Tig Welding Table

I have a few questions and need some help. Since I recently bought my tig welder, I find that I now have he urge to find a home for it in my shop. I originally was going to put it on a cart but found that 95% of my tig welding is done on my table.

I am eyeing up a nice new CK17 and I'm going to go with the 25 ft cable. I was thinking this would work great if I mounted the tig welder under my bench.

My table is 4x6, framed with 2" square tube and topped with 1/2 plate. The one end has a downdraft plasma cutting chute.

Is mounting the tig under the table advisable? I have an 80 cf argon tank. It won't fit standing up. Can I make a mount and lay it horizontally? I would be building a cradle and have the valve boxed. I have a ball flow meter. Will it work in the horizontal position?

Thanks

Since it's high pressure gas (and not liquid) it will work laying down. Just attach the flow meter so it's vertical while the bottle is laying in its cradle.

Seems like the only reason NOT to mount under a table would be if you were always doing work with a lot of fallout that might get into the fan and inside the case.

Dave

I didnt even think of rotating the flow meter! Awesome idea! I am full throttle on revamping my welding table.. I will post some pictures when its done.

You can do this with TIG/Argon. Do not try this with MIG. As the Co2 is liquid and will be vapor at low pressure.

Ok. Good advice. I was able to work on it today. When I get done I will post some photos.

Here are a few shots of my revamped welding table. Works good. Put some PVC tube for filler materials. Build a cradle for my tank. Started on my downdraft plasma chute.
Attachment 12919Attachment 12920Attachment 12921Attachment 12922

Looks really nice. That will be quite the all in one work setup. Is there a spot for a plasma cutter, or is that an all in one machine?

I put my plasma on a Harbor Freight single drawer cart. Just because it was easier to roll around for a more portable setup.

Now I do need some ideas for a fume extractor for my downdraft plasma.

My downdraft is a 30 gal steel drum. I have a door at the bottom so I can clean it out. I have a 4 inch that sticks out of the side approx 1/3 of the way up.

Now. I was going to replace the 4 inch pipe with a 6 inch galvanized stove pipe flange and mount an inline 6 inch duct fan then elbow it 90 degrees so it exits out under the table.

I'm not so concerned about the smoke in the shop. Just in my face as it lows back in the downdraft.
But if I was concerned about the smoke. Is there a way to filter it if I went with the galvanized stove pipe setup

Yes, but it takes quite a bit of surface area to have any lifespan. There are plenty of filter cartridges from fume extractors that you could use. However, the static pressure requirements might require a larger fan, too. Another option is to just fit a hose to duct it outside.