ideas to secure welder in garage

[aametalmaster]

Construct and weld a gate across your garage door bottom to top.

That has been on my to do list for too long. I covered over all of my ground floor windows when i sided my shop years ago...Bob

[mikecwik]

better insurance company or an understanding of your policy is easiest. adt might cost a bit more than dogs but dogs are kind of a pain.

[kevin]

sounds to me like sundown has the best info going, take his advice, its cheap and easy

[scorpio_vette]

After you get your cage built make sure that you can't get to the mig gun and the welder switch because you can turn it up and burn right thru the metal. Just sayin...Bob

good point. will take that into consideration. Thank you

seems to me that it would be easier to secure whatever building your tools are stored in.....

First burglary, they broke in through the walk-through door. i replaced it with a steel door, better hinges and locks. Second burglary they more or less tore down the overhead service door. bend it and broke it right off the track. so in addition to securing the building, i want to make sure that my tools require the most amount of effort to be moved. burglars don't want to hang around for an hour having to disassemble stuff. they like to grab and run.

If you're paying $2,600 for a 211, someone's not shopping very smart.

Locks are designed to keep honest people honest. If you can use it, a decent thief (if there's such a thing) can defeat your safeguards.

Ever considered moving to a better neighorhood?

1)Reading comprehension my friend. Just as important a skill, if not more important, than welding.
2)Locks are designed to keep an honest man honest. But the longer it takes to defeat that lock, the more likely the burglar will just move on, since he doesn't have the luxury of time on his side
3)When i first moved there, it was a "decent neighborhood" (if there is such a thing). it got worse over the last 7years. So i not only considered moving, but moved to a place where i have no more neighbors. That doesn't mean i trust people anymore. If they cleaned me out TWICE in a crowded city neighborhood, what's to stop somebody from doing it where there are no neighbors to watch/stop them???

I think the $2600.00 price tag is because he needs to buy the welder twice!

EXACTLY.

How to secure a welder?

I've found Colt, S&W, and H&K to be quite effective.

Renewal policy (at < $1.00/cartridge) is also quite inexpensive.

Ever consider adopting a pit bull?

Sure. I can offer you a choice of caliber. but even a 50cal won't stop anybody if nobody is home to pull the trigger. I can't be home 24/7.

dogs??? F*** dogs. i had 3 of them. during BOTH burglaries. notice that i said HAD??? useless waste of money.

paint it Red and put a Lincoln sticker on it

Good luck with your build-

Seems like the thieves had plenty of time in your shop

Luckily for me, the benefit of City life is that the Police...........

1) Red, that's funny. seriously though. i have thought about disassembling it and powder coating it hot pink.
2) Thanks
3) 1st burglary was within about a 1-2hour window. i locked my garage up around 11pm, and went back out about 1am when i noticed the damage. hard to say how long it actually took them. surprisingly, not a single neighbor heard or saw anything.
3) my house was 2 blocks from the police station. even when i called them within 1hour of the burglary, it took them nearly 1/2 hour to get to the house. and other than stand around and ask for my phone number, they did NOTHING until i went to the station and demanded that they dust/finger print the place. Cops are about as useful as dogs. I'm amazed dispatch doesn't just give you a website to download a form that you can fill out a report yourself and mail it in.

Just a few ideas.

Install the two deadbolts.
Fabricate a metal strap across your entry door in two places.
On the inside of your windows, weld circles of razor wire across and down the window area. Cover the window area with pegboard and fill the void between the glass and the pegboard with styrafoam peanuts. (saves on heat and cooling) and provides more wall space for tool storage.
Construct and weld a gate across your garage door bottom to top.
If you have a air conditioner unit, install a anti push through bar. (hot in Florida)
Surveillance cameras even dummy ones that just blink red will be effective.
Lights are a burglars worst nightmare. Light it up and install a few motion activated lights. If you are a hunter install a infared deer camera that is motion activated.
Finally install that alarm the rings at the local Sheriff or Police Station.
Insure your items with a shop policy. (There are many different types)

One of the other posters said that locks are for Honest Men and He is right. but you can save your self some heartache with these simple precautions.

