another another welding cart

I'm still working on this guy, but here's some shots thus far.

the overall footprint is 20"x36". because it's wide for a welding cart, I'm trying (although it's against my nature) not to hang a bunch of crap off the sides. I'd say the hat hook is about 6'5". it's wherever my 5'6" self comfortably reaches up to.

the empty space on the right will be for a 250ex, eventually. the drawer slides are 100lb heavy duty ball bearing slides from lowes. these 22" ones were $15/pair the frame is mostly 1x1x1/8" angle, the drawer bottoms are 18ga. more info and pics to come.
the cylinder area has angled sides so one ratchet strap will securely hold 1 or 2 cylinders of any diameter.
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Looks nice and compact to get around the shop. I like the torch holder up in the air, it will help from bending over all day long and keep it from getting the liner all kinked up. The drawer is a nice touch also.

I pretty much finished the cart today. I probably won't and any more hangers or doodads until I pony up and buy a TIG. I added the top shelf, the frame for the craftsman 6-drawer cabinet, a taller gun holder so the hose doesn't drag on the ground, and a few pegs for squares and clamps.

general shots:
The tig will obviously go where the 7" and 4.5" angle grinders are right now. the air tools are hanging on a Lisle locking air tool holder. $20 or so on amazon. the locking bar is nice, keeps the tools from falling off. it'd probably be better spring loaded. it's nice heavy construction, i think its 11 or 12ga. only downside is it only holds 5 tools.
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The new gun holder. made from a 5 1/4" 2x2x1/8" angle with a 1.25x1.25" slot cut in the center. all corners rounded so the cable doesn't catch (learned that from the first one). the backing is 3"x1/8" strapping.
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This is a little magnetic TIG torch holder. the internet ate the better shot of it, I'll reply again and post it. it's a piece of 14ga bent in a Z with a 1.25x1" slot. there are a handful of small neodymium magnets held on by a piece of 0.063" 3003 aluminum crimped over on the edges. the underside is 'non marring' courtesy of a piece of cloth shurtape. the two hooks (one is broken off, but you can see where it was) were just 1/16 er70s2 tig rod. I used them for small wire brushes and my short pieces of tig rod. the unit is super handy for doing patch repairs on the car because you can slap that thing on the side of a fender or what have you and have your rod, brush, and torch all right there.
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This is a little 6 drawer craftsman cabinet I bought for the cart. the drawers are 7"x10"x2". overall dimensions are roughly 7.25x12.5x14.5. unfortunately, my cart isn't wide enough to set the cabinet lower and still be able to stick a 250ex next to it. I've got all my MIG and TIG consumables in there, set of screwdrivers, my kevlar sleeves, spare marking tools, spare lenses and batteries for the hat, and grinder/cutoff wheels. I wish it were long enough to stick a combination square in, but I guess I'll live. I could also use another 2 or 3 drawers, but again... I'll live. this cart is big enough already. the box was $92 after 15% off(craftsman club) and tax.

Below the drawers, behind the MIG, is space for a spare spool of wire and a hook for the crescent wrench for the regulators.
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this is the big roller drawer (~16x22") it's mostly gloves right now, as you can see. I'm contemplating putting some 20ga sides on the drawer so nothing gets caught moving it in and out.

to the right is a piece of 1" black pipe leftover from plumbing the air compressor. (I got really tired of screwing pipe together, so I welded a big section from the main line down to the pair of HF air compressors. I'll document this ongoing escapade soon)
it holds my mig pliers and my main scribe. I always lose both, so I'm hoping a permanent home for them will help.
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I'm not sure how to get rid of this attachment. it's basically a duplicate of one of the other photos. I'm going to make another post and see if I can upload the last 3 pics.

Edit: figured out how to delete the attachment: in the 'manage attachments' window, you have to hover over the picture and in the top right a little tiny 'x' pops up.

I need a cart and I have some heavy duty drawer slides. You have given me some ideas. Thanks.

Thurmond

thanks for the positive comments, guys. the short lead on the gun gave me the idea to put the holder up high. it saves me from having to coil it around a peg or something similar.

the drawer is nice, but I think I made it somewhat obsolete by adding the 6-drawer cabinet. the big drawer is nice for gloves, but in hind sight, I'd probably do 2 smaller drawers for gloves rather than a big one. it did take a while to square everything up and get the drawer going. I think that took longer (probably 2.5 hrs) than any other single thing. but, then again, had I thrown caution to the wind and welded it in, it would've taken about 45 minutes. drilling holes sucks.

the rest of the pics:
I thought I had a good shot of the top shelf. I forgot to take pics until after I had already turned the big high pressure sodium lights off, so they're all a bit dark.

a little better view of the bottom compartment. the opening is 11" high, sized around the sawzall case. I dunno the size of the everlast water cooler, hopefully it fits, if not, I can manage to make my own. I suspect the sawzall will get kicked out when I get a cooler.

