Low Budget Water Table Build for my 2x2

[MikeRenz]

i'm sure i'm not the only one that spent their entire allowance on the 2x2, and don't want to pay top dollar to build a water table. I've drooled over all the beautiful tables built with hundreds of dollars of brand new metal.....well i refuse to partake in that nonsense!

So, what do you do when you have $0 that you'd like to spend on water table construction? Well you dumpster dive of course...and look in every last storage closet you have access to.

Thankfully we came across a lot of 2x6 box beam. I'm not sure what it was used for, but i know what it's about to become.


After hours of grinding, cutting, welding....we're left with this:




The front lip will house the keyboard/mouse/dual 17" lcds. The plasma/computer/controller/wiring will all be beneath the water on a shelf. No worries, it will all be shielded from water in case of a mishap. We'll also be adding some sort of splash shield between the monitors and the cutter.

The cutter isn't in the pic, but its a Cutmaster 82 which has a pretty small footprint, so we should have quite a bit of space under the table on the shelf for storing the router/z-axis when not in use, consumables, metal scraps..and whatever else we see fit to stow there.

Only a few things left to do it strip the pimp orange and give it a nice coat of black. Then no one will be wiser as to the age of the material. Plus we still have to figure out the slat supports. Most likely will just use some angle iron with notches cut in it. Still trying to figure out the cheapest viable option for the slats. The table will be on casters so that we can push it in the corner when not in use.

Otherwise, just another run of the mill water table....only total $ spent is $0.00 (not including welding gas/consumables/power anyway...). I can't wait to start cutting on it to see the difference in mess/smoke. Shopvaccing after every time you use the machine gets old quickly.

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Looks great! Would you mind sharing your inside dimensions for the water part?

[MikeRenz]

thanks, i can measure it either friday or sunday when i'm at the shop next

[mattjw76]

Originally Posted by Arya Ebrahimi

Looks great! Would you mind sharing your inside dimensions for the water part?

Its 32" wide by just over 4' long by 5" deep.. The box beam is actually 2"x5" not 2"x6"..

32" wide works well because if we end up getting slats 8' long we can just cut them twice to get just under 32"..

Also, we have a little more than $0 into it. I had to buy the 3/4" ball valve, some pipe, and 2 90s for the drain..

[Brewzur]

Looks like old pallet racking

[jeeperjer]

looks nice, once you get the thing painted it will look killer!

[mattjw76]

Originally Posted by Brewzur

Looks like old pallet racking

Yep, thats exactly what it is. My buddy's dad has a mountain of it in the woods out behind his house..

[ron678]

Where there is a will, there is always a way, I couldn't help but notice that you have the same engine hoist I have, tucked in your corner. It never ceases to amaze me how many people have the same stuff in their shops/garages. Oh well great minds think a like.

[mattjw76]

Caster wheels and table surfaces added..



Also water tested. Its had water in it for ~6 hours now and there is no sign of a leak.

So the total water bed depth is 5". I was thinking of using 3" slats. That would allow me to have 1" of water under the slats and keep the water level 1" below the sides of the table to be even with the top of the slats. Is this the right way to do it?

[HardcorewannabeXJ]

Originally Posted by mattjw76

So the total water bed depth is 5". I was thinking of using 3" slats. That would allow me to have 1" of water under the slats and keep the water level 1" below the sides of the table to be even with the top of the slats. Is this the right way to do it?

Pretty much, with 1" of border around the top of the water table, you'll lose a lot less water then having them even with the top of the slats. However cutting pieces of material larger then the table could be an issue.

[SoundManCO]

Originally Posted by HardcorewannabeXJ

Pretty much, with 1" of border around the top of the water table, you'll lose a lot less water then having them even with the top of the slats. However cutting pieces of material larger then the table could be an issue.

I am working on a straight edge with magnets on it to set on the sides to help keep water in on mine when cutting small pieces that are not sticking out the side. If my slats went the other way the water getting out would be less of an issue but my slats would be longer (more material). My slats are flush and this works great for cutting larger material.

[mattjw76]

I made some more progress on the table. I decided to weld the outer edge of the 1/8" mild bottom to the rails today. Not to bad for my first time tigging mild steel:



I also played around some with how the slots will get mounted. This is probably how they will go:

[mattjw76]

Today I cut/ground a bunch of slat supports:



Some of which got welded into place:



Its getting close!!

[BLKBOB]

Hey that slat support idea looks familiar looks good man congrats. Once you get up and running you will love it.

Gordo

[glamisrnr]

gives me ideas for when I get a job. I am gonna save these pics with the dimensions. Cool build.

[mattjw76]

Its finally ready for paint..

[mattjw76]

All primered..



I hope to paint it tonight..

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Do the pics work for anyone else? Only the first pic in the first post is working for me, the rest are red x's.

[MikeRenz]

Originally Posted by Arya Ebrahimi

Do the pics work for anyone else? Only the first pic in the first post is working for me, the rest are red x's.

they all work for me. The first picture is hosted on a different server...maybe you just can't get to the other pics momentarily.

[jeeperjer]

looking good! and i see them all fine...

[mattjw76]

[mattjw76]

Finally!!!

[xr8ed]

Looks bitchen, what about a splash shield behind the monitors?

[mattjw76]

Originally Posted by xr8ed

Looks bitchen, what about a splash shield behind the monitors?

I think I am going to run it first and see how much it actually splashes. I made this stand for the monitors to give more room for the keyboard/mouse. If the water splashes up beyond this stand then I will make a plexi-glass shield.



-Matt

[mattjw76]

Other than some cable cleanup, possibly flipping the gantry around, and filling it with water its done!!

You can see the protective hood I made for the plasma cutter in this pic. I'm sure this table will never leak but I don't want to take any chances..