A welding shop needs a specific spot for every tool, lest you lose or damage them while you work, and an air tool rack is one welding project that will make your shop more organized and help preserve your tools. Rather than spending your time looking for your tools, you can keep them in one spot along the wall.
The following plans have been adapted from a welding project at Miller Electric’s website.
Materials for This Welding Project
According to the Miller website, your materials will be the following:
- 2 feet (60.96 cm) of 3½ x 3½ (8.89 x 8.89 cm) x ¼ inch (.635 cm) angle iron
- (8 to 10) ¼ inch (.635 mm) Pipe Couplings or Caps
- (8 to 10) Air Couplings
The directions suggest using a MIG welder, but a TIG welder will get the job done just fine. Depending on which machine you use and whether or not you use shielding gas, you’ll need need sand paper and a chipping hammer, especially if you’re using flux cored MIG wire. If you want to finish your tool rack, pick up some primer and paint as well.
Don’t forget to use the proper welding safety equipment such as a welding helmet, welding gloves, and flame resistant clothing (or at least a cotton shirt). Keep your welder grounded and make sure your work area is clear of flammable materials.
Steps for Air Tool Rack Welding Project
Miller keeps the steps here simple enough for this welding project:
1. Divide the metal strip into enough sections for your air tools to fit. Lay them out in front of the piece of angle iron to get an idea of how to space the couplings. In this case, we just set it up for eight couplings.
2. Weld the ¼ inch (.635 cm) pipe coupling to the angle iron.
3. Screw in the air coupler.
That’s it! At this point you would also smooth off your welds and paint the metal if you want to finish it.
Miller also provides a variation on this project:
“Drill hole in the bracket above the pipe coupling for easy access to oiling your tools – be sure to cover holes to avoid dust contamination. Use cart on the bottom to roll around the garage.”
If you wanted to make a holder for other tools in your welding shop, you could use wider angle iron and wider couplings that can stand upright and hold bits or other small tools that are easy to lose.