The disadvantage it is may hot and stay hot for a while and at the thickness it will highly likely warp and move. You really need something thicker. If you that thin the use a carbon sheet. If you are in the USA, Hf tables are hard to beat for the price.

 

Thanks for the great tips I think I'm convinced regular old carbon steel is the way to go here.



Most of the cheapy tables at HF and Northern Tool, etc seem to be using 4mm tops. At 4.7mm i was thinking 3/16" carbon steel would be sufficient, should i be looking at something thicker?

 

I agree with tapwelder,, you really want a steel topped table.

Other than the reasons already given,, is damage repair.
If you arc, or gouge a steel topped table, weld the spot, and grind it flush, you are as good as new.
You can not easily do that with stainless.

Also, for fixturing, you can weld DIRECTLY to the table, then grind the welds away, you are ready for the next project.
Welding directly to the table is scary when you first do it,, you are "afraid" to ruin the table,,
BUT, that is what the table is there for,, all aspects of welding,,

 

I agree with tapwelder,, you really want a steel topped table.

Other than the reasons already given,, is damage repair.
If you arc, or gouge a steel topped table, weld the spot, and grind it flush, you are as good as new.
You can not easily do that with stainless.

Also, for fixturing, you can weld DIRECTLY to the table, then grind the welds away, you are ready for the next project.
Welding directly to the table is scary when you first do it,, you are "afraid" to ruin the table,,
BUT, that is what the table is there for,, all aspects of welding,,

Why not? I wouldn't build a table out of stainless, mainly for cost reasons. But if I had one, I can't see why welding anything to it would be a problem. Unless you were worried about carbon migration, for some strange reason. Oh, I guess you might not want to contaminate your carbon with stainless, it you were building a space shuttle....

 

Generally speaking there is no real good reason for choosing a stainless steel top

 

Stainless steel is a fairly poor conductor of heat, compared to regular mild steel. For this reason, it has a tendency to warp when you heat it or weld on it. Not a big deal if you don't care about your welding table turning into a pretzel... I'd use regular MS.

If your reason for wanting stainless is that you think it'll be rustproof -- you should also probably be aware that stainless, after it has been heated or welded upon, often loses its rust resistance. Welds on stainless will often rust. So will arc strikes, places where it got hot from a torch, etc.

 

I like 1/4" for a welding table top. I tack stuff to mine fairly regularly, using stick process, and the 1/4" holds up fairly well to the abuse of that.

For tig, you probably don't need as thick of a table most of the time, but for the occasions when you want it -- especially when stick welding -- you'll be glad you have it. The difference between 3/16" and 4/16" may not sound like much, but it is...

When I made my first welding table, I went to the local steel yard and asked about "drops" -- oddball offcuts from sheets that they might sell at a discount -- and they had one at a decent price that I bought and used. You might ask the folks at your local steel yard about that -- once they get to know you, they might work with you on prices, advice ("Instead of x, you could use y for the same application and save some money on material costs.") etc.

Welcome to the forum BTW.

 

You could use stainless but stainless usually will not season with oils and without the seasoning the stainless galls. Which means parts will not slide nicely. I do a lot of production work that I need to push, slide, rotate, and the stainless just dragged and galled. The galling marred my aluminum weldments so we avoided using it. It ended up as an outdoor workbench next to my garage.

 

3/16” slats would make for an excellent arts and craft table.:dizzy:

 

An instance where a stainless table top would be required is when welding stainless parts and it is essential that the part does not become contaminated by carbon steel causing rust spots. This could either be caused by arc strikes or just sliding a piece across the table. If that mattered to you you would also be using new grinding wheels, etc. every time you work with stainless. Most people, including me, don’t worry about that at home, but if it is a concern you could always have a piece of stainless to set on top the mild steel table. Otherwise, like previously stated, a stainless top is a disadvantage.

 

Stainless steel is a great choice for a welding table, it's durable, resists corrosion, and cleans up easily. Grade 304 works well for this. It looks good too, though it costs more than carbon steel.

 

Stainless is a poor choice for a table top. Warps like crazy if one is tacking fixtures to it. Also stainless is a spatter magnet

 

Stainless is a poor choice for a table top.

Also stainless is a spatter magnet

Spatter sticks to stainless readily because of the poor thermal conductivity,,

The hot ball falls on the stainless,, and the stainless melts, whereas the steel conducts the heat away,, so there is less chance of sticking,,,,,,

Copper conducts heat away crazy fast,, so, spatter almost never sticks to copper,,,,,,,,,,

 

It also helps that the different metals have different coefficients of thermal expansion ... so as they try to find some equilbrium temperature (the spatter cooling, the substrate warming), they start to pull away from each other before they get a chance to bond...