Your Own Metalwork Shop - Build A Metal Fab Shop At Home

Traditionally, the best-selling issues of Car Craft are those with a paint and body theme. As much as we like to read about engine builds or suspension upgrades, a lot of that stuff is assembly. Metalworking is more artistry. It takes skill, creativity, and lots of practice to fix damaged metal, and even more of each of those elements to build things out of a pile of raw sheetmetal or tubing-and that has kept many people from trying to learn this intricate craft.

Another prohibitive factor has been money. Until recently, the parts and tools were often too expensive for the home enthusiast to justify the investment. However, prices have declined in the last few years, partly due to major manufacturers like Miller and Lincoln Electric investing in their hobbyist lines of MIG and TIG welders. You can buy a great MIG welder for less than $500 and an equally good TIG welder for about $1,000. Consider that for a second. Barely 10 years ago, TIG welders were giant monstrosities that took up half a room and ran on three-phase power. Now you can plug one in to any outlet in your house and go to town. OK, so it won't weld up a 1/2-inch plate, but how often do you need something that heavy duty?

With the cost of entry becoming more affordable, we are hearing from more readers who are buying welders and shaping tools, taking on more metalwork jobs in their home garages. Here we present a few different tools and workspace setups, working with Miller Electric, Harbor Freight Tools, and the Eastwood Co. to show you the range of options from the very basics to what would be considered the ideal man cave for the home hobbyist.

Just the Basics

An acetylene torch is an extremely versatile tool. You can use it to cut or weld nearly any metal that melts. It's also good for heating stuck parts, annealing metal, and impressing your neighbors. Use it to practice your welding technique-if you are proficient at gas welding, TIG welding will be a breeze.

Couple your acetylene torch with a MIG welder and you can tackle most any job your car will throw at you. In the top photo, we featured Miller Electric's Millermatic 140, its entry-level MIG machine. Miller's suggested retail price is $860, but we've seen online prices about $100 less than that. Though this price is higher than competitors' entry-level welders, the Millermatic 140 offers a lot of usable features you won't find on the other brands. With an amperage range of 30 to 140 amps, the Millermatic 140 welds 24-gauge to 3/16-inch steel and 18- to 14-gauge aluminum using an optional spool gun. It also has an infinitely adjustable voltage knob rather than a clicking, fixed-stop adjustment, meaning you can make fine adjustments to the settings as you weld. The Millermatic 140 runs on 115V household current.

Next Step Up

The Diversion 165 welds 0.030- to 3/16-inch aluminum and 0.0250- to 3/16-inch steel, but you'll need extra power in your workspace-it operates on 230V power and plugs into a standard clothes-dryer outlet. It only draws 25 amps at full power, so you may not need to upgrade your breaker box if you have an existing 220V circuit in your garage. Additionally, it comes with a Weldcraft LS17 torch with thumb controls, but a foot pedal is optional.

Also in this photo is Miller's new 30FX welding table, a great value at $250. The steel top weighs about 70 pounds, and the table itself will support 500 pounds. It folds into a compact shape for easy storage when you don't need it, and it includes the very useful X-pattern cutouts for clamping your work.