Joe Mooney of Homesteadonmics built a welding table/multifunctional workbench for his shipping container shop, using steel sheet and tubing. He plans on using this table for more than just welding, so he built in added functionality, making it a multipurpose workbench for more than just metal projects. This welding table build should also help him out a lot for the next few shipping container shop additions!
Gather Your Metal Materials
To begin this project, Joe made a trip to his local Industrial Metal Supply, checking out the reference board and the scrap room for ideas. After purchasing materials, he measured and cut steel plate for the top and steel tube into lengths to make the frame and legs: four (4) legs, four (4) long frame struts, four (4) short frame struts, and, ultimately, five (5) cross pieces.
Laying out the tubing on the table’s top to ensure fit and spacing, Joe used large, powerful welding magnets and an L-square to square the frame corners. Then he tack welded the rectangular frame together, turning it over to ensure it was square before continuing to weld. He made sure to work on opposite sides of the frame so that the tube didn’t heat up too quickly.
Welding Your Table
Next, Joe welded the sides of the frame together, adding three cross pieces on the top and two on the bottom. He also welded small square pieces of plate to the bottom of each leg to serve as a base for the wheels.
To add to the versatility of the table, Joe installed some perforated steel tubing across the length of the table directly under the level of the table top. This allowed him to add a slide-out section from each side of the table to hold his table saws.
Using four pieces of steel tubing cut on a 45-degree angle, Joe welded together two rectangular drawer frames. He welded a hinge on one outside corner of each drawer, to allow them to swing out from beneath the table top. After adding some perforated sheet to form the bottoms of the drawers, he welded the other side of each hinge to the back table legs near the top. Then he added a piece of scrap underneath the table top cross braces to act as a backstop for the flip-out drawers.
Next, Joe built a large pull-out front drawer using some flat steel bar scrap, along with a piece of the perforated sheet for the bottom of the drawer. He mounted that drawer on a couple of slide-out rails hung from the top cross-pieces.
The Finishing Touches
To finish the frame, Joe sanded it all smooth, went over it with paint thinner, and then sprayed it with a couple of coats of gray paint.
He added heavy-duty poly casters to the four legs. Then he added a clear coat of Penetrol to a large rectangle of perforated sheet (to maintain the metal look) and screwed it to the base of the frame to form a shelf that would allow metal shavings to drop through.
Joe welded tabs to the steel sheet used for the table top and then attached those to the frame with sheet metal screws. He also screwed bent flat bar at various spots on the legs to make handy brackets and accessory hooks.
To create a pull-out expansion section, Joe slid steel tube into the perforated tube already mounted on the frame and welded a cross piece to each end. He added some clever leveling stops to the bottom of the frame to allow him to level the table on uneven surfaces.
For complete details on Joe’s welding table build, visit our YouTube channel.
Industrial Metal Supply Co. partnered with Joe on this How-To DIY project by supplying some of the steel for this build! Visit www.IndustrialMetalSupply.com for the Southwest’s largest supply of metal and metal tools and accessories.
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