Two-day Project Expands Predictably

My daily adventures are finished, as far as I know, so I am writing to unwind.

I spent several more hours on my shooting bench project. I thought I would be done with the metalworking today, but as always, I decided to complicate things, so I lost a couple of hours.

The bench will probably weigh the better part of 100 pounds, and I would like to be able to move it easily so I can shoot at different distances. I don’t think it’s a good idea for old people to drag heavy objects across pastures. My obvious and hypocritical solution: wheels.

Why is this solution hypocritical? Because I’m using wheels I labeled trash a while back, claiming they were useless.

I bought a handtruck and turned it into a propane cutting cart. In the process, I took the pneumatic tires off and replaced them with solid ones. I have had bad experiences with pneumatic tires on things like handtrucks and wheelbarrows, so I don’t trust them. I have the feeling China is involved. It seems like small innertubes all leak these days, and that was not the case in the past. When I was a kid, I didn’t have to inflate my bike’s tires every time I rode it, but the last two bicycles I dealt with had to have their tires inflated over and over, just like handtrucks and wheelbarrows.

Maybe China has the only Schrader valve plant on earth, and it makes garbage.

When I took the pneumatic tires off the propane cart, I reviled them publicly, and I tossed them in the garage so they would be close to the car when I loaded up to go to the dump. I never took them, because it seemed wasteful. I had an idea that I might take the tubes out and use them for head pillows while watching TV.

When I got the idea to put wheels on the bench, I thought of the tires. They were here. They were free, sort of. Most amazingly, they were still inflated.

Maybe the Chinese got these innertubes right. I am willing to take a chance.

My bench has 2″-square legs. Instead of a big long axle running through two of them, which would require a long drive to my metal dealer, I decided to use junk I already had. I took two pieces of 3/4″ round bar, turned parts of them down to around 5/8″, drilled holes in them for cotter pins, chamfered the holes so the pins would go in easily, and cleaned them up for welding. I drilled 3/4″ holes through my bench legs, pounded the axles through them, and welded them in place.

It was a great deal of fun, and I saved a trip, although I want to get one more piece of steel for the bench, so okay, I didn’t save a trip at all. But for a while, I thought I had, and that illusion of success had a certain amount of value to me.

The really sad thing is that I had enough 3/4″ bar to make a solid axle. I found that out after I got started. Still, why use up metal when you don’t have to? It’s not free.

I’ll post a photo of my bench’s legs.

As of this morning, the bench had one leg, which made it okay for milking cows but not very good for shooting. I got two more legs welded on, and I added the final horizontal member.

Adding the last member was not what I would call a breeze. My table is 2′ by 3′, and the bench will be about 4 feet square. I can’t get all of it on the table at the same time. I have to make clever, or what seems clever to me, use of clamps to make it work. I have to set up one corner of the bench at a time, hoping everything will still be lined up when I weld the other corners. Of course, this did not work. I had to cut some tacks on a piece I put in place yesterday. It had turned out to be about 1/8″ too long. I had to shorten it. I had a fine old time getting the bench on the table so I could weld the piece back in.

Yesterday, I started looking at welding tables. I realized I had outgrown my second table, and I was wondering whether I should build a new one or buy one. I thought the only reasonable choice in a factory table was a Fab Block, made by Weldtables.com. These tables get great reviews, and they’re inexpensive. The problem is that “inexpensive” means about $2100 for a 3/8″-thick table.

While I was looking for answers, I found a company which had done what I had been hoping someone would do. They were offering cheaper tables to compete with Weldtables.com. I don’t think a small welding table is worth $2100, even if it has wifi and a built-in espresso machine. I think industrial tables are incredibly overpriced, and I suspect that when Weldtables.com decided to offer a less expensive alternative, they didn’t have much incentive to be all that much cheaper. They had no competition on the low end.

A company called Langmuir now makes “Arcflat” tables aimed squarely at the Fab Block. They’re cast iron. They’re basically iron boxes with supporting members inside. They’re covered with regulation 16mm holes for fixturing. They’re 3/8″ thick, whereas the default thickness for Fab Blocks is 1/4″. Here are the two best parts: they come fully assembled, and a 2′ by 3′ table only costs $650 plus shipping.

Fab Blocks have to be welded together. You get a really heavy box of parts, and after that, you’re on your own.

Arcflat tables are ground flat before you get them, so you don’t have to worry that your poor welding skills will ruin one during assembly.

Why would I want a 2′ by 3′ table, since I already have one? Simple. Arcflat tables are modular. You can buy two tables and clamp them up to make a 4′ by 3′ table, which is what I want.

I’m not all that excited about welding on cast iron. When you weld on steel, you can tack things to it to hold them in place, and you can grind the remains of the tacks off afterward. You can’t crack or snap steel, either. If you gouge it, you can weld new steel into it very easily to make it like new. That could be tricky with cast iron.

There are good things about cast iron, though. It’s rigid, and weld spatter doesn’t stick to it very well. There are high-end industrial tables made from cast iron.

Like Fab Blocks, Arcflat tables have vertical side panels with fixture holes. Those would have come in handy yesterday.

Based on what I know right now, I can forget about a Fab Block. I see no reason to buy one if I can get a bigger, thicker table, fully assembled, for less money.

Langmuir also makes a $3000 CNC plasma table which is really tempting. I already have a plasma cutter. Best not to think about it.

Yesterday, I thought I was going to finish my bench today. Today, I think I’ll finish it tomorrow. I wonder what new features I can come up with to drive me into next week.

It’s looking really good. I look forward to trying it out.