First welder needs a cart

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I got the itch to make something and since I don't have one a cart is a good start.  I went to the local welding supply after work and picked up 48' of 1 1/2"x1/8" square tubing.  I am not sure if it will be enough yet or not but I will give it a shot.The welder is a Hobart Handler 210 MVP.  I cut the steel for a bottom frame of 34"x17" @ the outside.  The platform for the welder itself is 24"x17" @ the outside sitting 2' above the lower frame.  I left the legs supporting the back of the welder 4' tall, I plan on adding a small tray/shelf for putting whatever on when working above the welder.I used the magnets to hold things in place and ran a speed square around the corners to double check.  The frame welded great but I had some small gaps on my saw cuts on the welder level, I was able to make a fill pass and then do a full weld over the fillers.  The welds look a little cold on the passes I made over the filler welds but I would assume that is due to the amount of metal I was leaving.  Tacked in place. What I was able to come up with.  I know the welds are not that well, I have maybe 20 minutes of real time welding under a MIG so I am pleased with the results.  All I have is flux core at the moment as well.  Sorry, no big welding table either  unless you count the garage floor space.This is as far as I got this evening.  My wife came home with dinner about that time so that ended that!  I haven't bought any plate yet due to cost but I plan on using 1/8" plate welded inside of the frame and welder shelf.  The welder shelf will have arout a 1/2" lip around it to hold the welder in place and leaving room for the door to swing open and the bottom frame will be welded low enough to get a larger lip to hold contents.  The top shelf will have the plate welded to the bottom like a tray.  I plan on fixed casters/wheels on the cylinder side and swivels on the front.If you have any suggestions please let me hear them.  Being a first for me there are many things that I can/will miss and be saying "why didn't I think of that!".  I will update tomorrow as I progress.
Reply:A doodle I did on paint, not to scale but it gives you an idea of the wheels spinning in my head.I also have some questions.  When you weld uprights what do you do to hold them in place?  and keep everything straight and square?  I was going to tack a corner about 1/16th or so high, then adjust one axis square and level then tack that corner then go to the other axis, adjust, and tack that corner.  Other than that I am not sure what to really do.Last edited by ProCharger; 04-20-2012 at 10:31 PM.
Reply:I would build the uprights flat. If possable. Make the uprights a square frame in the flat position once you have all the needed parts I would tack the uprights in place on all 4 sides and then meaure corner to corner and tweak it one way or the other untill it's square. Then lock it in with a few short welds. Check again for square and fully weld it.Offering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.
Reply:To weld in the uprights you can clamp them up with a piece of angle iron, like in the pic. This keeps it square and plumb, while you weld in a couple of sides. Then unclamp and finish welding. This technique works well for the square frames you made to keep everything lined up while welding, to prevent warping and pulling out of square. Just get as much welded as possible before removing the clamps. Be careful not to weld the angle into the finished frame, unless you need the added strength. On the top shelf you will probably need some gussets to keep it all square too. I would add a piece of tubing where the back uprights are going to go, cross ways between the long sides on the bottom frame. If you may go across gravel or grass, consider pnuematic tires or at least big wheels to make the going easier. Attached Images
Reply:grind all the areas you are going to weld the welds will come out better.  you can also turn it on its side  so you are welding on the floor of the garage.  remember that you will have distortion from welding that you may have to correct for by putting heat to on the back side of the weld.  heat does interesting things to metalLast edited by 37ford4dr; 04-21-2012 at 08:10 PM.bobs77vet/37ford4drEastwood digital TIG200HH190Lincoln Invertec 155sLincoln weldpak 100sears/craftsman (lincoln) 50a 240v buzz boxO/A rig Harris gaugesnexion cut 50 dxchicago electric (HF) 240v spot welder
Reply:Well I made some progress today.  I sort of did like Bistineau said but I couldn't fully enclose the uprights since I had already cut most of the steel for it yesterday.  I thought it was turning out great until I got it all welded up and stood back and looked at it.  I had everything tacked in place twice on each side of the tubing.....apparently that wasn't enough.  The bottom frame is 17" at the outside, @ 17" from the ground I am 5/16" out of square.  To fix this I am wanting to cut the right side uprights off at the bottom and remove enough metal to square it back up with the floor.  @ 5/16" out @ 17" high would it be correct to remove 5/16" of metal at the base and reweld?  Does that sound like a fix?  Here is what I am working with right now, only 4 uprights at the moment total so I would assume I can get it to bend back to square pretty easily if I cut out what's needed, ratchet strap that side, and reweld.I still have some places I plan on bracing as well including the bottom, I just wanted to make sure I have enough steel for the main parts first.  Thanks for the help and tips.  I really appreciate it.  This has been a great learning experience!
