5 Metalworking Projects and a Welding Primer

In honor of August being metalworking month on Makezine, we rounded up 5 cool, diverse metalworking projects and a primer from our DIY wiki Make: Projects. Full build instructions are available for you so you can get cranking this weekend.

First up is the Geared Candleholder by kinetic artist Benjamin Cowden, which first appeared on the pages of MAKE Volume 21. As Benjamin says in his intro, “Nothing says ‘machine’ quite like a bunch of gears turning in time with each other.” He designed this project as an exercise in handmade gears and movement. While this isn’t necessarily a project for the impatient, the end result and lessons learned are worth it.

Next up, we’ve got Frank Yost’s College Bike Trunk project from MAKE Volume 23. Frank wanted to design a significant upgrade from the strapped-on milk crate of old. What he came up with is this awesome sheet metal bike trunk big enough to hold two gallons of milk with room to spare. It’s a pop rivet extravaganza.

Necessity is truly the mother of invention, and when master woodworker Len Cullum, who specializes in Japanese-style architectural elements and structures, needed 500 old-style Japanese nails, he fabricated this rad little $30 Micro Forge. Follow his steps and make your own.

If you want to get started with welding, check out Mister Jalopy‘s Welding Primer from way back in MAKE Volume 03. He uses a Lincoln SP-135 Plus Wire-Feed Welder. As he mentions in the article, while this primer is no replacement for classes and volumes written on the topic, it’s intended to show you how easy it can be.

And if you made it through the primer, Mister Jalopy offers a DIY on welding a pair of square-tube steel stands to put your new skills to work. Of course he painted them gold and black.

If welding is your thing, work your way through the 28-step build of our Karts and Wheels Contest winner Jeremy Ashinghurst’s Weekend Warrior Adult Soapbox Kart (published in MAKE Volume 26). You’ll have almost as much fun building it as you will flying down a hill in it.