What kind of welder and steel do I need for a brew stand?

I am looking to build a brew stand. Most likely a single tier stand with wheels. It would need to hold 3 keggles. I know nothing about welding, but will likely do some serious reading and playing before I start to build a stand. But first off I would like to know what kind of welder I need.

The challenge is the cheapest welder that will get the job done. Other requirement is it must be 110volt.

Obviously the material used is important, which is another question. I want to use the cheapest steel possible that will be sufficient in holding 3 keggles at one time. Should I use the stuff I can find at Lowes or do I need higher quality, thickness, etc.

I would love to find something used if possible. Build my rig and then sell it again. But if I can buy a new Harbour Freight $300 welder that would be sufficient that would be cool too.

Basically, tell me what features I need, etc and maybe even model numbers. Thanks all.

Gregg

I can't really speak to what welder to get. I've been paying a welder by the hour to build my stand. I used (cheap) mild steel. 16 guage 1.5" square tube. I used about 40 feet in my design. Steel was about $55 at a local steel supplier. Same thing in stainless was about $150... and would have been tougher to weld. It was all MIG welded except the gas beam which was TIG welded. You can check the link in my sig for my 'new rig' to see where I'm at in the process.

What material are you hoping to weld.

SST? MIG or TIG
Aluminum? TIG You could do MIG but you'll need a spool feeder.
Steel? Stick welder, gas torch, MIG or TIG

Wood and concrete? No welder at all.

Would be welding milled steel. Probably similar to diatonic. Maybe 1.5" square tube.

Could I get by with a wire fed welder? The easier the better for me. BUt want to make sure it can do strong enough welds to hold 3 keggles too.

you only need 16g to 1/8 on the heavy side for the tube thickness, any cheap mig will do but an investment in a lincon, or hobart/miller would be worth it if you planned on using it for other things and the consumables like tips and torches would be easier to find.

i have a hobart 120v mig and 120 plasma, the plasma broke and they honored the warranty no problem.

make sure to get a autodark helmet they are cheep at hd and lowes they even have welders for cheep.

any dirt cheep 120v will weld what you need and if you don't want to spend for a tank use .030 flux core, its a pit harder to use cause it smokes but it lay out nise when you get used to it.

you will also need a grinder to clean up after yourself and cut nicely

personaly i used 2" 16g tube and casters off an old craftsman tool box

Cheapest possible?
My guess:
Harbor Freight has an entry level wire feed flux core only for $109. It comes with a 4" spool of wire and an extra tip. Get the auto-dark helmet for $49, wire brush $1.99, 3 pack of welding gloves $9.99. I would get at least the 3" poly casters w/brake $4.99 each. Total $189.94 + tax

I would buy the following to cut the steel in lengths. A 4 1/2" grinder for $19.99 and get an extra pack of wheels for $7.99 and a pack of cut off wheels for $7.99. If you don't have safety glasses $1.99, goggles $3.99 and ear plugs $1.99, get them while you're at Harbor Freight. Total $43.94 + tax

As mentioned before, get your steel from a steel supplier, not a harware store, they'll rape you. I would use 2" X 1/8" square tubing. There is more surface area for a novice to get a better weld and it's thick enough where it won't blow through as easily.

Now, you asked for the cheapest route. I'm pretty sure this is it. This should get you where you want to be. The welding machine will last long enough to get your frame welded. Even if it doesn't, you can take it back and get another one under warrenty. Ditto the grinder. I wouldn't risk the $7.99 grinder, you want to work for at least a couple of hours without stopping for tool replacement. I'm not being a smart a$$, we all have limits and constraints on what we can spend and do. You will not be able to make your keggles using this welding machine. In all honesty, you're probably better off paying/bartering a welder to make those when you're ready. Good luck, and let us know what you decide. - Dwain

Thanks Dwain. I have a Dewalt angle grinder already. So I can use that for cuts? I thought I was going to need a chop saw or something. But great if the angle grinder will work.

Any advantage to spending $200-$250 on a wire fed welder from either Harbour Freight or elsewhere local such as Sears, HD, Lowes?

