MIG/TIG and oxy/acetylene all in one!

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I recently purchased my first real welder, a Thermal Arc 181i. I am able to MIG/TIG/and stick weld. However, I also do gas welding and torching. The store-made welding carts seemed very expensive, and a bit flimsy, so I thought I would make my own. I borrowed the basic idea from someone on the Miller welding forum and added some things I wanted.I bought a 5 drawer tool chest from HF for the MIG/TIG end of the cart. The drawers are nice and deep, slide on roller bearings, and lock so they don't pop open when I hit bumps when moving the cart around. I have room on the bottom for 2 helmets, gloves, etc. The other end is for gas welding. I have two filler material storage tubes mounted too. For safety sake, I added a good fire extinguisher. The finish is Rust Bullet Black, with a top coat of gloss black spray paint. I made 2 inch aluminum strips to mount the tanks securely to the rack. It is nice to have everything on one cart, and the foot print in 30x48 inches. Attached Images
Reply:Looks good! How do you like the Thermal Arc 181i so far?I already own a nice inverter and a 3phase 400v MIG, but as you can imagine, it is not very portable.Mikel
Reply:I am really impressed with the 181.  Glad I went that way.  I am going to try the TIG tonight!
Reply:nice setup
Reply:Your cylinder restraints are pretty but they are going to be awfully fiddly in use. I like to put my cylinder against a piece of angle iron, leg up. On one side of the cylinder I cut a vertical slot I can drop a chain into. On the other side I drill a hole. On the free end of the chain I put an eyebolt which I open some to get the chain in and then close again. The eyebolt goes through the hole with a wing nut on the back side. Just loosen the wing nut a turn or two and lift the other end of the chain out of the slot to open. Here's a sketch I did 11 years ago which shows a dual tank clamp but a single clamp is easy too: Attached Imageschainclamp.pdf (27.5 KB, 80 views)
Reply:Yes, I could have gone that way, but I don't go through that much gas, and I don't want the tanks rattling when I move the cart, so I wanted to strap them down nice and tight. It takes about 5 minutes total to undo the straps, pull out the old tank, drop in the new one and bolt down the straps.