Anti Spatter, Paint, Other ?

I have heard it said that cooking spray actually works well. Haven't actually had a chance to try it myself...

Somewhere I read that builders of boat railings tack-weld the mounting flanges to the table and grind/sand the surface smooth afterwards.
Aircraft builders weld on a plywood table: "Once you've got everything lined up and ready to tack weld, you should give some thought to protecting the bench top; when you tack weld the tubing, everything within several inches of the joint comes up to kindling temperature almost immediately. There are several ways to keep your bench top from turning into a patch or charcoal: One way is to pick up several six-inch square pieces of black iron sheeting from your local sheet metal shop and trim these so you can slide them under the joint to be welded."
Stick welding doesn't burn the wood as badly as acetylene (or a propane plumbing torch), and the work can be raised on firebricks. I weld outdoors so the wood / glue smoke or welding fumes aren't problems.
I have a cracked, rejected storm drain grate to use like an Acorn table when the work needs much close-in clamping. It adjusts to any convenient sitting or standing height on the hydraulic platform stacker.