welding steel base or just getting aluminium extrusion

[reefy86]

got quoted £2080 to supply and weld this table which a abit on the high price tbh :( i know most of you prefer steel due to it being alot cheaper but surely making the table out of aluminium extrusion isn't going to cost me £2080. if it wasn't such a large table i would try myself but i just aint got the confidence on welding such a large frame.

Looking at video's of people putting aluminium frames together just looks like fun and easy enough to do but then i have no idea on what methods they took to make sure they had fully flat extrusions for the rails to go on. i know on steel i was going to use epoxy resin but what do you do on aluminium?

sorry for the questions guy's i just need to start cracking on now otherwise i will just keep listening to my partner nagging telling me its just another fantasy isn't it

[Clive S]

sorry for the questions guy's i just need to start cracking on now otherwise i will just keep listening to my partner nagging telling me its just another fantasy isn't it

No prob with the questions but I might be a good idea to keep them all in one place. ie in the same thread

[reefy86]

noted Clive :)

[cropwell]

I would get another quote on the welding reefy, but it could be that half the price is for lifting and transporting

[reefy86]

well to be fair he has been the only one to actually get back to me with a quote lol, the minute i mention it needs to be perfectly square and properly made they run lol.

[reefy86]

would it be justifiable to use heavy extrusions for a more rigid strong frame? the price difference is huge but dont mind paying for it if its a plus side for the machine.

90x90 10mm slot light version
£122.85 18.9kg

90x90 10mm slot heavy version
£198.75 31.5kg

both 3000mm long

[JoeHarris]

For what's it's worth I was not confident welding either, so made mine in several welded parts which where more manageable then used bolted connections to fix them together and finally tacked it together once it was all squared up. It is actually not that critical to have the frame perfect as you will most likely need to level it with epoxy anyway and so long as the rails are parallel the support under them does not need to be perfect. Basically what I'm saying is I'd have a go yourself and spend the money you save on the other parts!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[reefy86]

i ain't saving any money lol not when you take into account that i need welding equipment/free standing press drill/new angle grinder/clamps/straight edges but on the plus side ill be adding to my new workshop full off tools that will be needed in the future anyway. the frame as it stands in materials is costing me £725 and thats for 90x90x5mm mild steel

[reefy86]

any tips on the frame guy's? also have a few question's

1. what welder do you recommend for welding 90x90x5mm steel
2. do you wait until all the frame is together before you drill holes and fill with sand
3. best method used for drilling and tapping for the linear rails

cheers

[Boyan Silyavski]

My 8x4 had roughly 700kg in it , which translates to 800 euros, 100 euros for gas, 60 euros for MIG wire.1 day receiving and cutting the material, about 2 full days of welding it alone by myself. Yes i moved it alone around here. Managed to do it at around 1mm precision or less.

250Amp MIG which cost me around 350 euros and 300e Rage Saw were previous investment, when i decided i will fabricate things. And 500kg welding table / which i made later/

I will charge at least 2000 at the blink of an eye for that job, especially having in mind that i welded it slowly so it's not under stress.

Similar frame will cost more than 2500 in aluminum and will take same amount of time to put together. A week.


My advice is to go 100x100x3mm if you do it at home, as bigger is no good to cut by any means. Best will be if you speak with someone local and design your frame with bigger beams as possible, say 200x200, which will greatly simplify things. You will have to find someone who does metal structures , for them these beams are small in their mind. They may even have some scrap enough to build a house.