Oiled work surface?

[Bart]

I'm new to tig welding and I have been doing a lot of reading. Its been stressed the importance in having a clean metal join to weld that is free of rust, oil and dirt. My welding table sits outside (its under a canopy) and I was thinking of lightly oiling down the top with WD40 or peanut oil to protect it from rust, but I'm concerned the effect this might have when I'm doing tig. Would oiling down the table top be an issue?

Thanks

[Curly09]

Bart,
Good question, My students are mostly using carbon rolled flat stock that is oil quenched. I have them prep with pummis and green pad. We radiograph each prac and have found limited defects in those who spend the time getting it clean. However, The less prep the more defects, porosity, inclusions and surface pitting. Not a big fan of oiling, but I would be more concered about adding defects in the base metal than your work bench. Pam Cooking spray, or Eagle Mig Nozzel Dip and wipe that on in stead of Oil. Works great for our lab.

Good luck

Curly
Advanced Welding Instructor
USCG TC Yorktown VA.

[2112]

Or maybe you should keep that nice looking table indoors, safe from rust and burglars.

[burninbriar]

Bart,
Good question, My students are mostly using carbon rolled flat stock that is oil quenched. I have them prep with pummis and green pad. We radiograph each prac and have found limited defects in those who spend the time getting it clean. However, The less prep the more defects, porosity, inclusions and surface pitting. Not a big fan of oiling, but I would be more concered about adding defects in the base metal than your work bench. Pam Cooking spray, or Eagle Mig Nozzel Dip and wipe that on in stead of Oil. Works great for our lab.

Good luck

Curly
Advanced Welding Instructor
USCG TC Yorktown VA.

I beleive pam cooking spray is made of olive oil. Oiling youre table really shouldnt be a problem unless there is so much of it that you cant keep youre work clean. If say youre doing a but weld laying flat on the table I would clean that area good before working on it and then reoil it with pam or what ever you use when youre done.

[Curly09]

Were right down next to the water so we get get this all the time. We have a stock pile of the Nossel dip so this is what we have on hand to use.

I will offer there is no substitute for a clean work surface during any part of production.

[Bart]

Thanks for the responses. I think I'm going to hold off on oiling down the table top. It looks like I could be either cleaning the oil off the surface or cleaning a little surface rust. Either way I'm going to have to clean.

I'd love to be able to keep it in my garage, but there is barely enough room for my car project and the equipment I already have in there. My four legged budy and my seven foot tall locked gates should make it pretty difficult for anyone to wheel the table away.

[JD in Socal]

I'm new to tig welding and I have been doing a lot of reading. Its been stressed the importance in having a clean metal join to weld that is free of rust, oil and dirt. My welding table sits outside (its under a canopy) and I was thinking of lightly oiling down the top with WD40 or peanut oil to protect it from rust, but I'm concerned the effect this might have when I'm doing tig. Would oiling down the table top be an issue?

Thanks

Spray that thing down with WD40 without a second thought. The metal that you are welding has to be clean in order to TIG it, but you would be hardpressed to get the oil to transfer from the table to the workpiece unless you were really being careless. If the table is wet with oil (which it won't be), give it a wipe with a rag before you put your work on it. If you just let it rust, you have a lot more work in front of you to clean it, and your contamination issue could be even worse.

Welding tables all over the country (world?) have been wiped off with oil for all of welding history and they are fine.

Oil, wipe, weld, and fear not.

JD

[burninbriar]

Spray that thing down with WD40 without a second thought. The metal that you are welding has to be clean in order to TIG it, but you would be hardpressed to get the oil to transfer from the table to the workpiece unless you were really being careless. If the table is wet with oil (which it won't be), give it a wipe with a rag before you put your work on it. If you just let it rust, you have a lot more work in front of you to clean it, and your contamination issue could be even worse.

Welding tables all over the country (world?) have been wiped off with oil for all of welding history and they are fine.

Oil, wipe, weld, and fear not.

JD

I have to agree with Jd here. Rust is just as bad as oil in a tig weld but nether one should really transfer from youre table to youre weld joint unless you are doing a but weld laying flat on the table. its easyer to clean the oil from that area before you weld than to remove rust. Every time you go to connect youre groud clamp you will have to grind the rust off it, I have never had a problem with oil breaking a ground connection but rust will do it quite aesily. Also it would be a shame to see a nice table turn to junk from rust.

[docweld]

There right, You should oil your table, Remember it will / should not be so oiled that it is wet. Before you are going to weld you are going to clean anyway. If there is a weld that you are going to do and you think there might be a contamination issue then you can put (clean) sheet down on your table to sheld any contaminits.
I do alot of Tig welding sometimes under 5 amps, if there is a question just think CLEAN.

Hope this helped
Docweld

[Lu47Dan]

Cover It

Bart , Find a roofing company that does rubber roofing , buy a piece of rubber big enough to hang over the sides of the table and down close to the ground . This way when you spray it with WD-40 you can cover it up and the WD-40 won't evaporate away , plus if you have a project on the table you will have enough extra material it will still cover the table top . I have used rubbber to cover many of my projects that were too big for my shop . Have gotten must of my rubber as scrap off of jobs I have been on . Dan

[Raven]

I agree with the oil. I regularly spray and wipe down my welding table top with WD 40. I do not leave a thick coating on the table, but a light spray followed by a good wipe-down with a clean rag seems to leave the surface in good condition for mig or tig welding. The WD-40 will also help remove some of the soot and residue from mig welding.

[squig]

spray

Somtimes i use welder anti spray works allright and doesnt affect the weld

[Canoe2fish]

Thats gonna be a sweet Chebby 2 when she's done. Man that IS red!

[Bart]

Well you guys have changed my mind and I have been spraying down the table with WD40 for the last couple of days. Just in time too, its been raining almost none stop for the last week.

Thanks

[Bart]

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