Thanks for doing this review, Ted. Some of us guys DO have very small shops and need small tables... I've had a crappy Harbor Freight table for years and upgrading to a (much) higher quality table is what I've really wanted to do. But the cost is ridiculous--like you said, you can easily pay thousands. This table is perfectly sized, appears to be of EXCELLENT quality, and for the cost looks to be a really great deal. I've not seen this product before, but I think I will be deciding on it (once I've saved the cash!). Building something of this caliber yourself (at least for most of us) is totally out of the question. Look around folks... Stuff is expensive and getting more so. None of us could make something like this for the price. Love your channel! You're a good teacher and a good man. Keep it up!
I recently got a Langmuir cast table based on your review and 5th Street Fab’s. It’s everything I’d anticipated, aside the filthy condition as-received - took lots of time, acetone, and rotary wire brush drill attachments to clean up all the casting sand residue and oil slime. You’re on my short list of video resources as I self-teach myself to weld. Keep it up Tim!!!
I received 2 tables in filthy condition as well - did you only clean up the top and sides, or did you also clean up the bottom? Wondering where to start with the casting debris that's backed up on the bottom surfaces?
Hi Tim Great table. I would fit a sheet of thin metal underneath to stop weld spatter from dropping through holes onto my legs though. Love your videos and learned a lot as a beginner to welding
I bought the $100 cheap table, and it really made a difference, vs on the garage floor or my (*** gasp ***) wood bench. I'm now ready for something a bit more stable and durable. Langmuir is now offering for free their leg kit with the purchase of this Arcflat table. Done Deal!
Nice vid. Suggestion for coating. Don't use qd40 use the spray anti splatter chemical instead. That will serve the sealant purpose as well as minimizing any spawling and splatter to stick to that nice new surface.
Great looking table, Tim. I sprung for a 36x24 CertiFlat tab and slot about a year ago to replace my Northern Tool Klutch stamped metal POS like the one you used to have. The CertiFlat did take some time to put together. I do like it BUT I like the Langmuir better if for no other reason than the sides and the thickness. Oh well, I'm stuck with mine.😪
I noticed that table in the last video and wondered when you were going to talk about it. That really is a fantastic option for a lot of people ; myself included. Thanks for the info 👍🏼
This seems like the best deal out there now. The CertiFlat FabBlock 2'X3' (with sides) is $1000 in 3/8" thickness, and you still have to weld it together.
Years ago I owned two Acorn weld platens, both were beasts & the square cast holes were a pain for jigging. The tops & sides were machine accurately for what we did. These newer tables with accurately spaced holes reminds me of the Bluco fixtures
***BEWARE*** We just added 2 more of these to our shop and they came in in TERRIBLE shape compared to the 1st two. The holes WERE NOT DEBURRED and there are tons of imperfections from poor casting, which they filled in with some sort of bondo. Absolutely unacceptable. Instead of fixing their quality control, they've updated their website to say that the poor casting and filling is totally normal!
Thanks for the review! I'm a new welder and am glad I found your channel. I'm definitely going tp pick up one of these tables based on your review (and some others I watched). Thanks again!
My employer just bought 6 these for me and the other guys i work with and i couldn't be happier. It used to be grinding the to surface and sparaying it with WD40 in between every batch of parts but now i only have to do it once a week.
Hey Tim, quick question for you if you don't mind touching on it. I picked up the same table (thanks for the great review!) and am shopping for clamps now. I've noticed in a few videos of the table that the fixture holes have quite a bit of play, have you noticed that to present any issues in lining up parts accurately? Are there any pins that have a tighter fit? I don't suppose it matters much with clamps as long as they hold, but pins I could see it possibly causing problems. Thanks!
Thanks! Having it on wheels would be really nice. My floor isn't flat, so I have a hard time getting things with 4 wheels to keep from wobbling. If I find a clever, sturdy way to solve that, I may add some casters in the future.
Have you noticed hole or table deformation from clamping forces? I’m really wanting one, but the thickness of the table is the only thing keeping me from buying it.
Ah Ha, I missed this video. Nice cuts on that project. For spatter, I have a carbide scraper. It’s called Super Scraper. It has a carbide edge about an inch and a quarter, or so, by an eighth thick, with a 90 degree blade with two edges. A heavy, though short, wood handle. I push it rapidly across the surface, and it shears off all the smaller “blueberrys”. Anything bigger than about 3/32”, that’s deeply embedded, is sheared off by whacking the handle with a plastic hammer. Works better than anything else I’ve tried. Though some anti spatter products work well, such as the one McMastercarr sells. That prevents most smaller ones from sticking, though it is slightly messy.
Thanks! I'll have to check out the super scraper. Could be pretty good for dross off of the plasma table as well. In general, I don't care much for anti-spatter, but it can be a real life saver at times.
what I would like to understand is during use, therefore during welding, if it is always necessary to spray the welding spray because I also think that after many splashes the table fills up with splashes. How do you behave? thank you very much
Just passing along my experience with Langmuir.... They have 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 though. Search for "ULTIMATE FIXTURE CLAMP HACK - Weld Your Own" and watch that. It was good welding practice and the resulting clamps worked great.
Can you comment on the difference in grounding on cast iron vs steel? I read somewhere that on a cast table you have to ground to the work piece to get great welds. I like cast but this grounding thing has me hesitant.
Thanks Tim! Bought one based on this video! I saw the links to a few of the clamps in the description, but can you provide a link to the short black posts that you are clamping against? Thanks for your videos!
Curious as to how much the table weighs ( just the table without the leg kit ), do you have any idea? Thanks for the vid, you sold me on getting one of these tables..:).
you should of just cut the brace out of the 200 dollar table, lol. This new one is nice though Its a little too expensive for me to justify buying at the moment, but I want one. Either way thanks for sharing you experience with welding tables. I currently have a home made 2x2' piece of junk table but at least I have one lol. I'm looking to upgrade soon.
