Where's the best place to find a puny 4'x8' piece of flat metal to use for a workbench?
I don't live in the rust belt, so factory auctions are probably off the table. I need a flat,semi impervious work surface for welding and bashing on. Where should I look?
I'm in Northern California. I was thinking Sims Metal. Any idea of what reasonable cost is? 4'x8'x1/2" or so
My steel yard sells "blems" that are good enough for most folks. A prime sheet like that will be somewhere between 400 and 600 depending on the alloy and finish.
It will also be just under 1000lbs
Look for metal supplier on Google, then figure out who sells direct to the public and hopefully has blems available.
I'd give you the names of the ones I stop in at, but I'm in CT so that probably wouldn't help!
1/2" 4x8 plate is 652 lbs and it would cost me about $280
Consider going with pickled and oiled steel.
Most places around here would have a will call area so loading shouldn't be a problem as long as you have a truck or trailer.
Just call all the local suppliers and ask for sales...and sound like you know what you need, and they'll probably be happy to sell to you. :)
Cheaper to build a bench with a heavy wood top and then have a piece of heavy gauge sheet bent to wrap around it.
Watch for industrial auctions. My brother bought a 10 by 10 by half inch steel welding bench for fifty dollars.
They also pop up on Craigslist here fairly regularly.
Lastly, we have a steel recycler here called Amix who collect steel cast offs from Fab shops and manufacturers. They sell a lot of it for much less than new price to the public. I often see large sheets there.
For S&G I checked my local CL for welding tables. Lots of great options locally, too bad I don't need one.
Oddly enough- look at a used restaurant supply store. The stainless steel used in front of walls over vent hoods can be cheap there.
The last time I needed a new weld table I drew up a simple plan with a 3'X4' 1/2" plate and a 2"X2" frame on casters. Called the steel yard and gave them the cut list and they quoted me over $500. I then went to weldtables.com and ordered a certiflat kit which at the time was almost exactly the same price. I love that table. Flat, sturdy and much lighter. It assembled in half an hour and has been flawless for 3 years. I use it all day every day.
They only seem expensive until you calculate the steel costs plus your time to fabricate. The grid of fixturing holes is incredibly handy and a handful of quickly modified clamps from HF gives almost limitless flexibility.
pinchvalve said:For S&G I checked my local CL for welding tables. Lots of great options locally, too bad I don't need one.
Yea it is surprising. Missed a 4x8x1/2" sheet of AR4 steel for $200 last week by an hour, but picking up a 4x4x1/2"sheet of diamond plate for $35!! On Friday afternoon.
My neighbor made one out of a stainless table from a restaurant auction house. Not quite 4X8, but look around.
We have a 5’x25’ steel table used for conveyor belt fastener fabrication. All steel overkill built in the 1970’s.
Not for sale and not practical for a homeowner but what an awesome piece or work place when you need it.
Jumper K Balls (Trent) said:The last time I needed a new weld table I drew up a simple plan with a 3'X4' 1/2" plate and a 2"X2" frame on casters. Called the steel yard and gave them the cut list and they quoted me over $500. I then went to weldtables.com and ordered a certiflat kit which at the time was almost exactly the same price. I love that table. Flat, sturdy and much lighter. It assembled in half an hour and has been flawless for 3 years. I use it all day every day.
They only seem expensive until you calculate the steel costs plus your time to fabricate. The grid of fixturing holes is incredibly handy and a handful of quickly modified clamps from HF gives almost limitless flexibility.
I haven't quoted anything for truth in a while. This seems like a good one. (I didn't do a Certiflat; I built a smaller workbench and then drooled with envy after seeing Trent's and realizing how cheap it ended up being for what it was. And I still have renting a mag drill and accurately drilling a field of holes to look forward to, which was driven home by recently doing a bunch of work that had me awkwardly clamping things to the outer flange because I have no holes yet.)
In reply to cdeforrest :
For $25. I bought a granite counter top from a display that had been discarded at my local big box lumberyard. I toss a piece of stainless steel on it when using as a welding table for Aluminum and a piece of aluminum when welding steel. That way nothing sticks, unless I need it to, then I switch metals. Both slide nicely behind the bench.
Slab o' steel? You can borrow my abs.
Oh, wait. 4'x 8'? Never mind.
Wow, lots of good Info. Thx everybody!
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