Anyone hire a welder to make speaker stands for them?

I am considering this route because shipping to HI is so expensive if I buy nice stands from the mainland.

I figure I can give the dimensions of the top/bottom plates and some kind of column (box or circular) to a welder and have them craft it. I will probably also ask for a hole to be cut out in the rear of column to fill with sand for added mass. Then I will spray paint the stands black.

Should the top plate dimensions be larger than the speaker dimensions, less, or fit the speaker exactly?

Thanks for any input!