The holidays are here, signaling not only the time for gift-giving but entertaining as well. This month at Baker’s Gas and Welding, our project post centers around welding projects for the table. Each idea is useful for entertaining and makes a great gift idea as well. Keep reading to learn more.
Trivet Welding Project
In case you don’t know, a trivet is really just a fancy, metal potholder you use when serving hot dishes at the table. If you’d like to create a few for yourself or as christmas gifts, we have an easy project for you consisting entirely of square metal tubing.
We recommend ½ inch square metal tubing for this project, which you will construct as an X, with a box around it and 4 small feet on the bottom.
To get started, sketch out the dimensions for your trivet. You’ll want it to comfortably hold your average pot, so an 8 inch square is an idea dimension but you can adjust to your liking. First construct your X by welding two smaller pieces to one longer piece.
Next, create the box around your inner X and finish by adding the feet, which should be about ½ inch tall. Before you finish, grind all edges smooth, especially the bottoms of the feet to ensure your trivet protects the table and doesn’t scratch it.
Welded Wine Rack Project
Looking for a place to store your holiday wine? Why not weld a small, tabletop wine rack for easy access in the dining room. Start by creating the dimensions for your rack, ensuring that the spacing for the bottles works with the average 750ml wine bottle, which is 3 ½ inches in diameter and 12 inches tall.
For this project you’ll need ¾ by 1 ½ inch square metal tubing for the back base of your welding rack and ½ inch, square, solid bar stock for your rack portion. Each rack will be a rectangle which will hold one bottle and attach to the back portion of your rack. Start by cutting your pieces to size and assemble the support rectangle that will hold your each bottle of wine. Be sure that your base is wider than your rack pieces to ensure stability.
You may want to create a jig for this project that you can use on your table to easily square off each rack. Start by tack welding together each piece of the rack portion and then attaching them to your support piece. Grind smooth before you finish and leave your rack with a polished, industrial look.