Guest Blogger: Creative Metal DIY Welding Projects for Your Home

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Guest Blogger: Creative Metal DIY Welding Projects for Your Home

Jan 12, 2012 06:18 am

Guest Blogger #324, Entry #893, January 12, 2012

Looking for some inspiration for home projects? Want to save money and make simple repairs at home? Welding has been around for thousands of years and has advanced a great deal. Today, even a novice can make plumbing repairs or create beautiful garden furniture with just a bit of instruction. Here are some easy welding projects you can do yourself, no matter what your skill level.

Creative welding projects – wrought iron window box

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Idea #1: A Fire Pit

A fire pit is a beautiful addition to any backyard and is actually rather simple to make. You’ll need the following: tow reducers, copper pipe, a box of malleable quarter-inch copper tubing and cap, a propane tank, a flat bar and a table. Simply lay the table and then measure where the hole should be cut. Using a saw, cut a hole with a 25.5-inch diameter in the center. Next, use a flat bar and make a simple circle ring and weld this to the table. Place the copper tubing at one end of the table and the reducer at the inner end. Place a second reducer and add a small propane tank to complete your fire pit.

Idea #2: Plant Stand

Want to make a beautiful DIY plant stand for your patio or sunroom? Try picking up some salvaged bed frames from a junkyard for the bulk of this project. You can create your own design or use the Internet to research some ideas. Next, cut the pieces of bed frame with a hacksaw and weld them together to create what you’re envisioning. Take a piece of plywood that is cut to size to use as a working surface if you wish. Now all you need to do is add some pots and plant containers to have your own piece of functional and attractive furniture.

How about welding a plant stand for your outdoor area?

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Idea #3: A Wine Rack

Do you want a simple and attractive way to display your bottles of wine? You can make your own wine rack with just a few items like black pipe and scrap metal. Begin by cutting your scrap metal to the height you want the rack to be. Next, weld on a base and attach the pipe pieces so they angle upwards. With this basic frame you can let your imagination go wild as the design is free form. When it’s complete, the pipes will give you enough space to insert the bottle heads into the rack.

A simple wine rack can double as a towel rack!

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Idea #4: Fix Leaky Copper Pipes

Do you have copper piping in your home that has split from freezing weather? If so, you can replace this split section yourself with a bit of welding and save a bundle by avoiding a contractor or plumber. Start by shutting off your main water supply valve and draining the water line that has been damaged. Use a pipe cutter to remove the section that has split, cutting about one inch to each side of the damage. Next, clean corrosion from the inside and clean off the outside as well. Brush flux onto all surfaces that have been cleaned. Now, slide the new repair sleeve first over one pipe and then slip it over the other side. Center the sleeve. End your repair job by holding the very tip of a torch flame to one side of the joint and a solder wire to the opposite half. Pull the solder away when it seems there is enough melted to fill the joint completely.
Michael O’Reilly has been creating functional welded pieces since he was a teenager. He writes for gowelding.org, where you can learn about Welding Certification, and check out a great list of Welding Colleges and ways to finance them.
For more DIY projects on Stagetecture, click here.