Where to find steel grate for cutting table?

[davesisk]

Hey guys:

Any idea where I can find some rather thick steel grate? I need something to use as a plasma cutting table top. The frame is the easy part...none of the local steel suppliers to seem to carry grate. The can order it for me, although at what seems like a ridiculous price (> $100 for a 2' x 3' section).

Any online suppliers that show pricing on their web-site? Any good ideas of where to find some heavy scrap grate?

Any suggestions appreciated!

Thanks,
Dave

[dulknife]

grating

if i needed it i would make it out of flat stock placed on edge or find a supplier of off shore drilling rigs. maybe you have some there
ken

[Franz]

Fire escape, Building wrecker or junkyard.

[Gary Patton]

Don't know where to get steel grating, but if you got some time and can come up with some 1 x 3/16 and some 1/4" round stock, you could make you own. I know it would be a pain, and I don't know if you have a MIG welder or not, but thats how most of my projects go. I have to be "creative" all the time.
I'm thinking if you have a bandsaw, or a chopsaw, you could cut the round stock to say 1 1/2 inch pieces and use them as spacers between the 1" strips. Then make a frame for the outside with angle iron.
After you've spent 2 or 3 hours to build the thing, someone'll come along and tell you they just threw a bunch of that same thing in the scrap bin.

[davesisk]

I found a few listings on Google. However, most of these suppliers probably only sell 20' sections. I might end up making my own as a last resort. I've got quite a bit of 1" x 3/16" flat stock available. I was thinking of perhaps cutting into the proper number of 3' and 5' sections, cutting halfway through each piece in several spots with a chop saw, then hammering the pieces to together at the "slots" perpendicular to each other. Can you get a mental picture of what I'm saying?

Anyway, my chop saw blade is 1/8" thick, and the flat stock is 3/16" thick. If I cut halfway through two pieces, do you think I could hammer them together perpendicular?

Thx!
Dave

[Gary Patton]

I had'nt thought of that, and, yea if you got all your slots lined up Just Right I can see it working. It'd be stronger than with the round stock spacers, by far! The problem as I see it, would be getting them to all fit together and lay level. You might consider taking a 7 1/4" skill saw and putting a metal abrasive wheel on it, and after you've cut to length your pieces, clamp them all together and make slices like your cutting plywood (only slower and a lot louder)! That would be a lot more consistant than the chopsaw.

[Darkman]

They also use this for walkways in warehouses that have two story racks.

[Rafterg]

Dave,

How big a piece are you wanting? my local scrapyard has 4-5 different styles of it at 18 cents a pound last I checked. Might be cheap enough to ship you a piece Florida to NC.

[ralenr]

My cutting grate is made of 1" by 3/16" material. It uses a perimeter frame of the 1" material. The interior slats are then cut to the appropriate size, the corners beveled and tack welded vertically in place at the corners with about a 1" spacing. It is plenty strong and allows for any slats to be easily ground out and replaced as necessary. There is no need to have intersecting slats IMHO. If you are spanning 3 to 5 feet you may want to consider using a deeper web than 1" depending on the size and weight of the material you are planning on cutting.

Allen

[Franz]

I guess you guys haven't built a lot of grating.
For the purpose you want it, cut all the strap stock to length, stack it up and tack all the ends together.
Use a grinder with a good wheel to cut 1/4" notches every 6" along one edge of the strap stock.
Knock the straps apart, with a cold chisel and BIG hammer, or grind the tacks when necessary.
Use some spacer blocks to lay the grate up in a frame, and weld 1/4" rods into the notches.
When that's done, weld headers across the ends of the strap stock.
For a cutting table, it's a good idea to set it into an angle iron frame.

[Glenn Long]

Location For Grating

IKG/Borden. They have any size you need. I worked as a Layoutman in Madera, California there for 3 years and saw that company throw away enough grating to make a fabricator sick. Their 800 number is: 800-428-9127. They have manufacturing companies all over the U.S. Good Luck

[Guest]

The best design in a cutting table I ever saw, was 1" x 1/8" stainless flatbar that dropped into slots in an angle iron frame....the slots were two small angle clips back to back. When ya burn through one, ya just replace it with a new one. The slag and sparks were caught by a box under the grate.

3/16" flatbar catches too much of the flame, and bounces back under the cut.

[Blkvoodoo]

Dave,

Go down on Hodges street just off Atlantic Ave behind Creative Acustics, there is a welding /fab shop there, he had some of this grating at one time, he may have some remnants he'll part with.

he was doing a grate install on a quick lube joint not too long ago and had piles of it.


Email me direct and I can give you more info, I live just outside of Raleigh Nc, myself.


Kevin
[email protected]

[Planet X]

Originally posted by Rocky D
The best design in a cutting table I ever saw, was 1" x 1/8" stainless flatbar that dropped into slots in an angle iron frame....the slots were two small angle clips back to back. When ya burn through one, ya just replace it with a new one. The slag and sparks were caught by a box under the grate.

3/16" flatbar catches too much of the flame, and bounces back under the cut.

Simple- Thank you. Why the stainless? Mild steel to wimpy in that size range?

[davesisk]

Originally posted by Blkvoodoo
Dave,

Go down on Hodges street just off Atlantic Ave behind Creative Acustics, there is a welding /fab shop there, he had some of this grating at one time, he may have some remnants he'll part with.

he was doing a grate install on a quick lube joint not too long ago and had piles of it.


Email me direct and I can give you more info, I live just outside of Raleigh Nc, myself.


Kevin
[email protected]

Cool...thanks for the tip. I work on Atlantic, so I'll check it out! Thx!

Dave