There are a few different kinds of benches that you can find in a welding shop, such as a tool bench and a work bench. A work bench for welding needs to be thick, sturdy, and fire-resistant. You’ll often see welding work benches with holes in the top in order to provide more flexibility for your projects. Today we’re discussing a tool bench welding project, which does not have to be quite as heavy-duty, fire-resistant, or thick. The plans for this project come from Miller Electric’s welding project forum on their website.
I like the plans for this work bench in the Miller welding project forum because it’s quite simple to make and it’s extremely sturdy with a T-shaped cross piece providing support to the frames on the top and bottom. You could probably get away with less on your own table, but if you’re going to stick a bunch of tools on a cart like this, it makes sense to buy a little bit of extra square tubing for the sake of providing excellent support. In addition, if you need a welding cart, this design will work great—though you may want to use something other than plywood for the cart’s top and bottom surfaces.
The dimensions for this project are listed as: 24″ x 48″ by 34″ tall (before casters). This may be a little on the high end for some needs. In addition, the bench will be much taller if you add wheels to it.
The material list for this welding bench is pretty simple:
- 1/8” square tube steel
- plywood or metal for shelves
- nuts, bolts, and washers or screws for attaching shelves
- caster plates
- wheels
- paint
Framing Your Welding Bench
Cut your square tubing in order to make identical top and bottom frames for your tool bench. You’ll then cut two shorter pieces that will serve as support pieces in the middle of the frame. One will run from the middle of one long side to the other long side, while the other support piece will attach to the middle of the short side of the frame and connect to the middle of the support piece in the middle. Grind down your welds to smooth them off.
The Legs for Your Welding Bench
Once your two frames are set, lay one set on the floor and attach your four legs to the top of it. Once those legs are secure, attach the top frame to your legs. Be sure to clamp your pieces into place and do a dry fit to ensure that everything lines up correctly. In addition, it’s always a good idea to tack your metal together before running longer weld beads. Clamps are handy, but a solid tack will make your life a lot easier.
Another feature you may want to include here is to weld a square piece of metal with a hole in the center on the inside corners of your frame. You can screw into these metal pieces in order to hold your shelves in place when it’s time to attach them.
Finishing Your Welding Bench
Once you’ve attached the legs to the top and bottom frames, you can work on attaching caster plates and wheels to the bottom of the frame in order to make your cart more mobile. If you go this route, look into getting wheels that you can lock in order to ensure you can always control the location of your cart. You don’t want a runaway cart taking out your new welding machine!
At this point you can choose to paint your metal if you’d like to have a particular look for your shop. Once the paint is dry, the next step will be attaching the two shelves. You’ll need to cut out the corners of your lower shelf before attaching the shelves to your frame. Using either screws or nuts and bolts, you can attach the top to your table.
The last step is to load up your tools and get ready for your next welding project!
Find more welding projects at Baker’s Gas and Welding.
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