Welding projects for beginners: ten to build first, and five to leave alone

You can run a straight bead on flat plate. Now you want to make something. The risk at this stage is picking a project that is too big, or one that someone will later stand on.

Start this weekend with something small that carries no load: coasters, a cube or a fire poker. Then work up the list below. Each project adds one new skill. Leave anything that lifts, tows or holds a person to a certified welder.

The ladder: ten projects in order

#	Project	What it teaches
1	Coasters or a cube from flat bar offcuts	Cutting to length, tacking, short welds, grinding flush
2	Fire poker or garden stakes from round bar	Welding round stock, a little heating and bending
3	Shelf brackets from flat bar	Right angles, making two parts that match
4	Boot scraper or door stop	Working from a simple drawing, outside corner welds
5	Small frame from angle, such as a plant stand	Keeping a frame square, welding in sequence
6	Welder cart	Square tube, mitred corners, fitting wheels and a shelf
7	Firewood rack	Longer members, controlling distortion over length
8	Small welding table or bench top	Flatness, stitching a plate to a frame
9	Trellis or garden gate for a light opening	Repeating spacing, hinges, thin material
10	Fire pit ring or log grate	Curves, thicker material, welds that see heat

Stop at any step until the result looks the way you wanted. There is no schedule.

What each stage needs

Projects 1 to 4 need only a welder, an angle grinder with a cutting disc and a flap disc, a square, a tape, a marker, two or three clamps and a pair of welding magnets.

Projects 5 to 8 add a bigger square, more clamps than you think, and a flat surface to build on. Distortion appears here. Steel moves toward the heat as a weld cools, so a frame welded all on one side will bow. Tack everything first, then weld short sections on alternating sides and let it cool between them.

Projects 9 and 10 add thin material, which burns through easily, and curves. Thin tube is where gas mig is kinder than flux core. If your welder struggles here, it may be at the edge of its range. Duty cycle also starts to matter on the longer welds.

Buying steel

• Ask for mild steel: hot rolled, or A36. It is the cheapest and the easiest to weld.
• Useful first sizes are inch-wide flat bar and inch angle at about an eighth of an inch thick, and inch square tube.
• A steel yard or fabrication shop will often sell offcuts by weight. Take gloves and tie-downs.
• Hot rolled steel has a dark scale on it. Grind to bright metal wherever you weld and where the ground clamp goes.
• Do not buy galvanized, plated or painted stock to weld. The coating gives off harmful fume.

The habits that make projects come out right

1. Draw it with dimensions before you cut, even roughly.
2. Cut every matching piece together so they end up the same length.
3. Clean to bright metal at every joint.
4. Tack, measure, adjust. Weld only when it is square.
5. Weld in short sections and alternate sides.
6. Let it cool in air. Quenching in water can make some steels brittle.

If your beads are still uneven, go back to flat plate for an hour. The first steps are in how to weld.

Five things to leave alone

• Trailers, hitches and tow bars
• Car ramps, jack stands and engine hoists
• Ladders, steps, scaffolding and anything a person stands on at height
• Swings, climbing frames and gym equipment
• Tanks, pressure vessels, and any container that has held fuel

These are structural or pressure work. A weld that looks fine can still fail, and you cannot judge strength by eye. Nothing on this site says a weld will hold a load. Pay a certified welder.

Safety while you build

Project work adds grinding and cutting to the welding hazards. Wear safety glasses under the helmet, hearing protection and gloves suited to grinding. Grinding sparks start fires as readily as weld spatter, so keep the area clear and an extinguisher in reach. The gear list is in welding for beginners, and helmet settings are in the shade chart.