Novice_MIG
New Member
- Messages
- 19
- Location
- London, UK
Hi Guys,
I made a metal workbench as my first ever welding project, and now I wanted a shelving unit to house some car parts in a very tight corner of the garage. I couldn't find one available in the exact size, so I thought I'd have a go at making one. The project is done, but I wanted to share this, along with my mistakes, as I'm interested to know if I could have done anything better/differently. Here was the original concept:
The unit is 510mm (W) x 665mm (D) x 1386.6mm (H). The height was not important, except that each shelf was placed to incorporate a specific sized box for storing car parts. The premade garage shelving units tend to have thin sheet metal shelves that are folded down at the ends, but I do not have a brake, and decided this would be the easiest way to build it. So, the unit is made comletely from 30mm mild steel angle (3mm thick), and uses 1.6mm mild steel plate for the shelves. I had planned to use 1mm originally, but managed to get the 1.6mm for a better price.
First job was to cut all the metal to size:
Then for the welding, I wasn't sure of the best method. I decided to tack the whole thing together, to get everything square first:
This did not go well at all, with some of the welds being very weak, and one or two not forming a bond of any kind. To my great shame I had forgotten to prepare the surfaces properly by removing the millscale!
Luckily, I had only done the one side, and it was not a huge job to clean off the welds and start again.
I also decided to rethink my welding strategy. I had orginally planned to just weld the inside and lower edges of each angle as follows:
I did not want to weld on top, as this would be where the shelves would sit, and a weld could interfere. So, I decided to make some plug welds! I had never tried this before, but it seemed like a good idea. So, I drilled 9mm holes - no idea what the 'correct' size would be, so I did what felt right. So, now everything has been cleaned up properly:
I'm reaching the limit for photos per post, so I'll do another post.
I made a metal workbench as my first ever welding project, and now I wanted a shelving unit to house some car parts in a very tight corner of the garage. I couldn't find one available in the exact size, so I thought I'd have a go at making one. The project is done, but I wanted to share this, along with my mistakes, as I'm interested to know if I could have done anything better/differently. Here was the original concept:
The unit is 510mm (W) x 665mm (D) x 1386.6mm (H). The height was not important, except that each shelf was placed to incorporate a specific sized box for storing car parts. The premade garage shelving units tend to have thin sheet metal shelves that are folded down at the ends, but I do not have a brake, and decided this would be the easiest way to build it. So, the unit is made comletely from 30mm mild steel angle (3mm thick), and uses 1.6mm mild steel plate for the shelves. I had planned to use 1mm originally, but managed to get the 1.6mm for a better price.
First job was to cut all the metal to size:
Then for the welding, I wasn't sure of the best method. I decided to tack the whole thing together, to get everything square first:
This did not go well at all, with some of the welds being very weak, and one or two not forming a bond of any kind. To my great shame I had forgotten to prepare the surfaces properly by removing the millscale!
Luckily, I had only done the one side, and it was not a huge job to clean off the welds and start again.
I also decided to rethink my welding strategy. I had orginally planned to just weld the inside and lower edges of each angle as follows:
I did not want to weld on top, as this would be where the shelves would sit, and a weld could interfere. So, I decided to make some plug welds! I had never tried this before, but it seemed like a good idea. So, I drilled 9mm holes - no idea what the 'correct' size would be, so I did what felt right. So, now everything has been cleaned up properly:
I'm reaching the limit for photos per post, so I'll do another post.