Hi fellas. I am so glad to have found this forum, and I am so much looking forward to the responses. I have a feeling that y'all are going to be a big help to me. I should mention right out of the gate that I am not a welder, nor do I know a thing about welding, so please pardon my ignorance on this stuff. I feel like we are doing an episode of Monster Garage with this project. Here we go.

But first, a link to a photo of the sort of boxing ring I aim to build, so you all can get an idea on what I'm trying to do here.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000BWCX0.01-A2QUBZRFQD7A2Q._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I've owned, set-up, etc. boxing rings in the past -- real ones, makeshift ones, expensive ones, cheap ones, etc. -- and have studied the topic and the mechanics of it at length. In your responses, keep in mind I'm not the handyman type, and not very mechanically inclined, but I have common sense going for me, and kind of know the physics of what I need.

Here's the deal. I could buy a whole boxing ring or buy the individual parts and put it together, but I want to create my own, due to what I need for my particular situation, so that's what makes it get tricky.

Specifically, what I want is a boxing ring that can be set-up and taken-down fairly easily, and it should be lightweight, yet sturdy. Any regular ring consists of long parts, like beams, up to 16 feet or so long, and I don't want that. We are going to be touring the circuit, traveling around a lot, and I want something that consists of small parts, that could fit inside a pickup truck, or possibly even a car.

And that sounds kind of crazy, but keep in mind what would probably be done is that I would have all the regular parts of the ring always traveling with me by car (the canvas, the turnbuckles and pads, the ropes, the canvas, etc.). And then as far as the frame and flooring goes, that would most likely be wood, which I'd discard or give away after each show, and get new wood in the next town. For instance, say we do a show in Texas, and then move on to Mississippi later that week. I'd take all that permanent stuff with me, which is always the same, and just leave the wood in Texas. It would be stored and used for the next show if there is one, or if there isn't one, then I'd give it away or whatever. All the other stuff would come with me for the next show, and I'd get new wood there, and build another frame and flooring.

This way, our little crew could keep moving along from town to town, hotel to hotel, club to club, and keep that permanent stuff stored safely at the hotel. The last thing you want is to be doing road shows, and have to be renting and driving U-Hauls all around, or have the crew at a strip club, and the ring gets stolen from the back of the pickup truck in the parking lot. This way, with my plan, we can travel at our leisure, go wherever, and not have much baggage. And every stop on the tour, when we'd hit a new town, we'd hit the local Home Depot or Lowe's and get new wood for a frame.

So basically the way a boxing ring works is like this. You'd have 4 corner posts, usually made of steel, but it doesn't necessarily have to be steel, and there are all different ways that frames could attach to the corner posts, but in this case -- unless someone comes up with something better -- I think the way I want to do it is to weld a little bit of a steel channel onto the steel post at the bottom. We call them the cornerposts, but basically what it is is steel square tubing. Picture one of those standing upright, and at the bottom of it, there would be a little piece of "channel" going one way, and one going the other way. Each of the four cornerposts would be like that, facing each other, and the channels would be maybe just 6 inches long. In there, I would place a 2x4 or maybe a 4x4 to connect everythign all around.

You see what I'm saying? Basically those corner posts would be upright at the four corners, and to connect them would be a frame of wood 2x4 or 4x4 that make a perfect square, and this frame would sit inside the channels, you know, like a little bracket. Through these little channel/brackets I guess we'd drill a hole, and put a bolt through there to keep the wood firmly in place. That would make a frame, and from there, we'd just have to fill in the frame with more wooden beams, and then cover it with plywood for flooring. I should mention that this will just get us a few inches off the ground, but that's okay, especially considering these would be small club shows, often times in places with low ceilings. So the corner posts would be about 5 feet high, and standing in the ring, you'd be just a few inches off the ground. The padding on the flooring, etc. would add another inch, but it's a good enough platform like that.

Here are my questions to you guys, the esteemed members of the forum that have a wealth of knowledge when it comes to welding, unlike myself...

1) Welding little channel type brackets to the corner posts (square tubing) should be no problem right? And you can see that??

2) Also welded onto these corner posts (square tubing) would be a flat "foot" or whatever you call it to keep it stable. And also welded on would be three steel "circles" (don't know what to call them), which is where the turnbuckles would go into since we'd connect the ropes after that. Anyone foresee any problems there?

3) Any help on what a local welder would charge me, so I don't get ripped off, would be appreciated. But it seems easy enough, right? Also, I need help on terminology, so please correct me where needed.

4) For what I need, the way I described the touring, etc., is this the best possible way to do it, or anyone see a better/easier way?? Basically, I can afford to spend a few hundred bucks per show on new supplies or stuff related to the ring. Feel free to come up with totally new ideas and spins on this, and feel free to talk amongst yourselves regarding other people's ideas.

5) Really let me have it, if I am wrong about anything. Better to be wrong now and be told, than to find out later, the hard way. is this the best way to do it to suit my needs -- the sort of disposable way? Again, if I did it the conventional way, I'd be lugging around heavy 16 foot beams and frame pieces. This way, we wouldn't need a truck. I should mention that the ring would have to be somewhere between 12 to 16 foot squared. With my way, the longest permanent pieces would be the 5 foot (maybe even shorter) steel tubing corner posts, and sometimes I might even literally "mail" stuff like that to the next town, or get 'em to fit in the car. And like I said, all the wood would either be disposable or left in that town for the next show the next month.

6. Does this thing seem sturdy enough? Remember, the ropes are constantly applying pressure pulling in on the cornerposts, harnessed on with the turnbuckles.

I'm sure I'll come up with more stuff, and post more in response to your responses, but please help, and I appreciate it greatly, so thanks so much in advance. Below, I will put a link to a photo of the kind of boxing ring I'm talking about so you can visualize this whole thing. Thanks again. I'm looking forward to the responses.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000BWCX0.01-A2QUBZRFQD7A2Q._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg