bark_eater 

Still digging out and rearranging the furniture after 2020. Next to tackle is moving a 16x35 milling machine table from shed to garage. I have a machine base Id like to use that is 35" long so it will only support the table at its ends. Any thoughts as to this being sufficient? Here's the table from its last adventure:



Its been in an open shed for a couple years. I coated it with Boeshield and wrapped it in plastic, but I'm a little concerned about what I'll find when I un wrap it.

I'll get some pictures of the base later today.

unterhausen

It should be fine to support it only at the ends. The deflection would be minimal, if that's what you are worried about. I was going to tell you some perfectionist nonsense about mounting it properly, but really it's not going to matter for frames. Might matter if it was used to machine things.

I have a machine base for fixturing non-frame stuff. I really need to go out and wax it, it's difficult to keep it from rusting in the garage.

Andrew R Stewart 

No issues IMO on the support only at the ends. However ,do make sure it can't shift about and slide off one of those ends. Andy

bulgie 

That's so funny, I was sitting here stewing on how to design the table for my "new" ('90s vintage) benchtop milling machine. Going back and forth on details and strategies for getting it done until my head hurt, so I decided to procrastinate with a little harmless escapism, namely reading the Framebuilders forum. Only to find this message with the subject line almost exactly what I was trying to escape from!

My mill is more like 700 lb complete (not just the table!). I have the steel, just working out some details, like how to have storage under the mill. I was hoping there was some drawer cabinet that would fit perfectly under there so I didn't have to make drawers, but I'm leaning towards just making the table now and worry about drawers later. They'll probably have to be custom made, thinkin' plywood but I don't have a tablesaw. But that's a problem for March or April (or 2024?)

This Horror Fright "end cabinet" would fit perfectly under my mill, and I was all set to buy one until HF pissed me off so much that I will try to avoid ever buying from them again. (I even called customer service to give them a chance to make it right, and they cheerfully declined! ("That's our policy") Other brands make things similar, but they all have different dimensions, so I'd have to have the cabinet in hand before beginning making the table. And the good ones (Snap-on, Vidmar etc) are too expensive for me. Chances of me making the table and finding a nice "vintage" cabinet later that fits perfectly are nil. So I guess that frees me up to make it however I want, and just add drawer slides later. Maybe I'll make friends with someone who has a table saw and likes making drawers.

Open for suggestions, at least until I start cutting and welding. The mill is a Rong Fu RF-30, badged as Enco, with a base that's just 16" wide, 24" deep. Since the steel I bought is 2" square tube, if the legs just come straight down from the edges of the base, the space between them for drawers will be 12" wide. I am willing to space the legs a little wider to fit a drawer cabinet (the HF is 14.5") but the table starts getting less structurally efficient if you make it too much wider than the mill base.

Yes 16" is kinda narrow for a milling machine table, but the top of the table will be anchored into concrete walls on two sides, so I am not worried about it being tippy. I will custom-fit and weld on struts from the table to the wall anchors after deciding exactly where the mill will live. Plus the feet at the bottom will extend outward 3" on each side, with triangle stiffening gussets of course, so the footprint will actually be more like 22" wide. That's as wide as the optional base RF sold with these mills. Not optimal, but I know it's at least edequate. They sold a million of these (maybe literally?) so I am not breaking new ground here.

I hope I remember how to weld! I will probably not put my weld pictures on Insta... (especially since I don't have an account...) Wish me luck. That mill will make a pretty big dent if one of the legs falls off.

Mark B

bark_eater 

Here's the stand. Its wider than the table. I'm inclined to position the table in the center for stability. The way its constructed, the steel tube corner columns go all the way to the top and the horizontals are butt welded between, so I think I'll have a welder add gussets at the corners, and some sort of rails to capture the plate in place. As the plate is presently stored on a platform close to the stand height, I'm considering putting skids on the stand, sliding the plate on timbers onto the stand and then moveing the whole thing on planks and rollers the 40 feet to its new home. I'd also like to include some sort of vise mount, and put an aluminum sheet over the top of the whole thing to make it as a very solid small work bench.

unterhausen

That's an interesting base, exactly what Mr. Bulgier needs! For a mill, being able to level it easily is pretty important though.
I don't think I would reinforce it at all, but it's hard to be sure from just one picture. The welds look pretty solid though. I lifted mine into place using the ancient Egyptian "stack of dimensioned wood" method. Mine came off of a coordinate measuring machine, so there weren't any gibs. It had a vee way and a flat way. So I welded a piece of angle iron on the top of the stand and the other half is just sitting on the stand. I haven't thought about the fact that it's not fastened down until just now. The one time I used it to build a frame, it was just sitting on a table.

bark_eater 

I'm defiantly looking at the joint like a carpenter. I'm pretty sure I've been told that a good weld is as strong as the base material, but I see shear forces and go directly to belt and suspenders. Moving the table separately from the base is probably the way to go, but as a carpenter... I'm all about Egyptian rigging.

unterhausen

The thing about welding gussets is that they might twist the assembly. Don't tell the welder I said that, they might take offense. But it's a concern

bark_eater 

So I should take this to the local wizard class welder then....

himespau 

Does it NEED welding?

bark_eater 

Don't know. Don't know how strong but welds are in shear. Don't want to drop 600lbs on my toe. That is known.

himespau 

Ah yes, or course. I know that's what you were posting about reinforcing it, but for some reason, I kept getting it in my head that you were talking about welding the top to the supports. Once you get that top on there, that much weight is going to make it falling off sideways (or off the end unlikely, and that's the failure mechanism my mind kept running too.

Andrew R Stewart 

I like to make my benches and such as modular and changeable as possible. Welding stuff together is about opposite that. For the milling table some simple bolts threaded into the bottom and aligned to snug against the bases' frame should be enough to trap the table in place. Andy

bark_eater 

The table already has 6 adjustable feet on the under side, so I could use those. I could laminate up a thick sheet of plywood to completely fill "frame" and run 6 bolts up into the table. If I glued and screwed 1/4 sheets of aluminum on either side of the table covering the exposed plywood, I'd have a nice area for tools to roll off of...

unterhausen

If I can throw a word in for engineers, adding extra material without any analysis is the antithesis of modern structural engineering. But we don't have to live with it, so I'm certainly not going to criticize whatever makes you comfortable. And there certainly have been failures when all the possibilities aren't considered. That's why there is errors and omissions insurance. And in extreme cases, legal sanctions.

I think what a good welder would do if asked to add gussets to this table is to only partially weld the gussets. It's plenty strong and results in less distortion because there is less heat. You could alternatively get them to add angle iron brackets at the welds that concern you .