Homemade basket

[_dj_]

This is my first attempt to make a real basket. I bought a cheap welder and tube bender from Harbor Freight and a ring roller on ebay. Total cost of tools was $225. I had limited welding experience prior to this, so I basically taught myself. However, at my work, I engineer (copper) tubing assemblies every day, so it was right in my wheel house. I was able to draw a 3D model of the basket and make drawings from it. I made 2 jigs. The first for spacing the top spokes evenly and another for the cage. For the base, I was able to reuse the first jig.

I bought enough materials to make 3 baskets, but here is the breakdown per basket:
$30 - 1/4" OD round bar. cold rolled steel. Slightly less than 100' was used from what I can tell.
$12 - 1 5/8" OD steel sleeve. used 3 pieces as collars to weld the spokes to. A 3/8" bolt runs through it and the pole to keep them in place.
$50 - 2/0 electrogalvanized chain. This is by far the most expensive part. This basket uses 12 outer and 12 inner chains. Each is about 20" long.
Free - 1 3/8 OD fence post cut to about 54"
$5 - Misc hardware, Nuts and bolts.
$10 - Plastidip (3 cans) and spray paint (3 cans)

So the project was just over $100. But it probably took about 20-30 hours of labor. A lot of this was a learning curve with welding and the painting was a huge pain. Was it worth it? Definitely. I learned a lot and have a sweet basket, welder, and other tools to show for it. Would I do it again? Probably not.

Without further ado, here are the pictures.

The only thing I would change with the design is to make the cage deeper. I read the PDGA specs on a basket and it said 6" depth... what I didn't notice was that it was a minimum of 6". It wasn't until after I built it that I noticed it was quite a bit more shallow than most baskets on the course. It still works very well however and catches the discs beautifully.

Questions, criticisms, comments welcome.

 

[el siege]

looks great to me! Looks lightweight and looks almost like a "factory" basket.

 

[_dj_]

thanks! it probably weighs between 30-40 lbs, so I can carry it around. I tried to model it after the baskets typically found on a course with a few modifications to make it easier to fabricate.

 

[Azpostal]

Nice work! Looks like the chains move/slide up top, catching the discs really well.

 

[Bultx1215]

Looks good to me. When you make another, and you will, consider tightening the outer bottom ring on the basket and adding a mid ring on the sides. You have 2 pass thru areas on the basket. Top is great. I don't have the PDGA specs with me, they are on my fab table, but IIRC, its around 7" max to prevent pass or drop thru. Where it gets you is on the diagonals of the squares on the sides of the baskets and in the diagonals of the bottom segments. I had to do the same thing on both my basket models.

 

[DiscChucker]

Top notch

Looking at your final product, I would never have known this was your first time to weld. Very nice attention to detail. The top of your entrapment is very impressive.

So with all of that chain, does it really only 35-40 pounds?

 

[_dj_]

Nice work! Looks like the chains move/slide up top, catching the discs really well.

Thanks. The outer chains do slide freely. I wanted to have the inner chains slide as well, but the range of motion was too much. The inner chains could slide all the way to the outer chains. I had to weld them in place.

 

[_dj_]

Looks good to me. When you make another, and you will, consider tightening the outer bottom ring on the basket and adding a mid ring on the sides. You have 2 pass thru areas on the basket. Top is great. I don't have the PDGA specs with me, they are on my fab table, but IIRC, its around 7" max to prevent pass or drop thru. Where it gets you is on the diagonals of the squares on the sides of the baskets and in the diagonals of the bottom segments. I had to do the same thing on both my basket models.

I noticed that last night when I was throwing in it for the first time. I never had a drop thru while throwing, but when I put all my discs in the cage and picked the basket up to carry it, one slipped through diagonally like you said. It's definitely an area I could improve on. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[_dj_]

Looking at your final product, I would never have known this was your first time to weld. Very nice attention to detail. The top of your entrapment is very impressive.

So with all of that chain, does it really only 35-40 pounds?

Thanks for the compliments!

