I have a 110A Century MIG welder that I have used to fabricate equipment for my company, myself, friends and neighbors in my garage/shop, but was limited to steel and stainless. I have a lot of projects in my head using aluminum so I decided to buy a TIG. After looking for used stuff, limited by my 220V 50A single phase power and budget constraints I decided I needed an Inverter unit. After much research and a lot of input from this site and www.weldingtipsandtricks.com, I purchased an Everlast PowerPro 256 combination TIG, Plasma (bonus!), Stick. The TIG Carts in my price range all looked like junk, so I decided to design and build my own as a first project. All cuts and welds were done using the PP256.
Criteria: lightweight aluminum, low cost, all the bells and whistles, must look damn good!
Diamond plate, angle, and u channel from scrapyard = $1 lb.
Wheels were leftover from upgraded company equipment = free (back wheels look too small but are solid w/needle bearings and heavier duty than they look)
Filler rod tubing - from some kind of extension handles left in garage when I bought the house = free.
Overcenter clamp to hold argon tank - Okay, I pulled a whole box of clamps along with 100' of 1/2" copper pipe and a bunch of fittings and valves out of a dumpster at a machine shop customer of mine 20 years ago = free
Finally using some of the "junk" in the garage my wife has been telling me to "get rid of that junk, you haven't used it in 20 years and you never will" = PRICELESS!!
More photos here - click slideshow
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mycanoe...7625812147722/
