Welding table for woodworking assembly?

[Steve Mathews]

I'm about to purchase a welding table and thought this might also serve double duty for woodworking assembly. Has anyone else done the same thing? Comments? The one shown in the link below has holes in it spaced 2" on center throughout for work holding.

https://weldtables.com/products/heav...ivel-castors-1

[Keith Outten]

That's a nice welding table for the money.
I built my own welding table, in fact two of them ( 2' by 4' )so I can place them side by side or end to end when I need a larger surface for any type of job.
I also use a Rockwell Jaw Horse on occasion. I purchased the welding attachment for the Jaw Horse, its kind of a third hand when you need to hold something like a pipe arrangement to weld or solder.

I can put plywood sheet on top of either welding table when I use it for some woodworking projects.

[john zulu]

I use my welding table for assembly BUT I always cover the top with mdf or paper to ensure that the metal dust does not contact the wood itself.

[Chuck Saunders]

I just bought a 12x48 wing from them to replace the twisted cast aluminum table on my Grizzly edge sander. Welded it up on my 3'x4' table I got from WeldTables. I did soften the corners a little more and ran a flap disc over the surface to remove any possible laser flash. They make a good product.
Chuck

[Charles Wiggins]

Some thoughts:

Keith & John's ideas about covering the top would help, but I would not want to assemble wooden pieces on the metal top in case I dropped a part - no give. You're sure to damage the work piece. I'd rather have a replaceable top with some give to it so it is more likely to absorb the impact than damage my work piece.

The welding areas I've worked in always had lots of metal shavings around, no matter how much we cleaned up. Iron-based metals will react with the tannin in some woods, like oak, causing discoloration. Red oak will turn black in a matter of minutes when in contact with iron. A wooden cover for the table would help with that too.

[Steve Mathews]

I use my welding table for assembly BUT I always cover the top with mdf or paper to ensure that the metal dust does not contact the wood itself.

That goes to my concern about possibly contaminating the wood with stuff normally associated with metalworking. The 5/8" holes in the top make it tempting though for clamping. Instead of the top shown in the link I was thinking of getting the one with sides and a little thicker steel.

Edit: Looks like Charles and I posted at the same time. Looks like I won't be using the metal top for woodworking unless it's covered first.

[andy bessette]

For woodworking assembly I have a heavy duty, wooden, 48" x 96" workbench topped with tempered Masonite that I can screw into for various assembly and bending aids. My welding table is separate and steel topped.

[Chuck Saunders]

My tablesaw, bandsaw and jointer are all iron tables and my wood doesn't seem to suffer. I agree that sharing the table with metal work would not be the best idea.
Chuck