Well my shoestring retirement workshop is evolving.
After I got the used HF welder and saw it works I made a makeshift table out of some sheet steel I had from the swimming pool I tore down for free to get the wood for the deck. I was setting it up and taking it down on saw horses and rolling the welder around and it was taking me an hour to set up to do 30 seconds of welding. I didn’t like the idea of welding in my workshop room and wanted a weld booth. With keeping in mind I didn’t want to spend money on anything I cleared out a 7x8 area in the main garage and covered the walls with the steel from the ring of the used pool. I then mounted the steel top I made to the base of an old charm glow grill. The place where the propane tank is storage for my grinders and supplies. The cart sits beside protected from splatter by a scrap of plywood. Using it for storing clamps etc. I added 2 LED spots lights and a little bench vice. Shelf for helmet, gloves and weld jacket. I have a 24’ power cord I added to the welder and it stores on the cart if mobile but added a place to wind it up when being used as a fixed welder. Never toss an old 10 speed bike without taking off the handle bars they make a great hose or cable storage.
Here are a few photos of Bud’s budget weld shop. LOL, as of right now I have about 200 bucks invested and that includes gas and weld wire.
The last photo is of my first project I welded in the shop. Holly has been doing what is called Cross Fit for the last 3 years. It is a gym they call a box old factory buildings work best. The training is absurd as far as anything I want to do. It came about from Navy Seals. She has been wanting to do some of this at home as her plan is 3 days a week. So she has been asking for barbells and stuff. So I go to a competition to get a feel for what she needs and they pick up these massive weights that are rubberized and they have a rubber floor and when they lift they almost drop them down. Not the gym class I remember from high school at all. So we go to some sports stores and all the good weights are steel and the junky ones are plastic filled with concrete. And these rubber things are big bucks. If she drops the steel ones in the garage she will bust the floor more than it is and the cheap ones will smash the weights. So I get the idea to make my own weights for her out of rims and tires. Something I have for free. I had a matching set of donut spares never used I got for free. They weigh right around 30 pounds each. I had a 10’ pipe I cut to 6’ and made a curling bar and a barbell out of it. I made some collars to fit inside the wheel and taped a .5-13 hole for a set screw and welded them to the rim. So the whole thing sitting on the floor weighs about 70 pounds and she can add 10’s or 5’s on the outside to get what she wants. I have collars I made for the outside to hold them on. When you drop these they bounce just right.
She loves them and asked how she changes the weight and I told her right now they have 30 pounds of air in them and if she wants them heavy we can add more pounds of air. She said ok cool. I asked her if she believed that and she said no that was a stupid joke but she was being nice because I made her weights.
After I got the used HF welder and saw it works I made a makeshift table out of some sheet steel I had from the swimming pool I tore down for free to get the wood for the deck. I was setting it up and taking it down on saw horses and rolling the welder around and it was taking me an hour to set up to do 30 seconds of welding. I didn’t like the idea of welding in my workshop room and wanted a weld booth. With keeping in mind I didn’t want to spend money on anything I cleared out a 7x8 area in the main garage and covered the walls with the steel from the ring of the used pool. I then mounted the steel top I made to the base of an old charm glow grill. The place where the propane tank is storage for my grinders and supplies. The cart sits beside protected from splatter by a scrap of plywood. Using it for storing clamps etc. I added 2 LED spots lights and a little bench vice. Shelf for helmet, gloves and weld jacket. I have a 24’ power cord I added to the welder and it stores on the cart if mobile but added a place to wind it up when being used as a fixed welder. Never toss an old 10 speed bike without taking off the handle bars they make a great hose or cable storage.
Here are a few photos of Bud’s budget weld shop. LOL, as of right now I have about 200 bucks invested and that includes gas and weld wire.
The last photo is of my first project I welded in the shop. Holly has been doing what is called Cross Fit for the last 3 years. It is a gym they call a box old factory buildings work best. The training is absurd as far as anything I want to do. It came about from Navy Seals. She has been wanting to do some of this at home as her plan is 3 days a week. So she has been asking for barbells and stuff. So I go to a competition to get a feel for what she needs and they pick up these massive weights that are rubberized and they have a rubber floor and when they lift they almost drop them down. Not the gym class I remember from high school at all. So we go to some sports stores and all the good weights are steel and the junky ones are plastic filled with concrete. And these rubber things are big bucks. If she drops the steel ones in the garage she will bust the floor more than it is and the cheap ones will smash the weights. So I get the idea to make my own weights for her out of rims and tires. Something I have for free. I had a matching set of donut spares never used I got for free. They weigh right around 30 pounds each. I had a 10’ pipe I cut to 6’ and made a curling bar and a barbell out of it. I made some collars to fit inside the wheel and taped a .5-13 hole for a set screw and welded them to the rim. So the whole thing sitting on the floor weighs about 70 pounds and she can add 10’s or 5’s on the outside to get what she wants. I have collars I made for the outside to hold them on. When you drop these they bounce just right.
She loves them and asked how she changes the weight and I told her right now they have 30 pounds of air in them and if she wants them heavy we can add more pounds of air. She said ok cool. I asked her if she believed that and she said no that was a stupid joke but she was being nice because I made her weights.
