Completely over-engineered welding cart.
Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2016 3:19 pm
Hello,
First I wanted to say a big thank you to Jody and everyone on these forums (and a couple other forums as well). I've been lurking and picking up ideas and tips on how to "do it better". All the videos and posts have helped me immensely. So thank you one and all and apologies in advance for the long post.
Quick background: I was a machinist for almost 20 years so I was always around welding. I learned the basics and did odd/one-off jobs using MIG, Stick and a little TIG. Not certified in any way. (My welds are from the Gorilla school as one guy put it. Big, Strong and ugly) I moved out of the machining trade about 10 years ago and I'm now an IT consultant. I still love to design, fab and build though.
So, a while ago I wanted to build an aluminum rack for my truck. I have access to a shop with a Millermatic 250 MIG and a Syncrowave 250 TIG. Both are older machines, functional but with a few problems each. The Syncrowave has leaks. From the flowmeter, which I replaced, another argon leak from "somewhere else: (Probably the solenoid.) and a small water leak on the big 18 torch. The MIG needs the liner and regulator replaced. A more experienced welder would have been able to overcome these problems but for me it was turning into a constant battle, especially when trying to TIG weld aluminum.
Rather than spend money on the older machines (which aren't mine) I decided I "needed" a TIG welder (preferably an inverter with a lot of the newer features, pulse, frequency, etc.) which led to deciding I needed a MIG welder(with a spool gun) which led to buying a plasma cutter. (just to round things out,
)
First let me say, I'm a big Miller fan and if I was in the trades, welding for a living, I probably would have bought all Miller equipment, but being for mostly "hobbyist" work, I just couldn't justify the price. So that's why I chose the equipment I did.
Current equipment is:
Everlast Powertig 250ex w/ water cooler (upgraded SSC foot pedal, CK20-SF-FX torch. 18 series torch that came with the machine.)
Hobart Handler 190 w/ spool gun (Kind of wish I had bought the 210 MVP but oh well.)
Longevity ForceCut 40d plasma cutter.
Well, after buying the equipment, I realized the $80 HotMax cart I bought (which BTW is barely useful for the light plasma cutter) just wasn't going to cut it and the weld cart project began.
All the cart "frame" was built with 1.25, 11ga square tubing. Processes used were, TIG (Tacking, end caps and small parts, because that's what Jody does
), MIG (C25 gas, .035 wire for the main construction due to speed and that's what was in the Millermatic 250) and Flux Core (They had to take the Millermatic out on a job, I didn't have a tank for the Hobart yet and I had always wanted to try welding with flux core.)
And here are some pics.
Just the empty cart. No pics of actual construction as Jody's videos have that well covered.
Wired for both welders and the plasma cutter. Which I will probably wind up putting on the cart at some point. Also shown is the bracket for holding clamps, grinders, etc.
I wanted an angle design shelf for the welders so had to put a back stop to keep them from sliding off.
Needless to say but I like lead/jacket/helmet holders. The cart has (8) of the plate/pipe ones, the main handle and (2) pipe ones under the main handle.
Mig gun holder idea I unashamedly borrowed from someones post.
After making a filler rod holder (which was right after seeing Jody's video on the subject.
) I had to have somewhere to keep it.
Chain and banjo slot setup for the gas tanks.
I designed the cart for (2) of the large 330 CF tanks. One straight Argon and one C25 mix.
Not a great pic but this is a 1/4 NPT 6-port manifold. (Which BTW was only $16 from Home Depot.) Once I get all the ball valves, check valves and weld gas hose fittings in, all gas lines will run through it. This will allow me to add purge lines, Helium tank if needed, etc.
Now we're getting somewhere
What can I say, had to have a tool box to keep consumables, etc. in.
OK, these last two are of my "what can I do to make my cart special" idea. This happened right after someone (not me) left the gas on the Syncrowave and it leaked all the argon out. I decided to be nice and take it to the LWS. I had also forgotten how heavy those 330's can be even empty, so... One bottle loading ramp...
Well thanks for making it this far. I'd also like to list a few musings I had along the way.
Never let a machinist design a welded anything. This was over the top and will probably be the last weld cart I ever build.
All welds do NOT needs to be sanded flush to look like one solid piece of metal. (That came from the machinist in me.
)
Stepping down 1 size in tubing (Jody used 1.5 11ga) and using 4 times the amount of steel does NOT equal a savings in weight. This cart is freaking heavy.
TIG fingers really are worth the money. (Shameless plug for Jody.)
You only get better at welding by practice and listening to those with more experience.
Is the design or are the welds perfect? Nope
Is it what I wanted and is it mine? Hell yes.
