Had some time and some scrap aluminum. Need to get ready for Florida!

[Steve]

One of my hobbies is metal detecting. Specifically beach and underwater metal detecting.

My winters are spent for the most part in Florida and on the beaches. I needed a new scoop to dig out the gold rings and jewelry that is lost on the beaches almost every day. I was not happy with what is being sold so I decided to build my own aluminum scoop.

Seeing how I have an Everlast Powertig 250EX and a Powerplasma 50, I have everything I need to make a scoop of my own design. Using 1 inch schedule 40 aluminum pipe for the handles, 1/8 inch aluminum plate for the main body and 3/32 aluminum plate for the plate where the handles attach to the main body.

I cut everything with the Powerplasma 50 and it cuts aluminum like butter. So fast it is unbelievable. I cut everything, then stacked the plates and drilled. And drilled. And drilled.
This thing has 210 holes for good sand runoff in the water. Stacking the plates cut my drilling in half but it still was a lot of holes to drill. Glad I have a drill press. Wish I had a CNC! A friend has a fab shop with a laser cutter. I may have him make a few holes for me.

Stuck everything together with the Powertig 250 EX. That and the Weldtec 20F torch makes for a lot of fun welding for sure!

The front lip on the bucket is stainless steel. Cut it with the Powerplasma 50 also. Again....it cut it like butter. It is stainless to prevent bending of the aluminum bucket. Riveted together with the scoop and here's what I ended up with.

I have had a few people interested in me building one for them. I may end up building a few. My profit on one is around $110 for just a few hours of work. Building some of these is good practice getting myself back into the tig grove and using the Powertig 250EX. I might as well make some money while practicing!