Swing Down / Up Welder Shelf

Tue, 31 Aug 2021 14:29:29 GMT

go to see Welding Machine for Swing Down / Up Welder Shelf

Running out of space?  Consider a swing down/up shelf for your welder!In my garage, I had mounted my MIG welder up on a high shelf to be out of the way.  This worked just fine.However, I wanted to MIG aluminum and thought I might be able to use a short guide tube and keep it straight.No way that was going to happen with welder so high up in the nose-bleed section.But if I lowered the welder down – then it would be the way for parking a vehicle in the garage.What to do?The solution was to design and build a swing down shelf to hold my MIG welder.I copied the design used in swing-arm lamp... beefed it substantially!Here was my set up – a shelf up high held in place by three stamped steel shelf supports.Here’s a photo of the swing down shelf: UP Position on the left, DOWN Position on the right.The swing arms (3/4 inch channel, 1/8 inch thick) are 20 inches from the pivot points giving a drop of 40 inches.Two arms per side are needed to hold the shelf horizontal........................SHELF UP................................................  .....SHELF DOWNHere’s the lowered shelf with the welder on it.The welder weighs 59 lbs and with an 11 inch spool of steel inside – add another 11 lbs... for 70lbs total weight on the shelf.Turned out that even 59 lbs was too much for my 67-year-old body to lift over my shoulders.My clean and jerk weight lifting days are past.What to do to help with the lift?I remembered I had a rope hoist that I had won a few years back – 'good for 1,000 lbs'... Yeah Right!But it should handle 70 lbs!To use the hoist, I screwed a 3/8 inch eyelet into a ceiling joist and added a 3/16 inch hardened steel strap stamp below the shelf.A couple of carabineers to join components together and away we went.To be continued...Last edited by Rick V; 05-12-2014 at 10:36 PM.Reason: spelllRick V 1 Airco Heliwelder 3A/DDR3 CTC 70/90 amp Stick/Tig Inverters in Parallel1 Lincoln MIG PAK 151 Oxy-Acet
Reply:Continued...Pull the rope down and up goes the welder.Well... I had to wear leather gloves because the rope is synthetic and slippery.The welder also has to be guided somewhat to keep it level as it is raised.Here the shelf plus welder in the UP Position.My latch is a ¼ inch bolt between 3/16 steel plates, one on the wall and another above it on the back/bottom/middle of the shelf.I’ll likely change that out for a 5/16 inch bolt.One important note: Anything to the front of the shelf can get scissored by the swing arms!In my case, the guide tube was/is too close to the front of the welder!I may have to turn the welder around to position the guide tube at the back of the shelf.As it is now, I have to remove the guide tube whenever I move the shelf up or down.Hope you enjoyed this and may make use of it.It's a simple but fun project - well worth doing for me. Rick V 1 Airco Heliwelder 3A/DDR3 CTC 70/90 amp Stick/Tig Inverters in Parallel1 Lincoln MIG PAK 151 Oxy-Acet
Reply:Rick V  Good work - but pliers stored at 6' 8" is a 'Tell'.Correct your issues: by make the garage a full welding shop, and park your Ferrari in the rain.Opus
Reply:very nice and clever idea !
Reply:Originally Posted by OPUS FERRORick V  Good work - but pliers stored at 6' 8" is a 'Tell'.Correct your issues: by make the garage a full welding shop, and park your Ferrari in the rain.Opus
Reply:Originally Posted by uintasvery nice and clever idea !
Reply:Clever idea indeed. I'd never thought of this. I have limited space so this is likely to be a good way to maximize the space on the shop. Well done!PlasmaCam CNC cutterLathe and Band SawClamps
Reply:Thanks surfside!Eager to avoid building, I noticed similar but more complicated swing-down shelves designed for Kitchen applications - Lee Valley.However, there was nothing 'simple' and nothing that could handle 70 lbs.So this was definitely a case where building-your-own was necessary.Nice thing was, it was a simple enough project to be fun - and the result was just what I wanted/needed.Rick V 1 Airco Heliwelder 3A/DDR3 CTC 70/90 amp Stick/Tig Inverters in Parallel1 Lincoln MIG PAK 151 Oxy-Acet
Reply:This is a brilliant work. You sound so happy with the results. Well done.
Reply:Whoa... "brilliant work"  ... thanks Ironman50! Rick V 1 Airco Heliwelder 3A/DDR3 CTC 70/90 amp Stick/Tig Inverters in Parallel1 Lincoln MIG PAK 151 Oxy-Acet
Reply:Nice job Rick.  Now to avoid the slippery rope all you need to do is put another pulley where the wall and ceiling meet, run your rope through it and put a counter weight on it.  Then you should be able to raise and lower your welder with finger pressure.B.T.W. the batteries I zapped 2 yrs. ago are still working fine.  Thanks for the idea.Bob
Reply:Counter Weight!  Darn good idea Bob_C !!I have buckets of scrap steel sitting around serving no purpose... that might be a good use for them!Thanks!Glad your zapped batteries are holding up!Rick V 1 Airco Heliwelder 3A/DDR3 CTC 70/90 amp Stick/Tig Inverters in Parallel1 Lincoln MIG PAK 151 Oxy-Acet
Reply:Why not put a spring on each arm so the machine can easily swing down with a flick of the wrist. Or you could get creative as all get out and use an elbowed arm with a spring down one part of the arm  coupled to a cable wrapped around a knuckle and fastened at the other end of the arm. this would tend to pull the arm straight at rest. you could grab the upper pasrt of the arm and give it a light pull to bend it downward then place a cotter pin through the knuckl;e to lock the welder in the down position. I probably am doing a terrible job of describing this. If you look at  lateral arm retractable awnings, the arms are the type of setup I am talking about.  Your idea is awesome and has got me thinking about my shop.  Ill try to draw this and post back here. your idea is awesome and inspirational.  congrats

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