AndyUK's Build - 1.2x1.0m Gantry

[AndyUK]

Ok sounds good - let me see what I can do about the CAD model to help you out.

Oh, so you essentially welded the sides, then assembled the table with screws and taps, and then welded it together? was it mostly to prevent it from moving?
What about the legs, did you solder anything below the open 80x80 tubes? I cannot bolt the table down to the floor because i have floor hitting and i'm sure i'll be unlucky enough to hit a hose with the drill. Probably won't be necessary as the table will weight a shit ton.

Looking back over the photos in my thread, I can see why you thought it was just bolted. As it was my first time welding, I wasn't at all happy with how the process was going - I thought the welds were coming out pretty ugly and I had a number of "retries" grinding out bits that felt crappy and weak and doing them over again. As a result, I just didn't take many photos of the build during this stage, I was quite disheartened with it. It wasn't until I had something I was happy with (after lots of grinding, welding, regrinding, smoothing with some filler, sanding, then finally painting that I started taking photos of the frame again.

Lets start back here - October 2018, all the frame steels (bar one!) were cleaned up, tapped, bolted together into an assembly I was happy with.



I then turned the frame over, and started welding the caps on the bottom of the square tubing for the feet. I'd drilled and tapped these prior - but in hindsight I'd have welded a nut on the inside first to give more thickness to the thread. It was at this point I set my crotch on fire. ;)



By the end of the day I was quite happy with how it was sitting on its new feet. I'd also started preparing the steels for the adjustable height bed.



Then I started to tack weld the joints together all the way around, being sure to do one tack, then move around the machine to try and reduce distortion. Once that was done, I came back to each one in turn and gave it a full bead. Rinse and repeat.

I was so unhappy with it I literally don't have a picture of the frame until it was painted.... and even then I wasn't happy with the brush marks in the first coat, so that took a while to sort out!