Honest John
Tampa Chicago Paris

all valid points. but that still doesn't secure the tools.



now i know some people may think, or even mentioned that it would make it harder to move. personally i don't care if it takes me 5minutes to get my welder out of a cage, as long as i STILL HAVE A WELDER. having instant access to it won't do me any good if i'm gone.

for what it's worth, when i secured my aircompressor to the buildings support beam and anchored it to the ground, it was secure enough that it took me roughly 5-10 minutes to get the hardware loosened/cut off to be able to move the compressor when we moved away from there. and i'm the one that put it there. no burglar is going to spend that kind of time on each item. criminals of any type are all out for a easy grab. it doesn't matter if it's a burglar, purse snatcher, bank robber, etc.. none of them want to stick around any longer than necessary, because any second they could be discovered. so the more difficult i can make it for them, the more likely that i'll have my stuff when i wake up. so YES......i want OVERKILL when it comes to chaining, bolting or otherwise securing my items.



and for those wondering why i'm so paranoid.

10years of wrenching as a auto mechanic.
$30,000+ worth of tools
3 generations (30+years) worth of insurance through the same agent
2 burglaries

aftermath: $0.00 ZERO DOLLARS reimbursed. 10years of work GONE. S

So if i can't rely on my insurance to cover what i'm paying for, and the cops to even care (yes i had some serial numbers. they didn't even care), then i'm basically left to fend for myself.



so if anybody else has any other suggestions for securing the welder, or any improvements on my cage idea i'd be very grateful.

[scorpio_vette]

better insurance company or an understanding of your policy is easiest.

didn't matter. insurance company had more money for lawyers than me.
i've switched insurance company, and hope they would take better care of me. but as far as i'm concerned, the ONLY reason i have insurance is because the law makes me. they're no better than the criminals that robbed me in my opinion.

which is why i would like to prevent the need for having to call them ever again.

[fabricator]

In addition to building a vault, look into an internet motion alert video recorder to supplement your security. With this type of system it will alert you by text message when motion is detected and then you can view live footage through a smart phone or computer. Much more dependable than dogs and a system starts at around 400.00.

[bretsk2500]

First burglary, they broke in through the walk-through door. i replaced it with a steel door, better hinges and locks. Second burglary they more or less tore down the overhead service door. bend it and broke it right off the track. so in addition to securing the building, i want to make sure that my tools require the most amount of effort to be moved. burglars don't want to hang around for an hour having to disassemble stuff. they like to grab and run

Dude..... go to HD or Lowe's or Grainger and buy a Knaack box..... bolt it to the floor... problem solved. Something I learned long ago is: if somebody wants something bad enough, you will NOT be able to prevent them from obtaining it. Secure your building as Honest John said.... put the welder in the Knaack box...

bear in mind.... if it's steel... it can be cut.... and nothing stops an oxygen lance....

[bretsk2500]

and btw...... I have built a few bank vaults in my career... if you want true security... look away from a cage and towards a cast concrete vault with a ball bearing aggregate.. (seriously)

[mikecwik]

i dont think ive seen an insurance company shortchange someone. they called you up and said that they had more lawyers than you so they are not paying?

[scorpio_vette]

i dont think ive seen an insurance company shortchange someone. they called you up and said that they had more lawyers than you so they are not paying?

no. it literally came down to me not being able to afford fighting them anymore after i had being at it with them for nearly a year. they did however drop my policy within about 5months of the second burglary before the case was ever settled.

but that's not what's on discussion right now. i lost $30,000, i got $0 back from the insurance.


i do have to say thought that i'm very amazed that it seems like people here either think that since the thief could in theory break anything you can make, that there is no point in trying to secure things, or that you need to build a nuclear blast chamber.

i agree that NOTHING is unbreakable, but the simple fact is that if it takes to much time for a burglar to "try" and get something, they usually won't bother with it. so if it takes me several minutes to get my welder out of whatever enclosure i might come up with, and i have the keys/tools to get in, then it would take a burglar even longer. therefore, HOPEFULLY i have a greater chance of me waking up with my tools in the morning.

anyways. i figured this being a welding forum, and others probably having similar concerns, that i might be able to get some suggestions here.

so to those couple who gave me useful tips, THANK YOU. and to those who didn't have anything useful to say.......thank you too.