Project #3 from Spike : Spare Tire Modular Tool Stands

[Spike]

Hey folks, time for me to start the thread on my third project.

If you're a mechanic, or have a lot of customized vehicles around... you end up amassing certain items... one of them being spare tires (donuts), and empty steel rims. This is a little thing that i do around my shop to both recycle some of the parts that gather in the corners and clutter up things, and to get more usable space out of my small square footage.
All my larger equipment is on wheels, and it occured to me that my toolstands, too, could be mobile, if i put them on wheels. So i set to work cutting up some steel scraps i had around the shop and set to making modular tool stands.

The bases of the stands are just two spare tires i had in the shop.
The uprights and 'high stress' bits are 2" .250" wall square steel tubing i had laying around the shop.
I used some 1/2" grade 8 nuts and bolts that i had laying around
and the holders fittings are made from 1.5" .120" wall square steel tubing.

The red stand was sort of a test, and i put it together in a hurry without taking many pictures (because i needed to use it right away)... but the black one i took the time to snap some pictures of in the process.

The first step was to weld the square tube to the steel rim of the spare tire. I did this quick and dirty with the Mig welder... since i didn't want to take all the time to clean and prep the area for tig welding and such... and the weld doesn't really hold any real force.
The 2" square tube slides nicely into the center hole of the rim and touches on all the corners. I just bridge and fill the gaps with the mig welder (also hammering flat the stamped ridge to fill in some of the gap). When i did this, i set the end of the square tube flat on the floor, and welded the rim around it. This makes the stand very sturdy, since it's the 1/4" wall tubing set firmly on the concrete that is supporting the load of work you are doing, and the rim is just holding the stand vertical. Otherwise, when doing heavy hammering the rim will start to fall in and break or bend.


Next i cut off a few 5" long sections of the 2" tubing in the bandsaw to use as the holder portion of the toolholder. I drilled some 9/16" holes in 2 of the sides and welded 1/2" nuts over them. (important to note: i like to use grade 8 bolts when i'm doing stuff like this, because the threads tend to not warp out of true. Also, an easy tip is to use a 1/2" bolt threaded through the nut to properly locate the nut over the drilled hole).


There was some stuff on the metal that burned off while welding, but it didn't affect the weld at all. (perhaps i didn't get all the galvanized coating off, or some of the pickle finish is still on the tubing). Once it's all cooled and cleaned it's time to connect the fixture to the upright.

[Spike]

Now, the fixture needs to get welded to the tool stand, and it has to be very strong, because i plan on using this stand to beat on metal like it was an anvil, and using oxy-acetylene torches to heat bend pieces that are in the fixture... so no cracking.
It's fairly thick walled, and my Super160P won't do this in a single pass, and even if it *could* i probably wouldn't because of the heat buildup and warpage in the small pieces that i'm using. Best to do a root pass, then a top pass. So it's important to bevel the edge of the toolstand piece so that you'll be able to make your two passes and get good penetration.

Then spend a little time here to make sure you've got your pieces clamped good and straight... a little time spent in THIS stage saves a lot of headache and disappointment in the end product.


After the two passes and some cooling time this is what i came up with


And now the toolholder is starting to look like... well... a piece of scrap on a wheel with some nuts welded to it... but it'll get there.

[charger891]

Nicw tool stand, i`ve got one similar to that that i use for my metal shaping beater bag

[acourtjester]

HI Spike
I found filling the wheel with coment helps to keep it stable.

[Jake98]

Nice welds. When I did that on my tripod the nut&bolt froze up. I cranked it loose, but that new tool feel was over with..

[Spike]

Nice welds. When I did that on my tripod the nut&bolt froze up. I cranked it loose, but that new tool feel was over with..

Yeah, it takes practice to get the heat just right so you don't pour too much into the nut and seize it up. Using grade 8 nuts and bolts helps because of their temper strength... also, not touching or moving the bolt while welding, because when it's hot it's easy to bend the threads and mess everything up.

You can also run a tap down the nut to clean up the threads and make it shiny and new again.

[Spike]

HI Spike
I found filling the wheel with coment helps to keep it stable.

That certainly looks stable and sturdy. I like the integrated hand cart idea, too.
I may cap the bottom side of the wheel and fill it with sand at some point... but since i have a custom bike and hot-rod shop, i really like that they still look like wheels. especially the red one still having the rubber on it. I'll throw some pinstriping and such on them eventually and really make them hot-rod styled, but right now i'm too busy using them on work i have to do. =)

[Buzz]

Thats a pretty slick idea, that way you can put away each tool and only have one out on the floor stand taking up space.