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Welding rails

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.SteezusChrist.
Posts: 2296 - Karma: 276
ok, i searched this, and still have some questions about welding rails. first off, im not gunna learn how to weld my own rails. my parents would go for me just buying a welder and shit and bringing it home. so heres what i wanna know. how much is it, including paying for metal, to have a welding dude weld me a rail, probably 15-20 feet long, and maybe flat down or a frame? can i get it done at home depot or a hardware store? how would i get it back to my house? anybody know of any welders in northshore, MA?
18 years ago
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bigwhite.steeze
Posts: 8228 - Karma: 1,032
all im gonna say is gas and tanks are hella expensive.
18 years ago
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papasteeze
Posts: 12055 - Karma: 920
Home Depot has electric arc welders, complete sets for under $300  I bought a slighty larger set up and welded my kids stuff with relative ease.  Just follow the instructions,  clean, well fitting cuts, are key.
18 years ago
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Maximumsushi
Posts: 7837 - Karma: 3,354
All in costs including a shitty welder? I'd peg it at $2,000.
I built the following two rails and the material costs were about $1,500 each:

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I did get the stuff for free though :)
Also, don't count on being able to actually make a rail if you have never welded before and have no guidance. It's a lot more difficult than it looks.
18 years ago
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Maximumsushi
Posts: 7837 - Karma: 3,354
Ohhhh, and having someone weld for you? I am not sure how much a "welding dude" costs per hour, but I don't think many welders would take on a job that small. It would be at least another couple hundred bucks.
18 years ago
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TheButterHashira
Posts: 9691 - Karma: 1,702
if you know someone who has a welder adn knows how to use it its not that bad.


but pvc and lexan rails are the cheaper and easier way to get you slide on.
18 years ago
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DANETRON
Posts: 6671 - Karma: 137
I would get a mig welder, they are easier to use then an arc welder because you dont need to strike the arc and worry about having the arc being the right size all you do is just pull a trigger an bam your welding. If you want to go with a gas or just use flux cored wire thats up to you. gas is more expensive but flux doesnt look as good and is used peimarily when its to windy to use a gas to shield it
18 years ago
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Maximumsushi
Posts: 7837 - Karma: 3,354
Mig is a lot more expensive than ARC and requires you to buy gas, but yes, it is preferable for the most part. If you're not really going to be welding in an industrial manner, its pretty tough to keep bottles of acetylene and oxygen around. The whole Mig setup and wire is more expensive from the get go. Stick welding really isn't that hard.

He wasn't planning on welding himself so he doesn't have to choose.
18 years ago
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MadSteezin
Posts: 4572 - Karma: 936
I know some people that own welders. Just try to find a kid at your school who ride dirt bikes or works on cars alot and they might have one.
18 years ago
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papasteeze
Posts: 12055 - Karma: 920
$363.00 at Home Depot.  Reading Directions = free.

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Steel was free from junk yard at a farm. the 2x6 were arms on some sort of loader and the posts were posts from something or another..

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18 years ago
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oiECSoi
Posts: 1447 - Karma: 10
ill build you a rail around 15ish feet in shop class when i go back to school in the fall. you gotta pay for materials though
-your looking at 3 to 5 bucks a foot for metal just for the acutal rail you slide.
-then another prob like 2 - 4 bucks a foot for supports depends on what type (shape) metal you use and how tall you want it, (include extra length for sinking it into the ground
- then paying me a little bit i have no idea how much not really alot
- then i an get it to my house but i cant drive it to the north shore or anywhere at all, but if i get it to my house you more than welcome to come pick it up somehow.

so all in all your looking at about max. around 150 maybe? and min like 110 ish that rough and realy just an estimate but if your interested let me know.

