question for welders?

No matter the size you make it if you are going to make a welding table the thicker the better. 1/2" would be great, me I would make it 1", that is if you need the thing to stay flat. 1/4" will bow up in the middle over time from the constant welding, grinding, and banging you can or would do on it. You could weld a heavy hinge on the side and have like a drop leaf table and use the same flange idea and screw the extra legs on it when you need more table potentially doubling the size of it. You can use pipe for the hinge and a solid steel rod for the removable pin (just a thought). Make sure that you make a way for the pin to not fall out when working on the table top. Good luck!

A 1/2" plate that is 23x32" will weigh more than 104 lbs!

a 1/4" plate that size will weigh around 50 lbs!

with your current specs I'd estimate this table will weight more than 200 lbs when finished.

Use 1/16" sheet metal or at the very most 1/8"! For something that small it will be more than strong enough. Use sch 10 piping if you can get it, unless you're using leftover materials. Using the thinner materials will ensure that there will be good fusions and good heat penetration in your welds.

EDIT: Anthony has a good point, I didn't think of that. I'd say go with the 1/2' for the work surface, and use 1/16" for the storage shelf if you aren't going to be welding or grinding on it.

Another thing you could do is get four 5/8" bolts and nuts. Get some plates to put on the bottom of the legs, and drill or cut holes in them big enough for the bolt to go though. Then weld a nut on top of the holes. This way you have four adjustable feet for your table, so you can level it perfectly no matter how tilted the floor is.

Yeah, that will be more than beefy enough. My first welding table was a rickety setup of 1/16" plate on angle iron. My suggestion though is to consider making it larger. I have yet to have a work bench/welding table that I said was too big, but I've had many that I wish were bigger.

If you use 1/2 inch plate that thing will weigh a ton 1/4 " plate will be lots strong enough just build supports under it with. 4 2' pipe legs it would hold up a pickup truck as long as its gusseted to take out the sideways sway.