I am about to attempt to make a frame for weight training. I was intending to use 2" square steel tube, and drilling holes to bolt it together, but looking online at some suppliers there seems to be lots of different types available. Can anyone suggest which type of steel would be best to allow me to drill using diy equipment? I may also try and weld some of it.
Also can anyone suggest a good diy supplier who will deliver to my door?
2" square is huge. 2" x 1" is plenty, or even 1" square. Use the thicker wall stuff if you're going to rest bolts on it..
Ideally you should ream it, but be careful with accurate drilling. it is worth drilling undersize, then clamping both together and drilling to size in one pass.
Use the right bolts - plain shanks of the right length. If you take the weight on the threaded portion, particularly a cyclic load, then you'll get fretting motion and the joint will work loose. Use washers and nyloc nuts.
You might even favour clevis pins and R pins, if you want to make it easily dismantlable without tools.
Should weld easily enough - it's one of the few DIY tasks I can imagine where a stick welder would be useful, not just a MIG.
Personally I'd MIG weld the frame into flat panels, then bolt or pin the rest. Even a large flat panel is easier to store or move than a small 3D object.
Yellow pages - anyone local ought to do it. Steel stockists are generally helpful about small quantities of common materials, so long as you either collect or can wait some days until the truck is in your area.
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