I own a Klutch table and found the brace position to be a small issue too, but I cut a plywood shelf, covered it with galvanized sheet to fit the braces and now I have a great shelf for my clamps.
One advantage of the Klutch table is that you can set it up in a kind of table-top arrangement. I.e. without the legs. It then sits on feet a few inches high and can be used on top of another surface. Very handy in my shop where I don't have space for another stand-alone table.
Started with the fold up type from harbor freight, that lasted about 2 weeks, got the Klutch from Nothern on sale and have been pretty happy with it, it’s a lot sturdier than it looks on video or in pictures and a few mods make it even more so… little on the small side, but for hobby use and small to low mid size projects I’m pretty happy to own it… the clamps it comes with are probably worth the investment alone… I wanted to build my own table, but with steel tariffs in place I was looking at close to 15 hundred bucks to basically duplicate the Klutch table with 3/8s plate… going any larger with the suppliers in my area and I could just an already built pro table… it’s frustrating to be getting the learn to TIG bug at this point in my life at the exact moment material is at an all time high… so I stick to very small projects for now… I don’t regret getting the harbor freight folding table as it’s useful for other things and if I ever need to pack the welder up it’ll make a nice portable unit, so for $50 it was still an ok investment… I wouldn’t recommend it though as your only table, it’ll make learning frustrating for you…
Great summary. As I get into welding more, I'm on a complete trajectory like when I started more serious wood working in 2003. You build your tool kit based on your needs. As your needs grow, your tools grow, along with the quality. When you don't know how much or what you need (you don't know what you don't know) it's difficult to figure out. I have the HF table shown, and it sure is better than welding on the garage floor. lol. My quality of work goes up as the environment and tools goes up. However, if I was starting over, AND had the room, I would get the most table I could afford, just like I did with my table saw in starting wood working. If you're going to continue the hobby, it will pay for itself in the long run (I still have my Jet table saw from 2003 and it's the workhorse of the wood shop). Unfortunately I have to weld in the garage, so having a dedicated table that doesn't fold up isn't an option.
Thanks for the tips. I do most of my welding in a vise and I can see how a table would be an improvement. Space is at a premium in our small garage so it's good to see some options. Great video!
I got the northern tool table but with wheels and a few other upgrades and it's been really solid. Mobility is important for me in my garage as I can wheel around my welding cart with the table where ever I want to work
The Harbor Freight Model - looks like it needs to have an angle iron strengthener under it to keep it more flat. There is one more (for us small shoppers) A WORKMATE with a galvanized top. Very cheap and works just fine. Also doubles as an actual work holding top - yea!! I attached the metal to plywood and put a clamping piece of 2x4 under it to hold it in place
It’s funny, but when I decided to get back into welding about four years ago. I first bought that Stronghand table. It was good, because I could, as you showed, fold it up. But that was more of a pain that it looks to be. My second table, is the Grizzly copy of your second Stronghand table. But the manufacturing is just meh. The surface wasn’t flat, having a twist and as much as an 1/8” dip. The countersink holes for the screws were over drilled so that two of the screws went right through the countersink holes. I fixed the problems, but it was work. Whoever welded the steel angle frame together didn’t weld it flat. So after measuring, I did a lot of grinding to flatten it and remove the twist. After a couple of hours of grinding, putting the plate back in and off, I finally got it flat. I welded the worst countersink hole in and redrilled them. Whew! But ow it fine. There is a support at the middle of the table running the short way, and I’ve found that the table does stay flat when I use the Stronghand clamps. One error people make it to think that they have to use gorilla ARM’s to tighten them. They don’t. Over tightening welding clamps is a mistake that beginners usually make. Our friend at Fireball Tools, whose products I also have, is one of the worst promoters of that bad practice. Everything he does has to be big, or bigger. It reminds me of the old show, Tooltime, where he used a three horse motor in the dishwasher, with expected results. If everything is measured, and cut properly, just a medium cramping force is needed. If things are warped, and clamps are muscled down to straighten them, another thing beginners do, then the work will be warped afterwards anyway. So, I bought a second Grizzly table to lock them together. The second was better out of the box, and needed much less grinding. I would be happy if they sold just the tops. I haven’t locked them together yet, and I like that new table, but what am I going to do with these two now, if I get two of those? Oh, well.
Thanks Mel! I did enjoy Tool Time. I've been wanting to check out Tim Allen and Richard Karn's new show, Assembly Required. Anyway, I do enjoy Jason's videos. (Fireball Tools) That massive vise he built really is a work of art, even if it's totally impractical for someone like me. I have the aluminum version of their smallest squares and those do the job for me with pretty minor clamping force on the locking plier type clams.
