Have a good friend who is in a wheelchair due to a motorcycle accident. He continues to work on bike projects and has his shop set up fairly well. We worked last winter on getting a CB350 nicknamed Barney, yes it's Honda Purple, back on the road.

One of his shop needs is a proper welding table he can roll his chair under. Mostly for MIG with shielding gas and some Oxygen/Acc work as well. Max size will be 24 X 48

I came across this website and thought some of you might be interested in the products they offer.

http://www.stronghandtools.com/index.html

Second part of this is to get any ideas you may have for a table. I've made several over the years but this one for a wheelchair accessability will be a first. It would be real cool to have one that could be tilted, raised and lowered but that would have to be powered as he lacks the ability to hand crank something this heavy.

Cost is also a factor, I can do the fabrication but the materials budget is going to be tight so keep that in mind.

For tilt: http://www.firgelliauto.com/ Might need a ground strap between the underside of the table and a leg, all depending on where the welder ground lead is attached to the table. Might consider a lip on one end of the table too, round things tend to roll off (into a lap, or a wheelchair) if the table surface is not level

For elevation, what about an acme screw in each leg? A gear attached to each threaded rod, length of chain around all four gears, and an idler powered by a gear motor? Derelict bicycle parts?

Rick

Rick thanks for the link. One of the issues is splatter control as he has no feeling in his lower body. Like he says the issue isn't pain but anything that can get infected he needs to avoid. Wonder if a Halon fire system could be part of the build.

I have aslo thought about the large drafting tables with electric raise and tilt. They were built solid and I may be able to find one cheap. 

Spatter: Leather, grain, full.

I dunnow the situation, but couldn't he wear a leather shop/welders apron, then drape a leather skin across the arms of the wheel chair for added protection? Welders cape for the upper body.

Halon is nice an all, no residue to clean up after the fire is out. But it's hard to come by as when it hits flame it produces a toxic chemical I understand. And it works by depleting oxygen, may not be ideal if your buddy can't move outta the way quickly.

Wood drafting table would work... for a few arc strikes. Wood kinda smolders in the presence of hot metal. Don't ask me how I know this See Halon and spatter above.

Rick

Fire in the Hole gets a whole new meaning when it comes to welding splatter and combustibles.

Don't ask me about a rolled up carpet 5 feet away and behind a small welding job done in the basement.....

I'd put a metal top onto the drafting table base. I wonder if a leather piece attached to the underside of the metal table and brought up in front to act as a flexible shield might be a good idea. Some sort of flexible curved rod at the top would allow him to roll up to it and put his arms over to weld with hopefully minor restriction.

 

The guys over at Garage Journal    http://garagejournal.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=3     have some good ideas and examples. Do a search there ...should turn up some good info and some beautiful welds too.  JP

Thanks for the link, I've signed up over there and posted. They almost seem as nice as the folks here.....and I mean that in a nice way!