The welder I used is listed in here. its a flux core welder. Cost less then $170
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/welding-101-fun-brutus-build-164749/

SouthernYankee said:

The welder I used is listed in here. its a flux core welder. Cost less then $170
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/welding-101-fun-brutus-build-164749/

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link. This will likely be a good read for me. Did you think the 16 ga was thick enough for your needs?

ghart999 said:

Thanks Dwain. I have a Dewalt angle grinder already. So I can use that for cuts? I thought I was going to need a chop saw or something. But great if the angle grinder will work.

Any advantage to spending $200-$250 on a wire fed welder from either Harbour Freight or elsewhere local such as Sears, HD, Lowes?

Click to expand...

You could use a angle grinder with a cut off wheel. But the cuts wont be straight on the tubing. So when its time to line up the tubing and get everything square it will be very hard.
As indicated in my post above about welding. I spend know more then $175 out the door.
If you have a table saw you can buy a large cut off wheel made for metal from Lowes or HD.

ghart999 said:

Thanks for the link. This will likely be a good read for me. Did you think the 16 ga was thick enough for your needs?

Click to expand...

Yeah more then enough. Its super strong.

If your a new welder 14 ga will be more forgiving.

You could use a angle grinder with a cut off wheel. But the cuts wont be straight on the tubing. So when its time to line up the tubing and get everything square it will be very hard.

Click to expand...

Just mark all four sides of the tubing and take your time. Don't try to cut all the way through from one side.

Any advantage to spending $200-$250 on a wire fed welder from either Harbour Freight or elsewhere local such as Sears, HD, Lowes?

Click to expand...

There are advantages to spending more money on the welder. In all honesty, instead of the cheapest way, I would try to look down the road and see what other types of jobs I would do with the welder (MIG kit?). Be careful not to incrementalize. That’s VERY common in this hobby. You had mentioned selling the machine after the project. If that’s the case, go the cheapest route and take a smaller hit. That’s a call only you and your wallet can make. Luck - Dwain

after building my stand this weekend i would recomend getting a couple of these while you are at harbor freight
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=1939

they really help hold things in place while you weld.

Dwain said:

Just mark all four sides of the tubing and take your time. Don't try to cut all the way through from one side.

Click to expand...

Yeah, if you want to sit there all day long cutting on tubing. Also having to worry about making a straight cut. It can be done, but like you said..you need to go slow.

smakudwn said:

after building my stand this weekend i would recomend getting a couple of these while you are at harbor freight
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=1939

they really help hold things in place while you weld.

Click to expand...

Yes these helped a lot. I picked up three of them.

Pops said:

If your a new welder 14 ga will be more forgiving.

Click to expand...

16 gauge is plenty for a new welder. Just dont sit there for a min. or two burning a hole through the metal.

Thanks all for the advice and tips. Those magnetic holders from Harbour Freight are sweet looking. I will definitely grab some.

How do I determine the weight of different square tubing mild steel?

Sizes I would want to know would be 2" at 16 gauge and then at 14 gauge.

My local steel supplier has a pretty good chart, but some sizes are missing:

http://www.pacific-recycling.com/Steel/Tube.html#TubeSquare

That helps a lot. Thank you.

ghart999 said:

Would be welding milled steel. Probably similar to diatonic. Maybe 1.5" square tube.

Could I get by with a wire fed welder? The easier the better for me. BUt want to make sure it can do strong enough welds to hold 3 keggles too.

Click to expand...

Caveat all this with saying that I have built Jeeps for a long time, raced the Baja 1000 as the crew chief of a team and know how to weld. But I am no certified professional.

You need no more than 1" square tube in a 16 guage variety. Triangles are your friend during your design process. They have lots of streangth.

You need nothing more than a 110 stick welder for this.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=98870

PRACTICE and find someone who knows "something" about welding and have them look at your PRACTICE and give you pointers. If you take pictures and post them here and send me a pm to remind me I will gladly give you advice.

