Should You Ground Your Welding Table?

Grounding is a critical safety measure to take when engaged in any craft that involves high voltage electricity – including welding. So does that mean that welding tables should be grounded? Let’s take a look.

The Short Answer

If you want the short answer as to whether or not to ground your ground table, it’s YES – welding tables should always be grounded to prevent voltage leakage from the output leads.

Whenever working with high voltage electricity, grounds prevent electricity from arcing and finding…well, YOU (since you conduct electricity quite well!). While you are unlikely to be electrocuted if your table is not grounded, you can receive a nasty shock that you won’t soon forget.

Although it is technically possible to weld without grounding the welding table, the risk of shock and damage to nearby electronic equipment just make it not worth the risk – not to mention the fact that you’ll get inferior welds due to subpar current delivery.

Grounding A Welding Table: 3 Things To Remember

Most manufactured welding tables include a ground clamp – usually as part of their welding circuit. However, if you are building your own welding table, it is a good idea to correctly install a clamp to ground the table.

Here’s how:

• A grounding weld can be attached at two places—either the metal welding workbench itself or the work that is being welded on. Attaching the welding clamp flush to the underside of a workbench will keep it from getting in the way during a weld.
• Attaching the grounding clamp to the workbench in an unobstructed place efficiently grounds the weld, but also makes the table itself a part of the circuit, leaving the welder susceptible to shocks when they touch the table. To avoid this, a grounding clamp can be attached to the work itself.
• If there isn’t a convenient place on the work to attach the grounding clamp , attach a vise-grip welding clamp to the piece first, then attach the grounding clamp to the vice grip.

Always Practice Welding Safety!

Keeping a ground clamp on your welding table or attached to your work helps prevent electrical accidents. While electrocution and electrical injury from welding rigs are statistically relatively rare, it’s still crucial to respect the power of electricity when operating a welding machine!

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