How to Build an Iron Wheelbarrow

Weld two 5-foot steel bars of 1-inch thickness to the ends of a 1-foot long, 1-inch-thick steel bar using a welding torch and rods. Weld the two longer bars so they are at a 135 degree angle, which will make them spread away from each other.

Measure 2 feet from the free ends of the two bars and mark this spot with chalk. Weld a 1 1/2-foot, 1-inch thick steel bar at the 2-foot marks. This bar will be a stabilizer and the top seat for the bed of the wheelbarrow.

Weld a leg onto the steel bars at the point where the stabilizer bar connects to the arm bars. For added support, a small steel bar is welded angling from the leg to the arm. This is optional, though recommended.

Drill holes through each arm 6 inches from the bottom bar with the 1/8-inch bit. Line up the wheel and axle to the holes and screw the nuts and bolts into the axle with the drill and appropriate bit.

Heat a 3-foot-by-4-foot iron sheet with rounded corners, using tongs to hole the sheet, in the forge until the entire sheet is yellow-white in color. This temperature, 1800 degrees Fahrenheit, will not last long, and the sheet will need to be reheated throughout the work.

Lay the yellow-white sheet on the top of the round anvil. Begin hammering the sheet to the shape of the anvil with a ball pein hammer. Once the sheet has a rounded well in the middle, begin shaping the ends. One end must be deeper and thinner in width than the other. The thinner end will sit upon the wheeled end of the arms and the wider, more shallow end will rest upon the stabilizing bar.

Pour cold water on the iron wheelbarrow bed just created. This will cool the metal enough to place it upon the steel frame already created.

Place the bed upon the frame by aligning the thinner, deeper section with the front of the wheelbarrow just after the wheel and axle and the shallow end with the stabilizing bar.

Light the welding torch and weld the steel to the iron along the stabilizing bar and along the arms up until the bed no longer touches the arms, just behind the wheel and axle.

Place rubber handles upon the ends of the arms and allow the wheelbarrow to cool for 24 hours before use.