Raytheon's welding table was 2" thick steel that had 1" deep angled groves in it for specific clamps to fit in. The grooves ran the length of the table. The table was about 6'L x 4'W x 3'H and was within 1/16" of perfectly level & flat according to the guy who did our stuff, though he said that to win some contracts they need better. They had what seemed liked a bajillion different types of clamps, from angle clamps to straight clamps to clamps that looked like medieval iron shackles, and had just as many clamps out as they did frame parts when welding our frame. They used and arcwave (I think I got that right?
) TIG welder instead of a syncwave TIG welder for our frame, though they have the option of either. Cost is in the $10's of K's for the machines and the table.
The guy that did our welding has welded everything from NASA satellites to DARPA car frames, and it shows -- every single one of the welds was near perfect on the first try. Raytheon is one sponsor we want to keep around for ages to come
.