Does any one know any thing about making your own utility basket?
I saw a basic platform (front ) in a shop which was made of heavy flat steel. I can weld steel with an arc welder. I don't have gas though as it is expensive for a few small jobs.
I was thinking I might be able to get some aluminum and get someone to weld it up?

You can get aluminum welding rod that will work with a propane torch.
The trick is to clean all the joints with a stainless brush. Nothing else
will work.

Harbor Freight has it, most welding supply houses should.

https://www.harborfreight.com/pack-of...ods-44810.html


I have a Worthington micro set, under $60, uses the canisters
of MAP and O2.



You might check with your local power company they use a lot
of aluminum wire and short pieces as just scrap to them.

Having done some of this type fabricating. You need to make
a wooden plug for the shape, then staple the wire to that
before doing any welding, to get it all lined up right.
Hard wood is best, doesn't burn as bad, but any thing
will do. Spray bottle to keep the fire to a min. Wire to
tie it together temp.

A little planning goes a long ways to make a nice job
of it.

This is brazed steel tubing, but similar to what you are
thinking about.

Thanks, that's a good start.
I live in New Zealand and we don't get a good selection of racks. Here cycling is dominated by endurance sports and we have a high car usage per capita. I have a Civia Loring and I was thinking of altering the rack so it doesn't extend so far forwards (turning moment) but further upwards to make a basket rather than rack.
https://civiacycles.com/bikes/loring/