One of the very first welding projects you should tackle is a welding table. But wait a minute. Are you sure you want to spend the time and money to build a welding table when you might be able to buy one that is portable, foldable, and inexpensive? I am all for making things myself when I can save a dollar. But its depressing when you spend a weekend fighting with a welding project only to realize you could have just bought the thing and spent your time on a better project.

Lets look a some possibilities so that might help in making a good decision on welding tables, from cheapest and easiest, to more expensive and multi functional.

3 options for a light duty table:

• A 30" x 20" foldable metal table that is designed for welding and that collapses for storage, can be bought ready to use right out of the box. Approximate cost around $140 plus shipping.
• The cheapest and easiest might actually be a set of home made sawhorses using sawhorse brackets along with a piece of 11 gauge steel for the welding table top. When not in use, the metal can be stored against a wall and the sawhorses can be disassembled and stored out of the way. You could even laminate a piece of 16 ga sheet to a small sheet of 3/4 inch plywood if you wanted. This would serve in a pinch as a light duty table for welding small parts. Approximate cost around $ 80 ( $ 20 for sawhorse brackets $20 for a half sheet of plywood, $10 for two by fours, $30 for sheet metal top.)
• A stainless steel food table can be bought that can be assembled quickly. (If you weld stainless food service type parts, this is a great option because you don't want stainless steel getting contaminated with iron particles that will later cause rust and staining.) Approximate cost around $130

2 options for a heavy duty table:

• Buy a full sheet of 1/2" half inch or ¾" steel plate along with some 3 inch square tubing or angle iron and fabricate a super heavy duty welding table that can be hammered on, heated, welded to, clamped to, etc. Approximate cost for the all the steel is around $800
• Purchase a heavy duty welding table made with 6 individual precision ground steel plates that are CNC-machined with 5/8in. holes in a 2in. grid pattern that will enable you to clamp virtually anything of any shape. Cost is around $2200 plus shipping.