I don't have a scale available to get the actual weight, but that's my best guess.

 

[Bultx1215]

I noticed that last night when I was throwing in it for the first time. I never had a drop thru while throwing, but when I put all my discs in the cage and picked the basket up to carry it, one slipped through diagonally like you said. It's definitely an area I could improve on. Thanks for the feedback!

No worries. It looks good as is. I am curious as to how the spray dip will hold up. Paint sucks, powdercoat is expensive, yet you have to put something on them. You got me wondering about spray in bedliner now. Dunno.

I plan on doing an all aluminum basket one day. That won't need squat on it.

 

[BigE]

This is my first attempt to make a real basket. I bought a cheap welder and tube bender from Harbor Freight and a ring roller on ebay. Total cost of tools was $225. I had limited welding experience prior to this, so I basically taught myself.

I am interested on the details of the equipment you purchased and used. I built my own basket about ten years ago when I worked at a Fab shop. I no longer have access to those tool and would like to know the specs for what it took as far as equipment. Thank you in advance for your time.

Cheers,

Eric

 

[_dj_]

No worries. It looks good as is. I am curious as to how the spray dip will hold up. Paint sucks, powdercoat is expensive, yet you have to put something on them. You got me wondering about spray in bedliner now. Dunno.

I plan on doing an all aluminum basket one day. That won't need squat on it.

from what i've heard, once you paint over plastidip, it's hard to get off. hopefully that keeps it on there for the long haul. bedliner would be interesting.

an aluminum basket would be awesome if you have the skills to weld it.

 

[_dj_]

I am interested on the details of the equipment you purchased and used. I built my own basket about ten years ago when I worked at a Fab shop. I no longer have access to those tool and would like to know the specs for what it took as far as equipment. Thank you in advance for your time.

Cheers,

Eric

The welder I bought was actually from Craigslist, but it is pretty much this welder: Welder
This is the bender I bought, but there is also a table top version that doesn't have the stand. either would work. Bender
And this is similar to the ring roller I got on ebay. Roller

Remember, I built this out of 1/4" round bar as to where most baskets are made from 3/8". The 1/4" material was much cheaper and easier to work with. I don't believe the ring roller I have would handle 3/8" anyway.

 

[mattc]

I do a little fabrication, and have often thought about making 9 baskets for my self.
But it is a lot of time involved, however you do get the tools for other stuff.

 

[Bultx1215]

I make all mine out of 3/8 and 5/16CR. I use the same bender and roller, but I don't roll the 3/8. I can get my steel supplier to roll what I need cheap enough, though I am about to upgrade my rolling capabilities and do it myself. Quality issues. :doh: Plus, that roller I am using now is about to explode...it doesn't like 5/16 CR. Cold rolled steel is way tougher and makes a nice ring, but its definitely above the capacity of that roller. Between the CR and also the stainless I use on the chain rings, the roller has had a hard life.

As far as the alu basket, I have all I need except my machine I planned on using got taken out by lightning. Had planned on TIGing everything but may now have to use a spoolgun. Not sure if that will give me the quality I am after. Alu wire tends to start pretty cold..and when doing pretty much all spot welds, its easy to not get the oxides burned off enough to get a good weld. I guess time will tell. For now, I have several to build out of good old steel.

 

[_dj_]

I look forward to seeing your thread about an aluminum basket in the future :thmbup:

 

[Bultx1215]

We will see if it happens.


BTW, the pass thru spec from PDGA converts to 7 7/8" FWIW.

 

[1978]

Do you think the copper tubing will be strong enough for longer its on the basket?

 

[_dj_]

I made the basket out of steel. I just mentioned that I design copper tube assemblies at my work, so the design and bending of the tubes was very easy for me. But yes, I think you could make a basket out of copper tubing, but with copper being about $4.00/lb, it might get pricey.

 

[Curtis_Valk]

...............it might get pricey.

And stolen. Although copper when it develops the green patina is unique and beautiful to my eye. Several of our buildings in the Dallas area are roofed in copper. Most people don't even know.