Does anyone know roughly what 60' of 1"x1" square tubing would cost me? And since im new to this metal work what kinda place would have something like this? Ive looked in the phonebook but im not sure what kinda place would have it, and i havent gotten around to calling. Thanks.

In case your wondering im gonna make a roof rack.

OH yea, does that seem like way too much metal? what about the thickness, is 1x1 a good size?

60 feet is alot of metal. depending on the size of the rack, you can probably get away withth 20 feet or so. I'm not sure how much it would cost, call a steel supply place in or around your area. 0.93 wall is probably fine, .120 would be more then enough. Have Fun!!
-Chris

will probably cost you around $20 a stick ( 20 ' length ) you never know when the prices are going up now though .

I pay a little less than a dollar a foot for that here in the central valley. 60' is probably too much steel but you can always use the excess for something else.

You can never have too much steel!

I changed my design around a bit, made it smaller and came up with 26 feet, i think im gonna use 3/4"x3/4" square tube. What about thickness?? .120 seems to be popular with bumpers so im assuming that would be more than enough for a roof rack?

I would go a little thinner for a roof rack but what are you gonna put up there??? spare tire ect.??? hi-lift

Yea, i have no clue what thickness. What would you reccemned. Im not sure about the spare tire. im makin the rack 3'x4' and i plan on putting a hi lift shovel and that sort of thing, the hi lift and shovel i want to mount to the sides so i top is left open for whatever. So what would you recommend for thickness? and 3/4x3/4 a good size?

What are some good ways to attach a hi lift and shovel and that sort a thing onto the sides? anyone know how, or have pics of a good bracket that i can make?

now i am aware that this picture isnt that great after all the camera cost me about 30 bucks at target, the idea is that you look at the weld. This is just so you can get an idea how great a welder i am. the machine of choice was a lincoln electric AC-225 arc welder. Ill try to borrow a better digital camera and get some nice clear pics but untill then oogle at this.


http://img76.photobucket.com/albums/v230/jeepjunkie/welds/May28-02.jpg

Any one who uses this machine; could they point me towards a website or their own knowledge about what amp setting for what thickness metal?

Put the piece in a chopsaw and cut it in half and see how complete your welds are. Look for penetration and for voids/slag inclusions.

Originally posted by jmbrowning
Put the piece in a chopsaw and cut it in half and see how complete your welds are. Look for penetration and for voids/slag inclusions.

Sounds like a good idea...will do.

How does a conduit roof rack sound? The stuff is pretty cheap...

Galvanized conduit would be cool... less rust to worry about, but I wouldn't want to be the person welding it together...

Originally posted by rick
Galvanized conduit would be cool... less rust to worry about, but I wouldn't want to be the person welding it together...

Yea, does that stuff spark a lot? or smoke a lot?

Or give off deadly gas.....

Ding ding ding ding.... goodtimes wins the prize!!! A slow and agonizing death from inhaling zinc fumes... Well, perhaps slightly exaggerated, but it's pretty bad. Don't weld galvanized unless you are doing some seriously good ventilation. I'm not talking about just throwing a fan in front of it, you need a hood to ensure you don't breathe any of the fumes.

yup....I fingered that out after I did some work with galvanized (oops)...stuff really stinks, and you get this nice, cob-web like white stringy/powdery stuff along the weld....

hmmmm, i seem to remember the white stringy stuff when my cousin and i welded a conduit bumper for our death sled(dont bother askin) it also didnt smell nice and i can still remember the distinct smell...oh well:D

Right now 3/4 x 11 gauge (.125) is running about $.75/ft and 1 x 11 gauge is running about $1.00. Depending on what you are planning on hauling you could even run tubing thinner than 11 gauge. We run 1/4" thick tubing and we are hauling 10' beams at 50 pounds a foot. But its up to you.

Andy