Hi Ross,

You could probably buy one of the cheapest welders from Harbor Freight or your local crazy swap meet. I would think that even one of the smallest 120V wire-feed welders would be sufficient for building racks like these. You really don't need the amperage or heat that a larger welder provides unless you're welding 1/4" or thicker stuff. You can even get by on the occasional large project by doing multiple-pass welds, but I wouldn't want to do it frequently.

Yakima makes some awesome accessories (as does Thule, but my bars don't really accommodate Thule accessories) but their racks are really overpriced when compared to what you can build yourself. I would think that you could come up with some kind of rectangular bars to build a rack that would accommodate your existing Thule stuff. I don't think the Thule-sized rectangular bar is available commercially, but a sheet metal shop could possibly bend some 16 or 14 ga. stock into a similar shape for not too much money.

I didn't weld a lot after high school (but it's only been 8 years ago!) but it's not too hard to pick back up. You know what a good weld looks like--you just have to make sure you get the right amount of heat, weld metal, and penetration. Not too much or too little of any one component.

Shawn

> Nice rack. Is there a website for wannabee welders? I just gotta learn how
> to do that. I haven't welded since high school shop class. I know Harbor
> Freight has welding machines of various prices. What's the minimum I'd
> need for building a rack out of similar materials?

> In need of more tools,

> Ross