How To Make Money Welding in Your Garage: Must-Have Tools

If you want to know how to make money welding in your garage, you’ve come to the right place. This article is meant to help you understand the basics of welding and then learn how to weld in your garage to make those extra bucks.

What You’ll Need – The Basic Equipment

Given that you have the necessary skills, welding can be a profitable side job. Most individuals and small businesses require welding and are not equipped to take care of it by themselves.

There are welding shops for this purpose. However, they can be quite expensive. If, on the other hand, you start your welding project at home, the set-up costs are almost nil, so you can afford to offer your customers more competitive prices.

Tools Commonly Required for Any Welding Project

Once you’ve decided where you’ll set up your workplace in your house, you need to know what equipment you will need.

Most welding machine manufacturers have their 110V welders in their sales points. If you happen to have a 220V outlet, you can get an even more powerful machine, but a 110V machine will do sufficiently for a beginner.

Think Millers, Lincolns, and Hobarts. You will also need a grinder, perhaps more; it is essential to have a 4.5″ and a 7″.

Let’s list the tools commonly required for any welding job:

• A good grinder.
• A bender. Either a Hossfeld or maybe a Harbor Freight. Then again, you could always build one by yourself.
• MIG Welder – Get yourself a MIG Welder, e.g., a Millermatic 140 or 250 with an option that allows pulse.
• Stick Welder/TIG welder – Invest in a higher-end brand for good resale value and greater reliability.
• A portable metal cutting bandsaw.
• Either a small press brake or Chicago finger brake.
• Hole punch, metal shear, and smaller tools of the kind.
• A cutting torch for pre-heating and other purposes. Perhaps, a Plasma cutter or oxy-acetylene version.

Besides these must-have tools, you will also require a host of other tools that will come in handy in your welding pursuit.

These are:

• A fire extinguisher quickly averts a flame from a fire. You will be working with hot materials and need to safeguard your shop from catching fire.
• C-clamps. You will need as many C-clamps as you can lay your hands on.
• A die grinder. A die grinder is not very different from a regular grinder. The work output from a die grinder is finer. Bevelling steel was never smoother.
• Drill Press – Although this is not required for your basic welding job, you are advised to have one on hand as you are wont to require it for fabrication work sooner or later.
• Gloves – Welding tasks involve gloves as sharp edges, and hot metal will be involved.
• A welding helmet – Or even better, an auto-darkening welding helmet is extremely necessary to protect your eyesight from all the sudden flashes. Pick up a comfortable piece if you plan on welding for long hours.
• Hammers – Hammers are required to shape metal. These hammers come in different types; you will have to read up and determine what you need.
• Adjustable wrench – If you are gas-welding, you will need a wrench to tighten the regulator. It can also be used to pry metal apart.
• Other items such as a welding table, measuring tape, and pen/soapstone will also be needed.

Should You Rent Or Buy?

You can choose to rent unless you expect to be continuously engaged in projects. Also, never start a welding business without proper insurance and licensing. You don’t want to come into legal trouble or find that your business has burned down one fine day without having an opportunity to recover costs.

How To Make Money Welding in Your Garage: 15 Welding Project Ideas

1. Welding Tables

Project #1: Multifunctional Workbench

The first welding idea in this list is a workbench that can be used not only for welding projects. It is a multipurpose work table for a variety of uses.

Project #2: DIY Welding Table

Alternatively, a simpler welding table is easier to build, made with a series of straight metal pieces welded together in a frame. A large and durable structure that is light enough to move.

credit: The Biji-Biji Initiative / instructables.com

Instructions: DIY Welding Table

2. Simple DIY Welding Cart

A welding cart suitable for moving your new welder (in this case, the Hobart Handler 140). There is a secure housing to hold the gas cylinder, and the wheels allow easy movement.

credit: seamster / instructables.com

Instructions: Simple Welding Cart

3. DIY Coffee Table

Here’s a practical idea to furnish your living room: an elegant coffee table for a well-earned relaxing time after a working day!

credit: rfalcon12 / instructables.com

Instructions: DIY Coffee Table:

4. DIY C-Table

The C-table is a very useful element that can be used to serve breakfast in bed, placed on the side of the sofa, or at the end of the dining table to get extra space.

Instructions: DIY C-Table

5. Simple Welded Steel Stools

Learning to weld, in addition to being at work, is also fun. Building this stool is not difficult either, and you’ll be glad to have it anywhere in your home.

credit: audreyobscura / instructables.com

Instructions: Simple Welded Steel Stools

6. Cool and Compact Fire Pit

Fire is a natural element that has always attracted humans who love to socialize. To continue this millennial tradition, a project shows how to build a nice fire pit that everyone will appreciate.

credit: cammers / instructables.com

Instructions: Cool and Compact Fire Pit

7. Bouncy Chair With MTB Suspension

In continuity with the previous project, around the fire, it would be convenient to have the possibility to sit down. This particular chair uses a mountain bike suspension that makes it original, even for your backyard.

credit: LaurenceB23 / instructables.com

Instructions: Bouncy Chair With MTB Suspension

8. Geometric Globe Fire Pit

We remain in the argument and consider a very original fire pit. It is a dodecahedron that recalls the shape of the earth globe, and it is possible to recognize the continents. By clicking the instructions link, you can admire the image of the fire pit lit at night. Truly impressive.

