Kevin uses a grinder to keep it clean. He also lives in Phoenix, Arizona, which only gets an average of 7″ of rain a year, so he doesn’t face high humidity. Even if the studio is closed up, if it gets over 20% humidity, he starts whining and hides in the office.
But if he does need to clean the table – if he’s been MIG welding or stick welding on the work surface – Kevin will use his 7″ angle grinder with a softpad on it. Carefully and easily, trying to stay as flat as he possibly can, he goes back and forth on the worktable, from one end of the table to the other and across it. That usually cleans it just fine.
But on the odd occasion, or if he’s working on the outside metal worktable that sometimes gets water sprayed on it or that 7″ of rain shows up one afternoon and that table gets wet and he wants to clean it up, he uses a grinding cup.
The cup goes on in place of the softpad. Kevin shows how to take off the softpad and replace it with the grinding cup. Now he’s ready to go.
The grinding cup – especially this one, which is brand new – sits flat on the table. So when you’re ready to use it, you just put on your safety gear, hold the grinding cup flat and straight on the welding table surface, hold onto it and go to work.
The grinding cup makes a lot more sparks than a softpad and is a lot more agressive, so if you tip it or dig in at all, you’ll gouge your welding bench. You have to hold it flat, straight and smooth. It doesn’t need any pressure – just let the weight of the grinder do the job. Work it back and forth to take off any high spots, spatter, rust – it’ll clean that table right off.
Next Kevin puts on eye protection, a breathing mask and ear protection and makes some sparks, easily cleaning a section of the workbench. Afterward, you can see how the table is much cleaner. You can also come back with a softpad for a smoother finish.
Speaking of softpads, Kevin shows how not all softpads are created equal. Some are flat, while others are sloped. You want to be sure to use a flat softpad so you don’t gouge or leave dips and valleys in your welding table.
The last thing Kevin does, especially on his outside table, is give it a little shot of WD-40 and wipe it down with a rag. That puts a little film on it to protect it from the weather until he’s ready to go back to work. Then of course, you get to do it all over again to keep your table clean and rust free.
As always, the right tools for the right job, and the right consumables make a big difference.
Kevin hopes that steers viewers in the right direction -and suggests you also steer yourself to the subscribe button to see more how-to videos – he adds a new one every week. You can also visit Kevin on Facebook – he posts daily.
Well, you might as stick around for one more moment to see Kevin talk about the fun that happens AFTER the videos ….