I have got my hands on an ark (stick) welding machine, and thought I would try my hand at welding up some bonsai pots.
Does anyone have any experience/ advice/ pictures/ comments on metal bonsai pots?
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What gauge of material? My experience tells me that stick welders are for heavier gauge materials.
MIG welders give you the ability to weld a wider range of gauges and TIG for finer more detail work.
I believe that any fab shop would use MIG or TIG for the size of this project.
I will ask my oldest son, he is a welder.
Interested to see what you come up with. 
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Naaa… just turn the amperage down for lighter metals.
That said, you WANT a heavier pot… as it oxidizes…
Unless you are very creative, its gonna be MIGHTY square and boxy… and real rusty red…
I have one cast metal bonsai pot (May BE an incense burner?) . Needs a drainage hole. Probably not antique, so not much lost there. Was wondering if it would be acceptable for show…
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Never thought of welding one up from scratch…
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Thanks @KurtP
I’m after an industrial look. My machine will do mig, but I’m starting out, so looking at 2-3mm plate with stick
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I like the idea. Some things to consider would be:
- How much the steel heats in the direct sun.
- What will excessive oxidization do to your soil? (I have no idea if this is actually a thing)
- How bad ass a rusty steel pot with a gnarly pine would be!
- How soon can I get one?
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Thanks Ryan,
Im planning on a run of 4 as an experiment. Thinking about getting 1 or 2 hot zinc dipped (galvanised). Hadn’t thought about the heat- horticulture first. Will let you know how I get on.
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Hi AndyK, great to see your post. I’ve been thinking a lot about metal pots and tinkering a little (half finished pot sitting on my work bench for the past 3 months).
The rusty look could be great visually, but I worry about the rust interacting with the roots. I don’t know if it’ll do any harm or not.
Hot dip galvanizing would solve that issue but is the silver colour a look that would work well? Maybe after it has dulled down with weathering? There is a process that gives a more gold/yellow finish but I don’t know the details.
A possibility is to use the rusty pot as an exhibition pot and have the tree grow in a plastic pot that would sit into the metal one and be disguised with moss etc during exhibition?
If I finish my pot I’ll stick up a pic.
There doesn’t seem to be many iron pots out there which tells us that it’s a great unexplored material or a dead end.
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Ever thought of using a rust preventative spray? Rustoleum comes to mind, like the matt black heat resist spray used on BBQ pits. Just line the inside so hopefully it prevents oxidation where it contacts the soil. Just my two cents.
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Nice one @ndavila80,
Should give the tree what it wants and let the outside rust.
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Outside rust=fantastic “patina”
.
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Ooooh… powder coating steel… light tan or redish…instant patina…!
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Sorry, I meant to reply to this awhile ago!
I’d be worried that metal pots would heat up too much in the summer and cook my roots.
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Hi @hierophantic
I live in the U.K.! It berely gets hot enough to ware shorts!
Seriously though, you have a point. I could put a thin styrofoam liner in it.
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Love it @RAY_9FINGERS
The feet were too small on my first attempt. I’m going to have another go. Not sure if I should try to angle the sides?
My pot is made of 40mm angle iron. One of the corners is less than perfect. I’d like to try again, with 50mm angle and using a better quality jig to hold everything while welding the corners. My setup isn’t optimum but a bad workman blames his tools so I can’t complain too much. If I could improve this method I’d then like to try something less conventional.
As for angling the sides I can’t unless I use flat steel, but I’m a bit away from that yet. But you should go for it AndyK, nothing to loose.
I really enjoy the look on this, concerned about the heat in summer. but overall looks fantastic.
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Heat transfer in hot weather would be a challenge to the roots. Has any tested that?