I believe the inside dimensions of the tray are 19.5x25x13"
the bottom frame is 2x2x1/8" and is the only thing that isn't 1x1x1/8" angle, save the gun holders.
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this is a hat hook I made for my dad's tig. he has a nice speedglas with the respirator that he keeps in a big tupperware box. I got tired of hanging my hat on the tank valve. I think I made the band out of 20ga with the edges rolled over. the rod is, I think, 3/16" hardware store rod bent in the vise. I've lost the bolt, but it's threaded for a 2" 5/16"-18 bolt. it's a pain to get in there because I didn't drill the non-threaded hole big enough to let the bolt wiggle when you're bolting it together. should've used an oversized hole and a washer.

anyway, it's a good coat hook, too. unfortunately my 48" split leg apron (which on my short arse goes to my ankles) is too long to hang from, so it gets draped behind the bottles.

the other photo is just a better shot of the magnetic tig torch holder.
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I'll try to take some better pics of the top shelf tomorrow.

Ogorir,

Please read the rules again if you wish your projects to count. I can't and won't go and count everyone so you will have to number them, if indeed this is a project you are entering. I gave a stated form they should follow. Otherwise, nice setup. Carts never get dull.

yeah, I'll go edit the first post. I posted the first pics before the contest was finalized.

It appears you can't edit post titles. w/e. if it doesn't count, it doesn't count. I've never won anything in my life, I don't expect to start now.

ah, got it now. you have to 'go advanced' to change the title.

How do you like the I-Mig 200? I have a millermatic 211, and have it listed on craigslist; I would like to get one, because I think it would run better off my generator.

I couldn't be happier with the machine. hands down the smoothest MIG beads I've ever run, or seen for that matter. the ground clamp is crap, but that's expected. I was getting some stuttering, replaced the ground clamp with a nice solid brass affair, and 90% of the problem is gone. the other 10% is the machine likes to weld a bit hotter than I was expecting. if you don't set it quite hot enough, especially overhead, it tends to burn the wire back instead of forcing it into the puddle. *

I'm not super thrilled about the trafimet gun, the trigger seems a little flimsy and I don't care for the nozzle retainer. that said, it's worked so far. only real downsides is the trigger extension almost always gets activated if you set it 'wherever' and I end up not cleaning the nozzle enough because it's a pain in the ### to remove. I tried rocking it back and forth, no dice. a back and forth twisting motion is the only thing that gets it off the gun.

it also runs stick nicely. a bit hard to start, even with the arc force on 10. the electrode holder that comes with it is terrible. it won't hold a 3/32 rod unless you arc it once so it gets welded to the contacts.

*this may be an arc force issue. when I was noticing this issue, i had the arc force on 0, as I thought it was inactive in mig mode. It's not. I haven't experimented with it since this revelation, though, as I haven't had anything to weld.


in short, I'd definitely buy one again. I'd probably see if I could buy just a bare unit, though.

Ogorir
I just got the 205 with a Trafimet ergi25 gun and all I need to to is turn it "clockwise" while pulling away and it comes off in an instant with less then a 1/2 turn. I know clockwise is counter-intuitive but it works great.

just a follow up... these casters SUCK loaded. do yourself a favor and spend real money on casters if you're planning on actually trying to move things around :) I'm seriously regretting welding them on at this point.

also, I built this cart for the buzzbox out of an old bike and the framework from an old rusted out grain separator. I put the big wheels on it so it can roll outside up to the other barn in case the engine welder is down and andy (the ranch hand) needs it. rear caster is a HF 8" swivel caster.

I really like my rod box tray, it's about the best feature on it.
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(anyone know if you can rotate pictures on the forum editor?)

Nice cart. What kind of casters did you put on that you say don't roll well? Might want to be careful and not get center of gravity to high it be a bitch to hook a wheel and have it tip.

Must be Harbor Freight castors!!!!! I never weld castors anymore after welding one set!!!! I like the creative bicycle cart!

I like the big wheels on the new cart. Probably will not have an issue rolling over stray items.

yup. the HF 300lb swivels. I think they're 4 1/2 or 5" . they're fine with nothing on the cart, but with tools, 2 bottles, the welder, and 50' of 8-3 coiled on the back, the casters won't swivel right, so the cart always dog tracks.

@ 67cuda, the mig cart is pretty stout. it has no tipping tendency. the stick cart, on the other hand, needs that long outrigger 3rd wheel to stay upright. originally, I had it on a HF moving dolly, and it kept trying to tip over, so I had to add that outrigger and another moving dolly before I came up with the bike tires.

@ DVA yeah, it rolls over pretty much everything. only downside is those tires need new tubes. have to air 'em up every time i need to move it, often as it gets used.

:DThe thing is will the kid next door miss his bike???
Sorry I just had to say that its my evil twin talking.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ram48

Ogorir
I just got the 205 with a Trafimet ergi25 gun and all I need to to is turn it "clockwise" while pulling away and it comes off in an instant with less then a 1/2 turn. I know clockwise is counter-intuitive but it works great.

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And that's the way it works unless you make a mess in the nozzle (new to vertical or overhead) or you think it unscrews and spin it and expand the retention spring. Then it is real hard to remove until replaced. Sames goes for the Benzil torches. Both are good torches if used right and taken care of.

yeah, I expanded the retention spring trying 'lefty loosey.' took it off and re-bent it around a drift pin, works as it should now.

Quote:

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The thing is will the kid next door miss his bike???
Sorry I just had to say that its my evil twin talking.

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I think the boss's daughter forgot about it long ago :)