credit: 42Fab / instructables.com

Instructions: Geometric Globe Fire Pit

9. Metal Firewood Rack

For our fire pit, we will need firewood! But this Metal Firewood Rack is also suitable to be placed next to the fireplace at home.

credit: diverdale / instructables.com

Instructions: Metal Firewood Rack

10. Pyramid Planter

Decorating the garden with plants is always a pleasant activity. This elegant frame can be placed anywhere with an excellent aesthetic result.

credit: diverdale / instructables.com

Instructions: Pyramid Planter

11. Easy Doorbell From Scrap Steel

From a new metal cylinder, let’s realize a doorbell that will give a touch of class to our house in a short time.

credit: cammers / instructables.com

Instructions: Easy Doorbell From Scrap Steel

12. Welded Bouquet

The next four projects belong to the category that we could call artistic or creative. This Welded Bouquet requires a little effort, but the result is nice.

credit: Rzooq / instructables.com

Instructions: Welded Bouquet

13. Weld a Spoon Flower!

From trash, flowers come! To be realized in a few hours of work, a flower shines next to the real ones.

credit: blrplt1 / instructables.com

Instructions: Weld a Spoon Flower

14. Build a Mini Atomium

With this project, learn to build a famous monument! This is the Atomium, built at Brussel during the World’s Fair in 1958.

credit: Bbruyne / instructables.com

Instructions: Build a Mini Atomium

15. Metal “Rug”

I hope you like this choice. Always by our friends instructables.com, I find that this work of art could decorate any wall, at home, in the workshop or in the office.

credit: bravoechonovember1 / instructables.com

Instructions: Metal Rug

4 Different Types of Welding Processes

There are mainly four welding processes: 

• MIG welding
• TIG welding
• Arc Welding
• Stick welding

Let’s come to know a little about each below:

MIG welding, or Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW), involves the process of continually shooting a line of electrodes via a specialized gun. The electrodes form an arc melting and fusing the metal materials together. A MIG can be applied in numerous situations to weld thick metal surfaces and softer metals. The major advantages of using MIG welding are ease of use, a simple method of operation, and the aesthetic edge it renders. Some of the disadvantages are that it doesn’t work well on either too thick or too thin and so is only applicable to work on limited materials. Also, it can’t work under wet or windy weather conditions.

TIG Welding or Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) creates a weld puddle using a non-consumable tungsten electrode to heat the material and melt it. Again, just like GMAW, GTAW has many uses. Only the materials it can be used with are far more limited. You can only use it to weld thinner metals. The advantages are that it’s clean and extremely precise. The primary disadvantage of this welding type is that it is difficult to pick up for ranked beginners.

Arc Welding uses a wire with a flux core constantly fed to the weld generating a gas shield. A dual shielded arc welding uses a second shield using another external gas supply to ensure an even more secure weld. Arc welding is used to weld heavier and thicker materials. Mostly used in heavy repairs, heavy machinery, and heavy steel construction. The main advantages of this type of welding are that it has shield and welding material combined in one, wastes little, and is very efficient. However, it tends to leave slag and so requires finishing.

Stick Welding or Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) uses a single electrode to heat and melt the workpiece, welding the two parts together. Due to its strong weld, stick welding is used in construction. Thick materials that are nearly impossible to meld using other forms of welding stand up to the challenge. A couple of advantages of stick welding are that it is relatively cheaper than other welding types and can also be used in rough weather. Disadvantages are that it cannot be used on thin materials, is difficult to use, and leaves a slag.

FAQs

What Welding Type Produces The Strongest Welds?

Stick welding emerges triumphant in this competition. It can weld some pretty thick and strong materials. Stick welding is the only welding method that can weld cast iron. It can work on many materials and a gamut of weather conditions. MIG welding can be applied to metals with varying thicknesses, and TIG produces high-quality welds, especially with thin materials.

What’s the Best Welder Type for a Beginner?

MIG welding is the most suited for beginner welders to hone their skills. The adjustability of the power output and the sharp and clean welds produces cement MIG’s position as the best welding procedure for beginners to pick up. What’s the Best Welding Type for Aluminum?

Aluminum is softer than steel and needs lesser power application as it cannot endure much heat. Both MIO and TIG can be used, but TIG is the better alternative because of how gentle the style is. That said, MIG can weld soft materials, too, due to a wide amp range. 

Best Welding Type for Steel?

The type and thickness of the steel will determine the kind of welding that can be best used on it. Although MIG will probably give the best results, stick and arc welding will do well for thick steel sheets, and TIG and MIG welding will be a good fit for mild and stainless materials.

Conclusion

You can earn yourself a handsome sum welding in your garage. All you need to do is get word of your entrepreneurial effort out and develop a fail-proof marketing plan. Reach out to friends, family, acquaintances and ask around if they have any welding requirements.

Don’t be pushy; just tip them off that you’d be interested in taking a look if there were. Try to ingratiate yourself into a network of building contractors and carry a ready sample of your work. It will help you get fresh clients and referrals. Once you land yourself a few high-end welding projects to make money, you will see there will be no end to your business growth.

As long as you know your goals and work towards accomplishing them, nothing can stop you. You can step up your marketing endeavors with Facebook and Google Ads. You could also go the traditional way and print newspaper ads. A business card that you can distribute among potential clients always helps.

So, if you were wondering how to make money welding at home, the information procured above hopefully was of some use to you. So, pick up that welding equipment and start. There is no better way than learning on the job. You’ll gradually pick up everything you’d wanted to – with a little time and effort.