Welding table

[joshuab]

I want to share with y'all some photos of a project I did recently: a welding table. Until I built this table, I had been welding on a pair of sawhorses. It was hardly ideal, especially when I accidentally lit them on fire once or twice.



This photo is of the nearly-finished table, getting ready to be painted. The top isn't on yet.



I ground down the welds on the handle, since they would be getting touched a lot.



I left all the other welds un-ground, taking the perspective that if it's too ugly to see, I'll just grind it out and try again. This one is a tad cold, I think, but overall one of the better ones on the job.



Before I started this project, I did almost all my work with 7018. Unfortunately, 7018 really stinks when fitup is poor and there are gaps. I switched over to 6011, and frankly, it's been mostly all I've used since then. I used to be pretty bad with 6011, but I've gotten better. All of these welds were done in the flat position, so don't let the fact that they're photographed vertical fool you.









Finally, a few pics of the finished table, after painting and installing the electrical outlets. I found some "tamper-resistant" outlets that have a plastic gate across the receptacle. I thought that'd be helpful for keeping grinding dust and such out of them. Also, I put a GFCI on the table, because nothing's worse than having 120v across your metal welding table.



Here's a photo of the table in use. Casters are also on in this photo.



After I got my PA160-STH, I added a holder for my TIG torch. It's a little bit of overkill, but it was made out of scrap that I had laying around. I tried to think of clever ways to attach it to the table, then I just tacked it on and figured I'd grind it off if I changed my mind.