Did some more work today. I cut a 2" hole in the wrong place, so I welded a disk of metal in and did it over. That killed some time. This design will definitely work as-is, but I'm thinking of joining the upper and lower platforms with two 1"-square tubes. This will give me something to we...

I keep changing the design and making the project harder. Today I made the top of the upper tank bracket. I used plasma to cut recesses in it for the bottles. I didn't know what to use to guide the torch. I tried to think of cylindrical objects I might have that were the right size, and then I remem...

Thanks. I'm probably the worst fabricator on the forum, so if mine is coming out this well, yours will probably be much better.

I had weekend guests, so that killed several days. I finally got enough metric bolts to put the base on the cart. Today I welded the rigid casters to the tubing and bolted the cart to the base. I put the casters out on the end. I get a bigger turning radius, which is bad, but I didn't like the idea ...

This project is so easy, it's a joke, but I am not done because I'm still trying to get enough metric bolts. The metric system is great for science, but it sure makes mechanical projects difficult.

It sounds like a lot of the money goes toward reliability and features that help people who do the same thing over and over. So it's not like welding helmets, where a $300 helmet really will help you do better work.

I am curious. I seem to be doing fine with my Harbor Freight Titanium MIG, and I never feel the need to fire up my old Lincoln PowerMIG 180, but I wonder...what am I missing by not blowing a mountain of money on an ESAB?

Truck bed coating has worked really well for me. I made a mobile base from it, and when I cut the base up for something else, I had forgotten what was on it. I had a hard time telling the bed coating from hard scale. And it didn't need primer.

I just wish they made more colors.

Not sure why so many people cut arcs for bottles. I just use V grooves. Works just as well, and much easier to cut. One possible explanation is that you know a lot more about welding carts than I do. I will see if I can find photos of the kind of cut you're talking about. The project turned out to ...

I don't think any disparagement was intended. I also agree that the zt cart is an excellent product, but I would be embarrassed to have one in my shop. That's because I can and should make a very good one myself. I certainly didn't intend to besmirch anyone, so if anyone got hit with flying smirch,...

The ZTFab carts, and ones like them, are just for show. Instagram carts, IMO. You probably won't find many of those in the shops of people who can, and do, build things. But of course, we now live in the world of Instagram and Facebook where people just want to take and post pretty pictures of thin...

This forum is certainly no place for besmirching fabricators in the industry, whether they’re on IG, FB or not. Sorry, but I'm not taking a knee, and it's pointless to try to shame me. Questioning the value of a product is not "besmirching." It's exactly the kind of question consumers are...

I don't blame them for trying to recover their expenses. I just don't want them to recover all of them from me.

Several years back, I bought an Eastwood Professional welding cart for $99 on sale. It had a problem. I complained. They sent a new one. I fixed the problem with the first cart. They didn't want it back. Now I have two carts for $50 each. They're good carts, but they are cumbersome and not easy to m...

You guys gave me all this advice, and then I chickened out and used 0.30" MIG. I have an explanation, though. I had problems with my plasma cutter, and then I found my new propane cutting tips were the wrong size. I had to cut the steel with a dry saw, and by the time I was done with that, I wa...

The tip looks pretty bad. I'll replace it and see what happens.

It's a Hypertherm. The tips are castellated.

I've been having problems with my plasma cutter sticking to work while I drag it across the steel. Is there something I don't know? I assumed it was made to be in contact with the metal.

It gets stuck, and then the cut opens up and gets ruined.

Thanks. Hope it works.

I thought today would be the day when I would use propane to cut steel for the first time. No such luck. I bought a couple of propane tips from Amazon, but they are too small for my torch. I have a Victor 2460 cutting handle. The Amazon ad says "Propane Natural Gas Cutting Tip 3-GPN Size 1 Fit ...

I don't know. It was powder coated.

I have to weld half-inch-thick gussets into a high-stress part made from half-inch plate. I can MIG okay, and I am pretty sure I can run 7018, but which one is better for this purpose? The part is a middle buster for a tractor. I bent the tabs that attach it to my hitch while I was pulling stumps. T...

I fired up the acetylene rosebud today, and I used it to bend 1/2" steel tabs on a middle buster. I had no problems with it, which makes me wonder if something is wrong.

I got rid of my pneumatic tires. Today I bought solid wheels from Harbor Freight, and I put them on the cart. The offset was not the same as the offset on the original wheels, so I made spacers on the lathe. I think this thing is basically done, although I would like to come up with some kind of for...

I'm going to try to char a steak with it.