Making gates, ornamentary items....question

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I origionally bought a welder for other purposes, but Ive been thinking lately of maybe starting a small out of home business making custom gates and other items.....Ive got a few questions.....First off, I know I will need a metal bender.  Possibly something like this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1I am also looking into a porta band saw.Are there any other items that are necessary to do most jobs?Ive seen a lot of really cool things posted on here, but Im not sure about the processes behind making these things.....For instance, when bending square stock, is that square stock solid?  It seems like it would just fold if you tried to bend a hollow piece......not sure.Also, how do you achieve long gradual bends?  Just curious....Any info would be great......Thanks!
Reply:welcome to the welding world     so ya got the bug wana bulid   sum-thing CUT HEAT BEND AN WELD WHAAAAAAAAAA   HAAA HAAA   ITS MADNESS A hack saw an a welder  and a    BFH   a few tools an bailing wire duck tape    and  ya  got it    opps  4 got  the paint
Reply:just takes time..  farm sales an shop sales is the place to start an look for tools...  hard to tell what ya need  in ur shop. i m still collecting  (junk)  TOOLS that what i tell the  (bride)..  welder an torch set is good start..  we built the first race car roll cage  from a stump with a car wheel nailed to it heated the pipe an bent slowly,  worked great----- chained bottom to stump bend over wheel not the best  but worked in the late 70 s  aww   what good times   ******** cars  an girls******
Reply:The first thing you need after a welder is a way to cut large volumes of stuff evenly.  A porta-band is a valuable tool, though it is not what I would choose to cut 500 pickets.  A horzontal band saw would be best, though a chopsaw will do to get you started.  Chop saw is time consuming because you have to man through each cut.  The noise and filth created by the chop saw get old.  Also, chop saws lack for high volume cutting and leave burs that can affect fabrication if not removed.A lot of people who use chop saws only cut up small quantities, though when you stand in front of a chop saw for three hours cutting up 36 pieces of 1/2 inch tubing you know how much it sucks and all the filth that kick back onto you.  They also don't cut solid well.A horizontal band saw will allow you to start a cut then go do work on something else. If you are going to work for yourself then remember speed of production is important.  A lot of curved fencing/gate components can be purchased.  Check them put. A lot of bent/curved stuff that look like tubing is channel,  some solid. As far as bending goes: you just get it done as Propdoctor suggested.  You can make your benders.  When the frequency of bending jobs goes up, then invest in a good quality roller or bender. Let the jobs pay for your equipment.long gradual bend can be achieved by many small bends along the length of a piece of metal.  Do as much work cold as possible.  Be patient, don't let the metal win.Last edited by tapwelder; 04-01-2006 at 11:09 PM.
Reply:http://www.weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=4164  This is some of my work.  All bending here is done with a home made bending jig.  Cap bent by heating.
Reply:Avon,the bender you mentioned will not bend square tubing, as is.  It's made for flat bar and round stock only... and you're limited to stock less than 2" thick on the flat stock...  for square stock (and this machine will probably only bend 1" max) there are dies available.  You have to form it (bend it) around a mandrell that holds the top,bottom and outside to proper shape and it folds in the inside of the bend slightly to keep from kinking the tubing.  The dies will cost more than the machine.  Harbor Freight will have this bender on sale often for less than 100 bucks in floor mount and around 50 for a bench mount.Long radius bends can be made as mentioned or you can build jigs from wood or metal and bend around them.. the wooden ones are usually destroyed after several bends especially if using heat.  Heat !!  heat is a good thing to have and an ox/act setup gives you nice neat controllable pin point heat where you need it or wide area heat also..For cutting, I agree with the horz band saw, but if you can't afford it at first you can make dowith a porta-band or even a 4.5-6" side grinder with a cut off wheel...but you're limited to cutting one piece at a time...not a production type tool   I use a 6" Metabo side grinder with .045 cut off wheels and it put my chop saw on the back shelf.  But I'm doing home projects and time/money doesn't matter since I'm doing it for me.There are co's as stated above that sell lots of ornamental detailed stuff and it's cheaper than making it (if you could).  King metals is one, and there'll be someone along who will name others... do a google on ornamental iron or steel, decorative steel, fence parts...etc and you'll find them.One thing you need is a nice flat place to work but most of us don't have a 8x20 welding table... a flat driveway works but if you're old like me, it's hard on the back and knees after a while.. you get up and down A LOT!!!You'll come up with a dozen to a hundred more tools that can help you out but like TAP said... let your business buy them as you make money...plan on post hole diggers and a wheel-barrow...cause the lady will want it "installed".    have fun !!john
Reply:[A horzontal band saw would be best, though a chopsaw will do to get you started]You know Tap, I'm a resourceful, if not clever person. I always no matter what I'm doing look for ways to more efficient. I like to quickly hone a pattern stick to it gaining in speed.Thats what I did with my 1st big fence job. I got real efficient with a chop saw doing well over 550 pickets. It never occured to me to use a bandsaw for this. I cannot believe that I did'nt think of that or ask? Because that little chop saw me had words a time or two. I have also bragged about how much money that 79.00 chop saw has made me."time is out to make a fool of you"
Reply:I used to use a chop saw.  I actually sold a bandsaw and replaced it with a chop saw - What was I thinking.  Used a chop saw for 3 years.  Really just got of the noise and filth.  Went back to a band saw last year and again wonder what was I thinking to get rid of a band saw in the first place. It free up so much time.    On really large jobs check with your metal supplier for cutting prices.  I have a pretty good relationship with my supplier and 50 bucks will get me several hundred pickets.  Shearing 10 bucks usually covers whatever I need.  I have never had anything burned but the prices are reasonable.
Reply:Thanks for the advice!  Im amazed with some of the stuff you do......very cool.Handler 140Miller Thunderbolt XL 225/150Dewalt Chop Saw and GrinderDelta Drill PressLP/O torchBig hammer, short fuse.