Reply:Here's another opinion for you. I've made several welding carts, tables etc..... (albeit not as many as some professional welders have here on this forum).I'd skip using 1/8" plate for your shelves and go with something thinner just to keep the weight of the cart down. When you start moving that cart around the shop floor, driveway etc and roll over a concrete joint or garage doorway lip, it's gonna be a pain.  Lighter is better in my opinion. It will already be plenty heavy with the welder and gas bottle attached to that cart. Something like 16 gauge with one or two cross support beams underneath is plenty.  You might save about 25-30lbs of weight that way, depending on the size of your cart dimensions.  It's just something to think about. Also, light makes it easier on the caster axle struts, especially if they are thin to begin with.Just my cup-o-coffee's worth of opinion. Nice project so far, by the way!Last edited by SuperArc; 04-21-2012 at 11:19 PM.Lincoln Power Mig 216Lincoln AC/DC-225/125Miller  625 X-Treme PlasmaMiller 211 Forney 95FI-A 301HF 91110Victor Journeyman O/PMilwaukee DaytonMakita  Baileigh NRA Life Member
Reply:When you get that 250cf tank of C-25 on the back, even those 10"  HF "solid" wheels get flat spots on the bottom!   Ask me how I know .. with my HH140!
Reply:its looking good!   do a google search and read some about heat distortion that may be contributing to your out of square conditionbobs77vet/37ford4drEastwood digital TIG200HH190Lincoln Invertec 155sLincoln weldpak 100sears/craftsman (lincoln) 50a 240v buzz boxO/A rig Harris gaugesnexion cut 50 dxchicago electric (HF) 240v spot welder
Reply:Then lock it in with a few short welds
Reply:Would I be better off cutting the long side, the short side, or cutting both off the frame to fix it?
Reply:take some triangulated measurements and see which is off the most. maybe there are other factors going on there like the floor isnt level that are skewing the measurements. i would be looking only to cut the minimum i had to to fix the problem, and use small  tack welds on all sides before  welding up any one sidebobs77vet/37ford4drEastwood digital TIG200HH190Lincoln Invertec 155sLincoln weldpak 100sears/craftsman (lincoln) 50a 240v buzz boxO/A rig Harris gaugesnexion cut 50 dxchicago electric (HF) 240v spot welder
Reply:Well today was about a bust.  I went ahead and cut into the existing legs taking off about 5/16" from the leaner.  It worked pretty good actually.  I got it all lined up, made sure it was square using a ratchet strap and a jack to push the leg into place.  Tacked it in place, checked it, tacked some more, checked it, ran a bead on one side of each leg, checked it.  All checked good for the uprights being square to the floor so I welded it all around.  That's when it happened.  I was dumb and forgot to check the level on the shelf the welder will sit on.  Standing back I could see with the naked eye that it was leaning HARD to the side I had just cut shorter.  Well it was decision time so I decided to cut the other side and return it back to being out of square with the floor.  I would rather have the uprights slightly off (hard to tell without paying attention) rather than have the welder sitting on an angle.  Welded everything back up and the shelf sat level once again.SuperArc, the main reason I plan on going with the 1/8" plate for the shelving is due to my inexperience.  I know I can weld 1/8".....and sort of make it look decent (to me) but if I go smaller I would say there is a good chance I will melt that sucker to the floor.  I was actually contemplating using expanded metal for the bottom shelf.  I did weld two pieces of 3/4"x3/4" 1/8" angle iron on each end and then spaced two evenly between the middle shelf frame to support the welder shelf and weld whatever plate I end up going with.  I just didn't have the funds to buy the plate at the time or I would have that part done.Here are some of my welds so far, not pretty to say the least but like I said above "it looks decent to me".  All in all I am having a blast with this thing.  I think I have come a long way since I first got the welder.  I would say I have maybe an hour of actual arc time underr a wire feed and I am quite happy with the results!  Damn this is fun.....
Reply:what size wire are you using?  thats a lot of splatter.  grind the metal down to shiny metal where you want to weld, it will eliminate alot of the splatter,  your welder will do fine with the thing gauge sheet metal just turn it way down.  in fact i think using low heat to weld on sheetmetal will give you good skills in seeing whats going on in small scale.  expanded wire is an excellent choice for a bottom shelf.bobs77vet/37ford4drEastwood digital TIG200HH190Lincoln Invertec 155sLincoln weldpak 100sears/craftsman (lincoln) 50a 240v buzz boxO/A rig Harris gaugesnexion cut 50 dxchicago electric (HF) 240v spot welder
Reply:Looks like your making great progress. Watch the edges of your weld you have a little undercut, caused by not pausing long enough at the edges. Try slightly slowing down the rate of your oscillations. It should help with undercut. Try making circles about the size of a pencil eraser with the wire and slow down the revolutions untill you think it's too slow. Run a pass on scrap and see what it looks like. If the bead is too large try moving a little faster (keeping the oscillation the same) and just keep playing with travel speed and oscillation speed untill you find the speeds that work for you. Then over time you will develop a technique like a zig zag or an e shape or a c shape ect. But start out with a constant and slowly adjust to find what works best for you.Offering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.
Reply:Ok on the spatter, what does the the arc sound like? Does it sound like bacon frying? Or more like a machine gun or popcorn? If it does then it's not right. You wanna hear bacon frying in a hot pan. It should be a nice smooth sound. It will result in the best looking weld. Good luck hope I was able to help you out.Offering CNC Plasma cutting and welding projects.Follow me on facebook https://www.facebook.com/nobigdeal.fabSupport those that support WW.