Simple Welding Project Ideas for Beginners

"A welding cart, that holds the welding machine, a gas bottle, and maybe some welding accessories is a great, and very useful first project!" ― Ron Covell

Welding can be an interesting hobby as well as a good source of income. Nowadays, it is very easy to learn the basics of welding through books, internet videos, and beginner's classes.

Once you understand the welding process, you can start building simple projects in your garage. These projects for beginners will help you hone your welding skills. Before going through them, let us understand the types of welding processes.

This type of welding, commonly known as Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding, is most popularly used for home and industrial purposes. It is suitable for welding thinner sheets of aluminum and non-ferrous metals.

In this process, pieces of metal are welded together with the help of a wire (acts like an electrode) and the inert gas argon (acts as a shield to prevent oxidization).

This process, also known as Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding, is similar to MIG welding. However, the only difference is that pieces of metal are fused together using a 'tungsten' electrode. It makes use of inert gases such as argon, helium, or argon-helium mixture in order to weld reactive metals like aluminum and magnesium.

Commonly known as Stick welding, this is perhaps the most basic of all welding types. This process makes use of a special device, which lets out electric current for welding even those materials that do not conduct electricity.

This welding method is also called 'arc welding' because an arch-like electric current is created between the welding device and the materials to be welded, and is extremely useful for metals with thickness greater than 4 millimeters.

Materials Required:

• Square metal tubes for legs and frame - (a)
• Sheet metal for charcoal pit - (b)
• Wire mesh for top and sides
• Nuts and bolts

Instructions:

1. Weld four metal tubes in a rectangular pattern to form a frame.
2. Mark up the length of the frame and cut the metal sheet for making the ash catcher.
3. Bend the sheet until both sides fit on either side of the frame.
4. Weld this metal sheet to both the sides of the frame forming a parabola-shaped arc.

5. Stand the frame on the side and place a piece of 1" steel square mesh over the end.
6. Weld at places where the mesh overlaps the ashtray.
7. Cut off the remaining overlapping mesh and clean up any sharp edges.

8. Cut the wire mesh to form a tray to hold charcoal and place it on the ashtray in such a way that the spiked edges interleave with the ends of the side mesh.
9. Hold the grill at a comfortable height, measure the diagonal distance to the floor, and cut out four metal tubes accordingly.

10. Take a pair of these tubes and fix them together using nuts and bolts to form an X-shaped structure. Repeat this step for the remaining pair. These X-shaped pairs will be used to form the legs of the grill.

11. Bolt the 'X'-shaped legs onto the sides of the frame.
12. Cut the wire mesh according to the length and width of the grill, and place it on top of the grill. Your BBQ grill is now ready to use.

Materials Required:

• 8 square metal tubes for frame and leg support - (a)
• A square sheet of steel for the seat - (b)
• 4 square metal tubes for legs - (c)
• Angle iron brackets for the legs - (d)

Instructions:

1. Weld four metal tubes in a rectangular pattern to form a frame.
2. Make the seat by welding the metal sheet to the metallic frame.
3. Weld 4 equal-height metallic legs to the seat and the angle iron brackets through the bottom half of the stool and the seat. Your shop stool is now ready to use.

Materials Required:

• 4 sheets of 40 x 20 inches of 12 gauge steel - (a)
• 4 cold-rolled steel rods 1 foot long - (b)

Instructions:

1. Tack-weld the 4 sheets together at 90-degree angles to one another, holding the 20-inch sides together to form a square.
2. Weld four rods at the 4 corners of the square. Your pit is now ready to be anchored into the ground.

Materials Required:

• 2 heavy-gauged metal pieces that are 4-6 inches long and wide - (a)
• Paint - (b)

Instructions:

1. Set the two pieces of metal at a 90-degree angle and weld them together.
2. Your bookend is now ready to use; however, coat it with the color of your choice to make it more appealing.

You can even fence your own garden all by yourself. For this, you will need steel rods (number of rods depends upon the area to be fenced) and an aluminum-magnesium alloy wire mesh. Place the steel rods vertically at equal distances from each other. Make equal pieces of the wire mesh accordingly.

For example, if the height of the rods is 3 meters and the distance between them is 2 meters, then cut the mesh into pieces of size 3 x 2 meters. Now, you can weld these pieces of wire mesh between two steel rods, and continue doing so till your entire garden area is fenced.

You can even showcase your creativity by welding out various pieces of art using scrap metal parts. Some of these ideas include, decorative garden stakes and plant holders, miniature sculptures, figurines, and many more.

So, pick your favorite project from the aforementioned list and start experimenting with your welding skills. While doing so, always make sure that you wear your safety helmet and welding gloves, and take other necessary precautionary measures.