If you want to use a Wire Feed Welder, go with Flux Core wire and use this welder.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Category.taf?CategoryID=292&pricetype=

Perfect for home jobs and easy to learn on. Just remember to PRACTICE for a couple DAYS before you go onto your project. You don't want your project looking like monkey **** and you don't want to have a weld fail and have 20 gallons of boiling wort all over you either.

Thanks Triplebuckshot for the suggestions. I do want to go with wire fed I think.

Also how many amps do these 100 volt units really draw? Do I need a dedicated 20A circuit for these or is a shared 15A OK if not much else if running on the same circuit?

Triplebuckshot said:

Caveat all this with saying that I have built Jeeps for a long time, raced the Baja 1000 as the crew chief of a team and know how to weld. But I am no certified professional.

You need no more than 1" square tube in a 16 guage variety. Triangles are your friend during your design process. They have lots of streangth.

You need nothing more than a 110 stick welder for this.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=98870

PRACTICE and find someone who knows "something" about welding and have them look at your PRACTICE and give you pointers. If you take pictures and post them here and send me a pm to remind me I will gladly give you advice.

If you want to use a Wire Feed Welder, go with Flux Core wire and use this welder.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Category.taf?CategoryID=292&pricetype=

Perfect for home jobs and easy to learn on. Just remember to PRACTICE for a couple DAYS before you go onto your project. You don't want your project looking like monkey **** and you don't want to have a weld fail and have 20 gallons of boiling wort all over you either.

Click to expand...

This is good advice, I built mine outa 1 in 16 ga and its plenty strong, the only thing that happened it the steel warped a little bit from the heat.

If you want to go really cheap on the steel... you can use angle iron from old bed frames... dirt cheap or free. I know people that use them for just about everything. Can't imagine it would have a problem holding the weight of keggles.

I have no problem spending money on the steel as I want this to last. So no bed frames needed.

bed frames are great. i know someone who built a stout 4x8 trailer out of bed frame. but yea if you want to save some money you can buy conduit rails from home depot and bolt the thing together. but welding shouldnt be a big deal. just take your time and read.

So my neighbor just offered to let me use his Century 135 GS welder for as long as I want. He has it in storage and doesn't even remember what kind it is. From doing some searches it seems this is a 110V flux core wire feed welder that might do the job. ANy thoughts on this unit?

Also assuming I do 14 gauge thickness square steel, what size and type of wire would you recommend I use?

ghart999 said:

Also assuming I do 14 gauge thickness square steel, what size and type of wire would you recommend I use?

Click to expand...

I used .030, flux core. They also sell .035 size. Just make sure if the welder you are going to borrow is a flux core. You get the right type wire (flux core wire) The brand I used was Lincoln. Also, Ive already used 2 1/2 1 pound rolls on my brew stand. I had to run back to home depot and buy some more. So with that being said. Have plenty wire on hand.

Thanks SouthernYankee.

a reminder... if you use a mig machine that does solid wire and fluxcore you have to change the polarity inside the machine. basically making the torch + and the ground - or vise versa, the rig would be marked however

ghart999 said:

So my neighbor just offered to let me use his Century 135 GS welder for as long as I want. He has it in storage and doesn't even remember what kind it is. From doing some searches it seems this is a 110V flux core wire feed welder that might do the job. ANy thoughts on this unit?

Also assuming I do 14 gauge thickness square steel, what size and type of wire would you recommend I use?

Click to expand...

.030 is fine. he may already have some wire in the thing. it will be better if you get a new 2lb spool. just remember youll also want to get a new tip as well. you can get some anti spatter spray that will make cleanup allot easier.

rule of thumb. if in a protected area with no chance of wind mig is the way to go. if in the open with wind flux is the way to go. also flux core will let you weld thicker material so youll have to take that into account as well. take a couple peices of scrap tube and practice and adjust the heat. if you have never welded before it will in allot of instances look boogered. grind it down and reweld. dont be tempted to weld and then grind it flat. and as was said before triangles are your friend.

Honestly if you don't have a lot of welding to do in the future I would recommend the barter system. If you have some homebrew laying around I bet you could find a welder willing to work for some of it. Get your steel, have it cut to length, and either take the steel to him or have him/her come to you.