One of the hardest issues to overcome in welding is the strain to your back, feet and legs from holding a steady standing position. One way to overcome this is to purchase a shop stool, but often they are too high or too low or they do not provide the right amount of support.
Many welders choose to weld their own shop stools so that they can customize it to their needs. Welding a basic stool is a good beginning project for new welders because it requires very simple welds and only a few hours of work.
Miller and EHow provide a detailed online tutorial for a very basic welding stool that should only take two hours to complete. With a few extra hours of work you can also
include a padded seat or a basic back to the chair.
DoitYourself
provides an online tutorial for a swivel bar chair that could easily be used in a welding environment.
Once you get the knack of welding basic stools, you can tackle more intricate shop stools like the one made by a Welding Web member who attached an ergonomic tractor seat to a Jeep coil spring.
Don't forget to send us pictures of the finished product!