DIY: Welding Rebar

Rebar -- short for reinforcing bar -- is the name for the steel rods usually embeded in concrete to increase its strength. The thickness and strength in rebar makes these steel rods excellent building material for creating outdoor items such as arbors or frames for garden chairs that require style as well as the ability to withstand a strong wind storm. Because rebar is a thick steel, ranging from 3/8 inch to 2 1/4 inches in diameter, welding the pieces together takes machinery with a high voltage that can meld the metal pieces together in a solid weld.

Wire brush
Dry cloth
MIG welder
316 MIG wire
Clamps

Instructions

- 1
  Scrub off the zinc coating on the area of the rebar to be welded with a wire brush.
- 2
  Wipe the rebar with a dry cloth to remove any debris or metal shavings.
- 3
  Insert 316 MIG wire into the feeder inside your welder torch. Set the wire in the contact tip with 1/4-inch length of wire sticking out of the tip.
- 4
  Turn the MIG welder on and adjust the gases to the proper levels. The levels for your welder are marked on your gas meters.
- 5
  Clamp the clean pieces of rebar on each other in the position desired.
- 6
  Place the tip of the welder torch 1/8 inch away from the seam between the rebar pieces. The electricity generated and the gases produced by the welder melts the seam of the rebar pieces. A second after the torch passes over the seam, the metal will cool making the two pieces of rebar connected.

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