-oh yeah i built a 12 ft flat rail in like one day in shop last year thats like 3 feet tall when in ground and i used scrap metal for legs i could prob get pics if my friend takes a few cause its at his house. yeah!
18 years ago
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TheQuailman
Posts: 7382 - Karma: 148
whoever paid $1,500 for those rails is an idiot. Make a rail out of PVC and wood and its like under a hundred
18 years ago
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ZBDesign
Posts: 187 - Karma: 355
if u live anywhere near like an art school they usually have a shop that sells metal and welds for a cost, i live in providence and they can do that shit for u at risd i dunno about anywhere else tho
18 years ago
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Maximumsushi
Posts: 7837 - Karma: 3,354
I didn't pay that much, read the post again. They were free but materials are expensive. You're paying about ~$10/foot for 2x6 or 2x4 steel, you need steel tubing for legs as well plus flat steel for the feet. If you make a 24 foot rail, you're going to need extra for a sleeve if you want to build it at a flat/down or if you want to be able to piece it apart for fitting in the back of a truck. I painted the rails too to protect them from weather.

It's always cheaper to make garbage than it is to make something of quality.
18 years ago
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lechef
Posts: 1111 - Karma: 36
first of all if u want to learn how to weld, you wont need someone to weld it for you, do it by yourself, practice is the key. stick welder are cheaper and do a good job, but maybee a little bit harder if u never welded. you can check for some used machine on www.craigslist.org . I would suggest you to not buy shitty welder that sears sell. lincoln, miller, hobart are usually really good.
18 years ago
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philipc
Posts: 6651 - Karma: 1,286
make sure you get a protective eye glasses/helmet too so you dont get welders flash....
18 years ago
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oiECSoi
Posts: 1447 - Karma: 10
and goes blindzzz!
18 years ago
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papasteeze
Posts: 12055 - Karma: 920
True!  Don't think you can even glimpse the arc for a second, DON"T DO IT!
18 years ago
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Maximumsushi
Posts: 7837 - Karma: 3,354
But welding would be so much easier if you didn't have to wear that stupid mask....
18 years ago
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papasteeze
Posts: 12055 - Karma: 920
hahahaha   yeah, for your first rail!  it will be a bitch on your second rail. 
18 years ago
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oiECSoi
Posts: 1447 - Karma: 10
welding is pretty easy, the onyl hard part about mig is getting the tip started by getting it hot enough, other than that welding is a breeze, and fun gotta love welding peoples projects in shop class to the table haha
18 years ago
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mc.lytle
Posts: 32 - Karma: 10
i got a welder and some metal...if you live in mass i could build you one for llike $300 you would just need a trailer long enough to pick it up.. the metal is inch tubing so double barrel would be a little over two inchs.. i built a dfd and a 15 20 ft flat rail with it last summer
18 years ago
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philipc
Posts: 6651 - Karma: 1,286
yea if i was you id get an arc it makes a pretty strong weld and with a little bit of practice it isnt that hard.... just make sure that you have gloves that can withstand heat and proper head gear
18 years ago
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BigJew
Posts: 6974 - Karma: 78
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I built those 2 rails, each 24 feet long. The metal cost me 210$ and I used an old Arc welder my dad got at a garage sale for 100$. Having someone weld them for you will cost a fortune, you're better of seeing if you have friends with a welder that you could borrow. I had no welding experience before I started those and I basically taught myself. Ooh, and you'll also need some kind of saw to cut the metal.
18 years ago
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itsmuhammed
Posts: 311 - Karma: 14
to have to gas weld aluminum but for steel you can use an arch welder
18 years ago
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BigJew
Posts: 6974 - Karma: 78
you wouldn't want an aluminum rail anyway.
18 years ago
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philipc
Posts: 6651 - Karma: 1,286
or you can cut the metal with a welder
18 years ago
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oiECSoi
Posts: 1447 - Karma: 10
you'd be thinking of a plasma cutter, sorta looks like a welder. never herd of anyone cutting anything with a welder.
18 years ago
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philipc
Posts: 6651 - Karma: 1,286
oxy acetalene welders are use just as much for cutting as for welding
18 years ago
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oiECSoi
Posts: 1447 - Karma: 10
word you mean gas welding yeah, i thought you were talkin about mig, tig, or arc welding cause you really cant cut with them, you can cut pretty easily with gas welding once you get the piece warmed up
18 years ago
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