Great video! My welding practice got better when I realized I could use a big vise grip style clamp to hold my work on my cinder block work surface, instead of just relying on gravity 🤣 I'll probably pick up a cheap table, possibly the Harbor Freight one because I've got two buildings to go between where I might weld. (Garage and a shed - shed is a mess, but has 240V) So the portability appeals to me. I might build something a little more sturdy in the shed once it's a bit cleaner.
Thanks! I've definitely had plenty of welds go south because the part moved on me; at this point I almost always lock my stuff down. The vise grip style clamps are my pick as well.
As a newbie, I can attest that this has been very useful. I bought the Klutch table (actually before I got my welder) and it was nice to see it compared to others. I've been happy with it so far, just doing some really basic, exploratory stick stuff so far. On first sight, one thing I do like about the Langmuir is the open bottom for leg room for sitting down. The Klutch cross bar is a little bit in the way. I know, first world problems...
I saw that fancy table on sale and gave it some serious consideration but I am not at the point I can justify it. If I graduate to anything beyond playing I will upgrade.
Tim. Love your channel. Learning a lot. I am a furniture maker. I know absolutely nothing about welding. My only desire in welding is to construct metal legs / support systems for desks and shelves, etc.. I don't want to start cheap. I want to start right. What type of welding do you recommend I learn.
Thanks! If you are only working steel legs, I would learn MIG. That's what I use for that type of work. I've typically bought Millermatics and a Multimatic. They're great. There are a ton of other good options out there, including the Lincoln powermig 210MP or ESAB Rebel. I also have a Harbor Freight Titanium MIG170, which work really well too. If you want to make aluminum support systems as well as steel, I'd get an AC/DC TIG welder. This will take a bit more learning, but will weld about any material and make the most beautiful welds once you get the hang of it. The two machines of this type that I have are the Miller Dynasty (they're pricey) and a Primeweld TIG225X (a lot of bang for the buck).
I wish they had gone with a thicker top on the Klutch/Titanium tables. I honestly wonder how much it would have raised the price to go with 1/4" thick steel?
@AJ XOXO buy used because you can get a better tool at the price of a new cheap one that will be reliable or if you have the ability to buy new quality tools buy new reputable brands. The only cheap stuff I think is worth purchasing is stuff you need once in a blue moon or over built for you use like a 1/2 drive 18” cheater bar for your lug nuts on a car to replace the T bar your car comes with; or a aluminum Pittsburg floor jack to replace your car’s scissor jack.
I love that lump of aluminium .. got to get one of those. Here in Oz my table, that's similar to the middle one you reviewed, costs 3x your US price ;( One day when I've got a decent size workshop I'd like to get one of those really solid top tables .. just after I rob a bank!
I did not see a link to that aluminum block that you showed at the very end. I'm very intrigued by that and was wondering if you could throw a link in it for me.
The aluminum fixture plate is from Crummy Welding. This video explains how to get one: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-kOPZYFFmJfM.html
Well you certainly take that table out of it's original form.. in which it had a ricochet affect henceforth the table will not go back to it's original dimesion
I bought it from Roy Crumrine (really great guy) at Crummy Welding. He has a website, but they aren’t always in stock. Fireball tool sells a cast iron plate, but I like the aluminum one because it grounds aluminum parts without leaving arc marks.
Im not familiar with that particular model, but I’ve used other old dinosaurs. As long as the internal wiring is still insulated and safe, those old machines run great! Sounds awesome to me!
Will at least you are sharing actual information that benefits people! More importantly you have not turned-off your comment section unlike "fireball tool channel", who only use his videos to promote his tool related business...making them seem more alike video commercials then sharing helpful information, then he surreptitiously hires other manufacturing business to show how bad they are for not using etc a jig-table nor does he let them know how to improve their business to them personally. As he does not show he does that anyway? My whinge...lol...!
LOL....how bout some HD tube legs to hold up a piece of plate steel? OH....that's not hip & cool and cost a bunch of money for a useless product with a bunch of holes in it. Gotta be cool maign gotta be cool.
At first, I thought this was a ridiculous comment, but then I googled ‘real welder’ and sure enough, the definition is ‘a person of any background who has built a metal table on which to weld’. I had no idea 🤷♂️. I honestly didn’t consider myself to be a real welder, but since I built a welding table years ago, I guess I am.
Ok, the epithet was a bit unnecessary, but this was actually my very thought; if you own a welding machine and a grinder, why would you BUY a table when you can make one? That way you get it exactly the way you want it, and if you are a beginner then it is great practise!
@Mike I never said you needed to CNC it. Both of my tables were made without one. I don't see how you read any ego into my post, have you been drinking?
FYI Langmuir has distribution/supply problems and they are not up front about it. I ordered clamps from them four months ago and they never showed. They kept stringing me along via support emails. "Oh just a couple more weeks." Repeatedly. I finally had to cancel the order. I found a simple solution. Search for "ULTIMATE FIXTURE CLAMP HACK - Weld Your Own" and watch that. It was good welding practice and the resulting clamps worked great.