Tim, do you have issues with the ball screw nuts from BuildPro?? It seems this table is much thinner than the BuildPro and the ball nut won’t tighten. I bought the shortest they have which is the BuildPro T55055
Thanks for your review! So i see you now how upgraded again to seigmund tables. I personally want one badly but the price is scaring me off for just a hobbiest. Would you recommend using arcflat for a few years and then making the jump up or just go all in now on seigmund
It really depends on what you want to do with them. They’re both good at their price points and there are more options to consider than there used to be, like the PrimeWeld table which is similar to the Langmuir, but has nitride, a grid and different legs. The Siegmund table is really in a different league when it comes to quality, as you would expect at that price. From a use perspective, the main advantage of the Siegmund for me is that it has chamfered holes and more uniform thickness allowing it to accept their quick connect bolts. This has been very helpful for me to set up stops and build fixtures. If you’re just going to use clamps, the Langmuir or similar tables are great and I don’t know that there would really be a need to upgrade for relatively light fab work. Some other advantages of the Siegmund are the higher quality fit and finish, hard surface that is nearly impossible to ding and the grid/ruler machined on the surface. I have received sponsorship from all 3 companies mentioned, which doesn’t affect the opinion I share, but I always like to be up front about that.
@@TimWelds hey man, thanks for the speedy response and informative videos. This decision has been keeping me up at night for weeks. I know you get what you pay for so that's why I want the seigmund. Keep up the good work man!
I have occasional projects and there can be months in between usage. Also, climate is pretty humid and temperature varies drastically throughout the year. What is you recommendation to use as long term preservation of rust prone metal tools? I tried WD40 and also lubrication oil. In both cases, surface rust was present after about a month.
I live in a dry climate and WD-40 or machine way oil has always worked for me. Jim's suggestion of gun oil sounds good. I have used a product called rustlick to preserve tool steel parts in the past with good success, but I haven't tried it in an application like this. In the end, it may just come down to some periodic cleaning.
Try Gibbs. Was using WD-40 and switched this. It's more expensive, but it works, and I live in Florida. www.amazon.com/Gibbs-Brand-Lubricant-2-12oz-cans/dp/B00AFJXIJQ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Gibbs+Brand+Lubricant&qid=1613323483&s=hi&sr=1-1
Does anyone know how well the Fireball Tool's 5/8 fixtures and clamps work with this table? I think either in this video on or ArcFlat's site, the thickness of this table is said to be 1/2" as opposed to 1" thickness of FBT's Work Bench. I'm hoping this only affects the FBT's tacking bolts (which could still be used with a spacer I assume) and the rest of their 5/8 fixtures/clamps work well.
I bought a set of strong hand tool clamps from fireball tool and they worked fine, though they would lean a bit, which you can see in this video. The thickness of the table was a bit under 1/2”. The bolts won’t work with this table. They require a chamfer on the bottom of the table and closer machined thickness tolerances to work right. The Siegmund table that I use now works with the bolts, which is one of the advantages of a higher end table.
@@TimWelds Right on, thanks for the quick reply. It looks like there's quite a price hike from ArcFlat to Siegmund. Their cheapest option on special right now is $4509. FBT sales told me their coming out with a 1/2 thick Work Bench in Q4 this year. If I'm gonna spend over 2K, I think I'm gonna sway toward FBT.
Dang, I thought I was going to order the Langmuir setup then I see the comment about Siegmund offering a 3' x 4' kit for $2,000. That might be too good to pass up, but only if I can pick up the Siegmund in NC. The $800 in freight, even to GA, might be enough to kill the deal. Well, it is still at least a fair deal. Right now Langmuir has a sale going on their tables. Even their shipping will be over $200 with two sections and legs. Guess I will start by calling Siegmund to see if I can pick up myself. I like the idea of the Langmuire being 2'x3' pieces. I foresee buying at least one Langmuir section while they are on sale.
I just saw this table online a couple weeks ago and thought it was a great new fixture table option especially for the $. Also Siegmund has a 3x4 table nitrate coated with clamps tool kit package its their new American version its 1999.00
@@troy5118 Wow thats crazy I didn't know that......thats bullshit they are just playing with numbers and make up money on the shipping. Did you buy this arc flat table.....I haven't yet but it looks to be about the best deal and quality of what you get.
They have a really nice ceramic spray that is really nice. I don't like oil when I'm welding but honestly a little probably wont hurt. but that anti spatter lasts a really long time and doesn't take much. I think it's from 3m and is white
PLEASE don’t buy this junk. It’s been at the heart of my nightmare inducing situation and I wish I had never followed Tim’s advice on this table. I bought it, spent thousands of dollars on equipment and now I realize how THIN the table top is and how easily it distorts when clamping (making it no longer flat). Once it’s no longer flat, you can re flatten with some sanding stones, but you are only making the top thinner!!! Wish I had bought a fireball or Siegmund table and not flush all that money down the drain.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m sorry to hear about this. I used mine a lot for the couple years that it was my main table and never had that problem, nor have any of the others I know with the table. Did it distort right next to the holes or did the whole thing bend? Perhaps there’s some variation in thickness between units or you’re using it for heavier applications than I did. Either way, I appreciate your comment because it adds another data point for viewers to consider.
@@TimWelds It locally distorts right around the hole when clamping with moderate pressure. I’m reading a thickness of .34” on the areas where it distorted. This is substantially less than other tables. This table thinness also causes the ball lock bolts from BuildPro to not work.
The ball bolts are only compatible with tables that have chamfers on the bottom of the holes, which is something that you’ll only find on higher end tables.
