Welding is a professional technique, which, when mastered can lead to a lot of benefits. You can use the technique for personal benefits, for instance repairing and making objects that you weren’t able to handle before, or you can also use it to earn some money and start a business out of the passion.
Of course, welding is not a business you can start with a degree in Business Management. It is more about physical skills than the intellectual knowledge you possess. You might have to start by learning the process first, which can be tricky but can be mastered through practice and dedication.
Beginners and professionals can all use welding as a means to earn money from home. If you enjoy playing with welding equipment and have a special knack of learning to create objects through it, then you can obviously weld your way to a legitimate home business.
Do you want to take welding as a serious career and make a living from it while staying at home and being your own boss? If you want to proceed forward with this idea it is necessary that you know the equipment you will need inside your home, the kind of projects you can work on, and just how you can make money out of the welding process.
Answers to all of these questions will help you determine whether welding is meant for you or not. Even if you are working at home, you can work in a contract with an organization to keep a steady income coming. We discuss all of these ideas and a lot more to get your home welding business up and going.
Setting up the Home Welding Shop
If you are looking to start your own welding business, it is necessary that you build up a place to work in. You will also require tools to play with when you are working. Without the tools and space, you probably cannot actualize your dream of a welding shop of your own.
There are 3 options to choose from when you are looking to start your own welding work. You get to be your own boss in all three options, and don’t have to work under anyone.
Use Someone Else’s Space
Under this option, you will use someone else’s space or shop as a favor, as a pay per use basis, or as a bartered agreement. Your access to the shop will be restricted. You will only be able to access the space when they come in. If you have gotten the space on a rental basis, then you can access it whenever you want.
You potentially lose some money and some time in this option. The money you pay to the shop owner could have had been saved with some other option. However, the money can be compensated if the shop owner is providing you with accessories of your own. This isn’t usually the case with rentals. However, you can use free equipment if you are working with another welder in their space.
Set up a Shop in the Back of a Truck
If you currently own a work truck, you can set up your shop on the back. If you look at it, the back is pretty spacious and is not utilized at all currently. You can get maximum utility out of the truck by using the unused space at the back. This option is not that expensive to set up and also allows you to be mobile in your work. You can go from one place to another. If you have customers, you can directly head to them on your truck, rather than them having to run to you. If you do not have a truck currently, then do not consider this option as the hassle is not worth buying a new truck and starting work on it from ground zero.
Set up Your Own Shop at Home
This is the most convenient option and one that we would be studying in detail within this chapter. It is necessary that you have some safe, unfrequented space inside your home. You don’t want to set up the entire process in the middle of your living room. You should make sure there is enough space to work on welding processes. If you have a garage it is best that you utilize it and start your setup there. If you have open areas in the lawn, you can build a strong, small shed. This is a long term investment and if you remain in the welding business for long, you will start seeing a major return on investment.
Can I Do Welding at Home?
When you talk about welding at home, we expect you to come up with plenty of questions related to the process. The first question would obviously be about the authenticity of the option. Can welding really be done at home? Can you try welding at home? Is it a safe, cost-effective and plausible option to try? The answer to all these questions is a simple yes.
There are so many factors you need to consider before starting to weld at home, but the fact of the matter is that welding can indeed be done at home. You will have concerns about safety, machines to purchase and the cost they carry, but you will soon be able to start working on your passion at home.
Electrical Set up
Before you go about buying machinery and equipment to use inside your home it is necessary that you understand whether a garage can handle the electrical current required by the machinery. Since your lights will be on when you are working, make sure the breaker isn’t overloaded. There are lower voltage welders that you can buy online or through your nearest hardware store for home-usage. While higher voltage welders require a lot of electrical currents, the lower voltage ones can work within the set up in your home.
Essential Home Welding Products
Some of the essential home welding products you will need for your pursuits at home include:
- A Mig Welder – Something like the Millermatic 250 or a 140 would perfectly work here. Make sure it has an option to pulse.
- If you want to go for stick or TIG weld, make sure you get a decent midsized Tig or Stick welder. Higher-end machines and brands offer more reliability and better resale value. You never know when you will have to sell the equipment back, which is why you should buy the pieces that have a decent resale value in the market.
- You need a grinder for cutting purposes. Do not buy the low-quality ones from Harbor Freight. Make sure you invest in a good one that has reliable and consistent output.
- A Hossfeld bender will also be needed for your home setup. You can also build one up yourself, but we recommended getting a piece from a reliable manufacturer.
- You will need a portable metal bandsaw for cutting purposes. We mention portability because some bandsaws are either meant to be fixed on the floor or are very difficult to move. You would want to be able to move all the machines and equipment around when you are working in your home.
- A small Chicago finger brake or a press brake.
- You will need a cutting torch for multiple purposes including pre-heating. Go for either plasma or oxy-acetylene.
- Plenty of hand tools including a hole punch, metal shear and a lot more. Make sure you have a handy bag for keeping all of your tools safe.
