PROJECT 2 from Jerky: welding cart

[Jake98]

I'm always more interested in the designs and ideas than how pretty the welds are. My welding cart is an old supermarket shelf-stocker's cart. I'll post pics when I put a raised shelf on it to get the machines up around eye level, and magically produce a couple more feet of storage space.

[Jason]

I dont see why that stock would be too light.. If its built right, I bet it will be more than sturdy enough as a cart.

[jerky]

Well got my aluminum today, turns out its only 1/8". To bad i started cutting it already. Basic specs are 2'L x20"W x3'H. Its only 2'9" in the back to have a slight angle. Ill have two pieces down the center on the top to support the plasma and tig. The middle will have a shelf to hold project 1, the water cooler. Ill put some abs tubing on the side to hold rod, and also have a small platform to hold the gas. The first pic is the highly accurate blueprint, and then just some cuts. I didnt get all the pieces cut tonight, maybe tommorrow.
EDIT : did this on iphone, cant flip the pic sorry. Maybe if i find time tommorrow ill fix it.

[jerky]

So i went in today, started tacking up the cart. Took a little bit to even get the settings down for ac. Ran into a few issues. One is since its aluminum, the heat distortion is greater and now its crooked. I still have to put the top on so maybe i can pull it back. Also welding inside corners is tough as i cant get in there. Finally my bud brought up a good point in since the thing is so light, the tig and plasma are going to make it very top heavy. I might end up putting the plasma on the middle shelf to help weight. But as for the actual material not being sturdy enough, with just the few tacks i have on now its plenty strong, stable and ridgid. Heres two pics of the shape. And yes thats an old 300.

[jerky]

Got some work done tonight, decided to put the plasma on the middle to help weight. I was just using it to check fit and clearences.
So the back pic shows that the cord and air hose just clear. Same with the front. I set the front back a few inches so that the connections at the front are protected and wont stick out past the cart. I cut the angles down so the fit flush. Everything is still basically tacked in place, once i have everything wherr im happy ill goto town welding.

[Joe from NY]

Hey jerky - I flipped your drawing the right way.

[Jason]

Looks good so far.. Are you going to add on to it to hold a bottle or two for the welder(s) that will sit on it?

[67cudafb]

I stand corrected about strong enough. I have found out the hard way that I have over built my cart with 1.5x1.5x1/8 steel tube it is very heavy. Like I said I am not a fabracator and should have had better plan instead of winging it. I hope my next build will be better. Your cart looks great.

[jerky]

Well, dont ever use aluminium. My middle shelf wasent big enough for the plasma, so i took the handle off and jammed it it in there. I dont have casters yet so its probably going to wtay inthe corner for awhile.