First I wanted to say a big thank you to Jody and everyone on these forums (and a couple other forums as well). I've been lurking and picking up ideas and tips on how to "do it better". All the videos and posts have helped me immensely. So thank you one and all and apologies in advance for the long post.
Quick background: I was a machinist for almost 20 years so I was always around welding. I learned the basics and did odd/one-off jobs using MIG, Stick and a little TIG. Not certified in any way. (My welds are from the Gorilla school as one guy put it. Big, Strong and ugly) I moved out of the machining trade about 10 years ago and I'm now an IT consultant. I still love to design, fab and build though.
So, a while ago I wanted to build an aluminum rack for my truck. I have access to a shop with a Millermatic 250 MIG and a Syncrowave 250 TIG. Both are older machines, functional but with a few problems each. The Syncrowave has leaks. From the flowmeter, which I replaced, another argon leak from "somewhere else: (Probably the solenoid.) and a small water leak on the big 18 torch. The MIG needs the liner and regulator replaced. A more experienced welder would have been able to overcome these problems but for me it was turning into a constant battle, especially when trying to TIG weld aluminum.
Rather than spend money on the older machines (which aren't mine) I decided I "needed" a TIG welder (preferably an inverter with a lot of the newer features, pulse, frequency, etc.) which led to deciding I needed a MIG welder(with a spool gun) which led to buying a plasma cutter. (just to round things out,
)First let me say, I'm a big Miller fan and if I was in the trades, welding for a living, I probably would have bought all Miller equipment, but being for mostly "hobbyist" work, I just couldn't justify the price. So that's why I chose the equipment I did.
Current equipment is:
Everlast Powertig 250ex w/ water cooler (upgraded SSC foot pedal, CK20-SF-FX torch. 18 series torch that came with the machine.)
Hobart Handler 190 w/ spool gun (Kind of wish I had bought the 210 MVP but oh well.)
Longevity ForceCut 40d plasma cutter.
Well, after buying the equipment, I realized the $80 HotMax cart I bought (which BTW is barely useful for the light plasma cutter) just wasn't going to cut it and the weld cart project began.
All the cart "frame" was built with 1.25, 11ga square tubing. Processes used were, TIG (Tacking, end caps and small parts, because that's what Jody does
), MIG (C25 gas, .035 wire for the main construction due to speed and that's what was in the Millermatic 250) and Flux Core (They had to take the Millermatic out on a job, I didn't have a tank for the Hobart yet and I had always wanted to try welding with flux core.)And here are some pics.
Just the empty cart. No pics of actual construction as Jody's videos have that well covered.
Wired for both welders and the plasma cutter. Which I will probably wind up putting on the cart at some point. Also shown is the bracket for holding clamps, grinders, etc.
I wanted an angle design shelf for the welders so had to put a back stop to keep them from sliding off.
Needless to say but I like lead/jacket/helmet holders. The cart has (8) of the plate/pipe ones, the main handle and (2) pipe ones under the main handle.
Mig gun holder idea I unashamedly borrowed from someones post.
After making a filler rod holder (which was right after seeing Jody's video on the subject.
) I had to have somewhere to keep it.Chain and banjo slot setup for the gas tanks.
I designed the cart for (2) of the large 330 CF tanks. One straight Argon and one C25 mix.
Not a great pic but this is a 1/4 NPT 6-port manifold. (Which BTW was only $16 from Home Depot.) Once I get all the ball valves, check valves and weld gas hose fittings in, all gas lines will run through it. This will allow me to add purge lines, Helium tank if needed, etc.
Now we're getting somewhere
What can I say, had to have a tool box to keep consumables, etc. in.
OK, these last two are of my "what can I do to make my cart special" idea. This happened right after someone (not me) left the gas on the Syncrowave and it leaked all the argon out. I decided to be nice and take it to the LWS. I had also forgotten how heavy those 330's can be even empty, so... One bottle loading ramp...
Well thanks for making it this far. I'd also like to list a few musings I had along the way.
Never let a machinist design a welded anything. This was over the top and will probably be the last weld cart I ever build.
All welds do NOT needs to be sanded flush to look like one solid piece of metal. (That came from the machinist in me.
)Stepping down 1 size in tubing (Jody used 1.5 11ga) and using 4 times the amount of steel does NOT equal a savings in weight. This cart is freaking heavy.
TIG fingers really are worth the money. (Shameless plug for Jody.)
You only get better at welding by practice and listening to those with more experience.
Is the design or are the welds perfect? Nope
Is it what I wanted and is it mine? Hell yes.
Nice freakin cart man! If you hadn't stated you are a machinist, I would have suspected it anyway 