You can also make a rack, to begin with, so that you have areas to store your tools wherever you are working. Weld metal legs on it, to make movement and positioning easier.
How to Make Money Welding at Home?
If you are a professional welder and have done professional work before, then you won’t be short of ideas when starting from home. However, problems arise for beginners who aren’t really sure how to monetize their business and the work they are putting into it.
Having considered the tools you need for your job, and the options you have for space, we now get to the most important part of the discussion; how to make money welding at home?
To begin with, you will need some initial investment. The initial investment is necessary for buying equipment and also for rental purposes. If you are working from home, you can cut the latter out and focus on the former. Remember that when you’re starting welding from home, you won’t have customers lined up, looking for customized inventory. You will have to start producing different metal structures and get a price for them in the market. Once you have established your brand name, you will experience a decent flow of new customers ordering objects and customized tasks from you.
In this section, we mention a list of easily salable products that you can easily make inside your home. Make these products and then market them properly to get your revenue stream going.
Metal Furniture
As we all know metal furniture sells really well in the market. There are always buyers looking to buy furniture even if it isn’t made according to their exact specifications and customizations. As a home welder, you should make sure that you experiment with aesthetic and unique designs while maintaining the quality of the highest order. If the quality of your metal furniture is good, you will build a decent sales opportunity through customer recommendations.
While it may look like an easy job, welding metal chairs, tables, and racks is no easy feat. Therefore, beginners should refrain from taking up complex innovations. Start with the more basic levels, before amping your game up to start making more advanced furniture.
Good quality metal furniture will surely attract customers, which is why you can start building in bulk once you gain sufficient expertise in the field and trust your outcomes. Offer a discount to customers buying on bulk, especially corporate clients.
Car Ramps
Customized metal car ramps are hot sellers and will surely attract the kind of customers you are looking for. Your target market here will include garages, businesses, and car enthusiasts. Once you start working on car ramps, make sure you spread the word and market your brand.
Most car ramps are customized, which is why you should make them on the basis of the orders you receive. Do not create these in bulk without having an idea of what your target market might be looking for.
Most businesses and garages have customized specifications that they want followed to within a specific period of time. Make sure you adhere to the specifications and their time requirement, as this is the time to build clients.
Metal Interior Decorations
The home decoration industry is a booming hit because literally everyone wants to come up with ways for making their home look pretty and well decorated. Metal decorations are a hit here, as they allow people to decorate their home the way they like, without any extensive costs.
If you are a welder working from home, you have an untapped market to cater to here. Make sure that you are prepping up your creative juices and are being innovative with your output. Do not directly copy concepts made other artists as that doesn’t bode well for you.
Creating bespoke interior design pieces will also help you in expanding your business. Customers would like the output you generate, which is why it will help build a positive rapport for your business.
BBQ Grills
Who doesn’t love a good ol’ BBQ? If you’re welding from home and want something that will pay you good money, then a BBQ grill is what we will recommend to you. These grills are generally difficult to make, but the cost of production is low because not much material goes inside them.
However, when it comes to selling the BBQ grill you will be able to pocket quite a decent sum. There is a tidy profit from BBQ grills and you can pocket it all by focusing on this niche. Before you start working on them, make sure you know that quality matters just as much with BBQ grills. Your customers might get cheaper items made in China, but if they want quality products they should trust and come to you.
Yard Art
Just like interior metal decorations, yard art is also a decent niche to focus on. If you are known to have a few creative brain cells, then now is the time to get them working. Focus on the role metals play inside a yard and try to leverage that role to your full potential.
More often than not yard art does not fulfill the purpose it is meant to play inside a yard. You can try making animal skeletons or unique seating patterns to use the metal for aesthetics and convenience. The art shouldn’t just be aesthetic, but should also serve some convenience. We believe animal styled seating is a good place to begin all your work from.
Model Vehicle
The metal model vehicle market is huge and is a growing industry. These metal vehicles aren’t just used for memory but are also used as an item of interior décor. You can search up the designs for some of the classical vehicles from days gone by and can replicate them in a smaller, metallic version. Many customers would love to have these classical shapes placed somewhere in their living area.
Since these vehicles are small, they won’t require a lot of raw materials. However, your attention to detail and precision needs to be on the spot if you want to produce quality output. Make sure you add some sheen and polish on the finished product for added appeal.
How to Price a Welding Job?
Once you start welding at home, you will realize the costs associated with many welding jobs. You will be able to tell the cost of metal that goes into stools, interior décor items, car ramps, and all other products. Based on your estimates, you can price your job accordingly. Cost-plus pricing is the best to follow here, as you can use your estimate of cost and can add a percentage to that cost for your own input and hard work.
You will want to fairly charge all customers, and cost-plus pricing is as fair as it gets. Make sure you set your own percentage according to your skill level and the input you are putting into that particular job. There is no fixed percentage, as the number can vary from job to job and the skill level that is required.