Questions about a specific design.

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Hello this is my first post. Forgive me for making yet another newbie post, I did go through as many of the newbie posts in the sticky and I used the search. However my questions are about something so specific, I did not find the answers I was looking for.I have a product idea and I want to build them myself. I do not have any welding experience, but I have enrolled into welding classes at a local community college and I wanted to get some feed back on what I might need to get started.First, here is the part of the design that will require welding(see attachment).AluminumIt will hold water(not for drinking)It will be standing in the orientation of the imageIt will mostly be stationary so there will not be a lot of stresses on itSo here are my questions.What gauge/alloy of aluminum should I use?TIG or MIG? And what welder would you recommend? 240 or 120?What equipment should I get to cut the sheet aluminum?I might optimize my design to use more bends and less welds, what equipment do I need to bend sheet aluminum?What budget do I need for just the welding equipment? Including safety gear.What budget do I need for all the other gear? Bending and cutting equipment.Thank you for any feed back in advance. This seems like a great community and I look forward to contributing back in anyway I can. Attached Images
Reply:If you want to spend a lot of time learning to weld and make things look good then tig is what you will want to use. If you just want to be able to weld this thing together, you can learn to run a spoolgun in a few hours and have something that will more than likely be perfectly adequate for your purposes.
Reply:Aluminum flower pot or vase?1.  Thick enough to be easily cut, formed, and welded yet thin enough to be practical and affordable.  Alloy?  Something bendable and weldable.  6061/6063 comes to mind.  Really thin takes more operator skill to weld.2.  TIG or MIG can both weld aluminum, so either/or.  Note that for appearance and being leak-proof, a nice TIG weld is 'usually' neater and 'better' than a MIG weld.  But that depends a LOT on the skill of the person doing the weld.  If the welds will be ground down and such, either could be used.  Although little 120V machines are quite handy when used within their capabilities, most of the time you really want to go for some sort of 240V machine.  More power can usually be dialed down, but not enough power can never be dialed up.    No matter how hard you squeeze the trigger of a MIG gun or mash the pedal on a TIG machine, once you hit max output from the machine there is no more power available.3.  Saw, shear, plasma, bandsaw, jig saw, carbide-tipped circular saw made for cutting aluminum sheet, etc, etc4.  A bending brake.5.  Safety gear, maybe a few hundred $$.  Hood/helmet, some gloves, safety glasses, hearing protectors, welding jacket/sleeves, masks/respirators, that sort of stuff.  Welder?  For 'welding aluminum sheet metal, could run ~$500 +/- for a new small MIG with spool gun (you really want a spoolgun to feed aluminum MIG wire, either that or a $$$$ push-pull rig) to a few thou $$$ for an AC/DC capable TIG rig.  Add in practice time and school/lessons too.  Add in grinders (yes plural, they are that handy) at maybe $20 per (H-F 'special' or sale price) to maybe $100 per for non-cheapo ones.  Other misc cutters/grinding disks and such.  Maybe a belt sander, if you want to flatten and smooth large flat areas.  Polishing equipment and abrasive compunds if you want to smooth and polish your creation.  Misc cleaners and solvents to clean and degrease the aluminum.6.  Depends on just how many of those things you are  trying to crank out.  Saw can run a few hundred to a few thou, depending on size and 'industrialness'.  Plasma can be maybe ~$1k to ~$3k, depending on size/power and such.  Metal brake can be maybe a few hundred $$ to a few thou, again depending on size and 'strength' and such.Total budget to equip a from-scratch welding and metal working 'shop'?  Hmmm, maybe $1k to $100k.  Shop not included.  Power for the machines not included.  Business or hobby?  If business, add in taxes and insurance and license(s) and such.  The best laid schemes ... Gang oft agley ...
Reply:you are going to need internal crossmembers or bracing of some sort if you dont want that to bulge and deform when filled with water.   that will also dictate the gauge of metal you use.  TIG is the best way but Spool gun mig will be much faster...  sheet is easily cut with a metal cutting saw or even a good carbide blade on a circ saw. you could get a 24" metal brake that would work for bending. good idea and will save time and money on welding. check u get the right Al alloy as some bend well and others don'tLook for used equipment,   any way you cut it, New setups for welding aluminum are going to cost you $2000+    used, you can get a nice tig or mig with spool gun for around $1000.    a tank of agron is worth a couple hundred so consider that when looking used.Tiger Sales:  AHP Distributor    www.tigersalesco.comAHP200x; AHP 160ST; MM350P,  Spoolmatic 30A; Everlast PowerTig 185; Thermal Dynamics 60i plasma.  For Sale:  Cobra Mig 250 w/ Push-pull gun.  Lincoln Wirematic 250
Reply:Don't buy anything until you start your class. After you get a little experience, you will better understand your needs, and any opinions you get from this forum. Don't rely solely on this forum for advice on your project. Face to face communication with experienced people, like your instructor, is much more valuable, and will help you ask the right questions. After that, there are some very smart and helpful people on this forum, if you ask good questions.Ian TannerKawasaki KX450 and many other fine tools
Reply:Thanks for all the great information and feed back. I am leaning towards MIG welding. I may wait for my classes to start, but that is still a few months off. I may end up hiring someone local to build them for me till I learn to do it myself if waiting for classes is a good idea.