackBoneFab benjamincarpenter.com

Benjamin Carpenter is an interactive Artist/Fabricator/Teacher who works in the space between our industrial heritage and the forward momentum ofcontemporary media. Earning a B.F.A. in metal smithing and an M.F.A in Sculpture set the stage for a career building larger-scale architectural, kinetic andinteractive projects. Now working in Oakland, Ca. at the Lost & Foundry, he spends his time pursuing his interests individually and collaboratively with thegroups, 5 Ton Crane and Applied Kinetic Arts. Backbone is the moniker under which he does commissioned work.

Intro: BackBone Fabrication / Grinding TableThe work that I do is uncommon, exciting and rewarding, not to mention lots of fun. Metalwork however, is not without its downsides, which include the very dirty messcreated from it.

Frustrated with this, my shop mates have requested that I take the most obnoxious parts of my work outside to be done in our small courtyard.

Fair is fair, but the courtyard does not have any usable surfaces to work on. Luckily, the previous tenants had left a large rack of various materials and I was able to finenough stuff on it to scab this table together. Now I have a solid work surface, plenty of ventilation and my shop mates are happy.

Here is how I made it:

Step 1: With help from my shop mate, we precariously yanked this 1/2" thick steel plate out from under our material rack. Steel plate is 20 lbs/sq ft. This plate was 2.5' x 9'. Dothe math.

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Step 2: Once the plate was free, I used soap stone to do some simple layout. Then I cut two equal 2' x 4' sections out of the plate with my Oxy / Acetylene torch.


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Step 3: While the plate was cooling, I pulled this 1/4" x 8" channel from the rack. I divided it into four equal 3' lengths and cut them out with 45 degree miters.


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Step 4: Once cut and ground I assembled the channels into a square and tack welded them together. I also cut four 23" lengths from a 3" schedule 40 pipe. These became thlegs, which I then placed on the square frame and tack welded into position.

(It is worth noting that all of this material had been outside for years and was covered with rust, oil and paint. All of this had to be removed from the areas to be weldedto not contaminate the welds. This was a VERY toxic process, and should you ever find yourself in a similar position, you should NOT do this without the properrespiratory equipment.)

With the legs now attached, the square frame was now upside down, and so I took the opportunity to firm up the legs by adding stretcher bars.

With everything being held in the right place with tack welds, it was time to commit with full weld beads down all the seams.

Steel can warp when it is heated which can cause great frustration. It is important then to assemble as many parts with small tack welds as possible before welding thwhole thing up.


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Step 5: Now, with the base completed, it was time for the table top pieces to be added.

As I mentioned in the previous step, steel can warp when it is heated and these plates were no different. Each one curled up on both sides creating a subtle potato chshape. Normally, this is not a big deal as steel is flexible and can be coaxed back into shape with proper leverage and clamping. The problem here was that the table twas 4' sq and the frame it sat on was 3' sq. Since the major warping was on the edges of the plate, there was nothing underneath to clamp them to to correct it.

To remedy this I had to add two short sections of I-beam to the square frame where the warping was the worst. I welded the I-beam sections flush with the top of theframe, which extended the plane out to the ends of the top plates. Then I clamped one end down and tack welded it to the I-beam.

Next I used my largest clamp to bring the opposite end of the plate down to be flat and flush with the frame and tack welded. I repeated this process with the secondplate.


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Step 6: Once the plates were in position and tack welded, there was only a little bit of fussing that was still needed to achieve total flatness on the table top. I welded in a fewgussets along the square frame in strategic spots and used the big clamp to suck the plate down as needed. Now, with everything locked in place with good tack weldburned in full welds down all the seams.

Next, I ground and sanded the seams flush with the surface and the table was finished.

Now I have a solid surface to work on outside which makes my workspace cleaner and safer.

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Comments

2 comments Add Comment

mccall_sculpture says: Apr 28, 2014. 8:59 AM REPSolid process! One tip I'd include for beginners is measuring corner-to-corner on the square frame (channel) portion - it's applicable to other table designs,as well as doors or boxes. Measuring the diagonals before you've done the full weld-out helps make sure you have a square instead of a parallelogram.Keeping all the pieces level is also helpful... but then, that's what a table like this is good for! (You probably knew all that already, though.)

Keep up the good work - I look forward to seeing more!

audreyobscura says: Apr 28, 2014. 2:11 AM REPRad! That's a lucky amount of scrap material!
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