After much investigation I have decided I would like to try and make my own panniers and racks. I've seen welders for approx. £50 at http://guildford.2cuk.net/index.html so once I've got the matarials, I just need to know how the !*&! to weld!
Does anyone know if you can learn enough to get by from a book or is it really necessary to go on a course? This book looks quite good http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...021653-5046232

How would you find out about courses in the UK? Do you get quick 1 day courses in welding?

Any advice welcome!

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Believe it or not I’m reading that book, right now for the second time. It’s a great book for a beginner weldor like myself. I found it very helpful to understand the concept of welding and what’s needed to become a good weldor (not welder, weldor: the person that uses a welder, according to the book). However it only explained how to weld and not how to form metal and fabricate stuff to be welded. For that you’ll need anther book by the same publisher, which title escapes me at the moment, but I have it written down somewhere if you need it. If you’re looking for a good introductory book then you won’t go wrong with this one. Having that said, it’s the only welding book I got so far so I have no comparison base here, but I‘m still happy with it.

But, if you only want to weld for just this project then I’d say better go to a fabricator or buy something ready made. Welding needs a lot of equipments beside the welder itself. There are tube and/or sheet metal benders, electric grinders, saws, hammers, and all sorts of clamps to mention just a few. Furthermore, as the book stressed many times, you’ll need a lot of practice to be able make decent welds. For a one off project, it’s not worth it in my opinion.

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A.B.

OasisPhoto.com – Images from the Magical Sahara.
ShortWheelbase.com – Jeep preparations.

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A.B.
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I don't know of any welder for 50 pounds that would be very capable. For the type of welding you are talking about, you need a mig or a tig welder. Quite alot more than that. You may want to visit your local vocational/technical school to see if an instructor would be will to have a student do this for you. You may be able to get the job done without labor costs.
John


Have Gas, Will Ride

Hi Paul,

I do welding from time to time in my job, but I am self taught and not qaulified in any way.
If you want to have a go at making your own boxes or do repairs your self, I would suggest you get yourself a Mig welder.
They are v cheap now, I think for what you need would be about £80- £100.00.
They are very easy to use and even come with instructions on how to weld (basic).
It will take time for you to do neat welds, but just practise lot's.
Go for it and try not to burn your self. And ALLWAYS use the welding mask!!
Good luck.
Carl.

Seems to be mixed opinions here guys. Am I really going to need a lot of tools as well as the welder? I don't have a garage to work in so I will be working under a car port on the floor - is that feasible? I reckon I could make my own bashplates (Transalps come with plastic ones), tool boxes, and racks and panniers. I'd have to do 2 of everything because my girlfriends TA will need it too. I have asked Ernie at Overland solutions for a quote for racks and panniers and I'm expecting something in the region of 600 to 700 quid for one bike so to get 2 bikes equipped with panniers and racks (£1300), bash plates (£100), and tool boxes (??), I'm probably talking close to £2000!! A.B if you could tell me the title of that fabricating book, I'll check it out. I tried finding out which colleges do welding but there don't seem to be any in my area. My other concern with giving the job to someone who doesn't normally make this sort of stuff is that I don't have a pattern to give them for racks or bash plates (I imagine panniers and tool boxes are fairly straight forward). Any comments?

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I hate to be the one to brake this to you but you are in for a lot of hard time the way your going at it.First school trained welder with 7 years on the job just so you.But I may have a way to make this a eazier for you,first don`t go & buy a welder it may not do what you want.second go to a welding shool & look into night classess for the hobbiest. then you get the trianing you need,use better tools & best of all if you mess up your stuff there is someone to help you fix it.then after you have made a thing or to there.then go and buy all the home stuff you want.at this point you know what to buy & how to use it.in the long run this way is cheeper & quicker.But even if you do not do all that at lest be real carefull not to get yourself hurt or burn your house down,have fire exingisher on hand & lots of burncream.good luck.

[This message has been edited by erik (edited 20 January 2003).]

I have come to the conclusion that doing it myself is not the way forward. I simply do not have the space at home to get the right set-up. I am going to buy a off-the-shelf pannier rack and try to get it strengthened and I am going to get a local fabricator to knock me up some basic alu panniers (for a lot cheaper than the ones in the shops!!). I think knowing how to do some basic welding would still be a useful skill so I am not going to forget all about it.

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I think you made the right choice. But here's the book I told you about anyhow:

Metal Fabrication Handbook - ISBN 0895868709

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A.B.

OasisPhoto.com – Images from the Magical Sahara.
ShortWheelbase.com – Jeep preparations.

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OasisPhoto.com – Images from the Magical Sahara.

did you talk to Ernie at www.overlandsolutions.com? he'll make you a top-notch rack at very reasonable rates. he does some great mods to standard panniers and can get some very cost effective panniers in for you.

I have actually emailed Ernie for a quote about a week ago but I'm still waiting for a responce. I am expecting costs of about £125 per pannier plus £125 for a rack plus labour so in total around £600 for 2 aluminium panniers and a rack. Sound about right? I have too do this for 2 bikes as well so double that. I am actually seriously considering soft luggage (don't worry I'm not going to start the hard/soft luggage debate!!). But for all it's disadvantages, it is A LOT cheaper.

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OK - Suggestion out of left field ......

I've used both hard (metal and plastic) and soft panniers over the years and found pros and cons for both. But here's what I'm travelling with now (currently in San Rafael, Argentina) and I think it's the best combination:

I have a set of universal soft (nylon-canvas stuff) panniers (zips and expansions etc - cost about $US65), but have fitted INSIDE the soft panniers a lockable steel box each side (office cash boxes new for $US15, just throw away the coin trays!) and then drilled 2 holes in the "base" of each box (ie the wall closest to the bike) and run plastic coated steel cables (flogged from work - you know, those cables they lock computers to the desk with) through to the other box (through the frame-rack) and padlocked INSIDE the other steel box.

..... therefore the best of both worlds: soft mounted panniers with lockable steel portions all for about $US100. Only drawback is that they need to be mostly unloaded to undo the locks holding the cables for dismounting - but to be honest that hasn't been a problem here so far.

Like I said - not what you'd planned but is a different solution to acheive a cheaper, more flexible bit of kit.

Cheers,

Alex.

Alex,
That's genious mate. I was thinking of just having a lockable topbox and soft saddlebags but just a aluminium top box and it's rack are still quite a big expense on top of the cost of the soft panniers. Your idea is very clever and solves a security/cost problem. Do you use big metal boxes that take up the whole inside of the pannier or smaller one for important stuff only? A drawback I can think of is that the lockable boxes would take up a fair bit of room in your soft panniers.
Do you have any sort of top pannier or top box on the back of your bike, or do you just use role bags?

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