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  1. #1
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    Jun 2004
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    Default Tanjant Fixture Point Welding Table

    No doubt experienced welders make their own but I want to make a start with other projects and have found a table made by Tanjant in Melbourne for about $450 that seems like a good buy.

    It's 900 X 600 called FixturePoint with pre drilled 20mm holes to take clamps etc.. My only concern is it is a bit thin and arguably a bit small. Is anyone using one of these tables?

    Happy to hear of alternatives but the good stuff seems to start at around $2k ......
    I'm currently set up for woodwork and currently relying on a Festool multifunction table .... Not ideal!

  2. #2
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    Sep 2008
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    I generally use old offcut bits of plywood and lots of Triton Multi Stands.

  3. #3
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    Jun 2010
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    For anyone who's wondering, the table in question is listed here:
    http://www.bobthewelder.com.au/produ...cat=784&page=1

    The top does look kind of thin, but it depends what you're planning to make. The pics for that unit show bike frames and the like set up, which I imagine it'd be fine for.

    I have a 1200x2400 bench with a plywood top in my shed that I do a lot of fabrication on - you can't clamp anything down, except around the edge, but it works well enough. Anything bigger I have the 2x3m tray of my ute.

  4. #4
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    Sep 2010
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by warmtone View Post
    No doubt experienced welders make their own but I want to make a start with other projects and have found a table made by Tanjant in Melbourne for about $450 that seems like a good buy.

    It's 900 X 600 called FixturePoint with pre drilled 20mm holes to take clamps etc.. My only concern is it is a bit thin and arguably a bit small. Is anyone using one of these tables?

    Happy to hear of alternatives but the good stuff seems to start at around $2k ......
    I'm currently set up for woodwork and currently relying on a Festool multifunction table .... Not ideal!
    $450 would buy a lot of steel to make trestles or a bench out of.
    I've been a boilermaker for well over 20 years and I've never used one of those types of table and to be honest, while they would have been of use for a few jobs, I don't feel disadvantaged by not having one.
    If you have the space, a bench with a 10mm top, (even 6mm would probably suffice), will be infinitely more useful. If space is tight, then a few trestles made from 75X50X3 RHS that are all the same height and level will be your best friends.
    A solid bench will allow you to tack your job to the bench, build jigs and mark out. When you finish the job, cut the tacks, sand them off and you have your nice flat bench back.

  5. #5
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    Jun 2004
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    Melbourne
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Karl Robbers View Post
    $450 would buy a lot of steel to make trestles or a bench out of.
    I've been a boilermaker for well over 20 years and I've never used one of those types of table and to be honest, while they would have been of use for a few jobs, I don't feel disadvantaged by not having one.
    If you have the space, a bench with a 10mm top, (even 6mm would probably suffice), will be infinitely more useful. If space is tight, then a few trestles made from 75X50X3 RHS that are all the same height and level will be your best friends.
    A solid bench will allow you to tack your job to the bench, build jigs and mark out. When you finish the job, cut the tacks, sand them off and you have your nice flat bench back.
    Well for better or worse I bought the Fixture Point table and clamp set from Tanjant and I must say I am happy with the versatility and performance of the design.

    I will post a few pictures but can say it helped me with my first project which was to build two towers 2.2m high to house a shelving system @ 800x600 for my garage to Improve storage.

    I liked the ability to accurately align each shelf that was Tig welded 25mm hollow section 1.6mm mild steel with mitred corners. I had 8 to make and appreciated the accurate registration of each shelf using the Fixture Point clamps and positioners indexed from the 20mm holes to ensure squareness. For repetitive work there is significant efficiency gains with this design as each shelf simply drops into preset positioners.

    Despite the 6mm thickness the table is heavily braced underneath and quite rigid enabling me to clamp even the 2.2m 50mm square tower legs squarely for assembly.

    I did purchase a couple of the superbly made Strong Hands clamps for the bigger stuff and a few SH magnet clamps to help with tacking of shelf support brackets to the legs ...... 32 of them provided plenty of practice at TIG welding. I am not proud of the welding results but they are more than adequate for the job. I did manage at least a few neat stacked dime welds but did not achieve consistency.

    The shelves were screwed to the welded leg brackets to enable disassembly if we move house.

    For people in Melbourne - the steel was provided and cut to size by Handy Steel who did a great job of cutting accurate mitres. The entire shelving system cost just over $200 in material to make the two towers - great value.

    Overall I think the the Function Point table is a well thought through design that is inspiring to use and good value for money. It may not be for everyone but suits he way I like to work. The table is ground flat with precision registration holes that provide accurate alignment of work and solid clamping options via any of the holes.

    Tanjant Engineering was a pleasure to deal with and offered a package deal with the clamp set at a very good price.

    PS I may still end up making my own table at a later stage to augment the Function Point for bigger projects.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Adelaide
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    Post some pictures up, keen to see what it looks like, what other fixture tools do they have to suit the table

  7. #7
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    Jun 2010
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    Canberra
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    Yeah, would like to see some pics, as the table seems to be quite a different spec to the one I linked to - that one is 4mm thick, with 16 dia holes at 50 ctrs.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by RVK355 View Post
    Post some pictures up, keen to see what it looks like, what other fixture tools do they have to suit the table
    As an interim to this request please have a look at the very informative www.weldingtipsandtricks.com. Click on the Projects link and select Welding Cart. There is a series of 5 videos on this project which highlights the use of the Function Point table and various clamps and positioners.

    Jody uses this table to clamp up the various frames for the welding cart and comments about the benefits of an "entry level but accurate welding table" with indexing holes to improve productivity.
    I agree with Jody 100% after making 8 frames in a row for my two tower shelving system.

    Its a great 5 part series that taught me a lot about clamping, TIG welding and having fun. I am in the process of building my own welding cart albeit with less "overkill" with the dimensions of the square tube. Jody's cart is so strong I suspect it would support and transport a steam roller!

    I made a mistake re the thickness of the table it is indeed only 4mm not 6mm which is what I would have preferred. Despite this, the table is remarkably flat, and solid because it is well braced. So far this has not been a limitation.

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