Welding Cart Gone Bonkers

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I haven't done any welding on this project yet, but I think it's still on-topic here.   I recently bought a Syncrowave, and it came with a simple, even minimalist, cart... just four pieces of angle iron on four casters, really.  I wanted more... more storage, and more protection for the equipment.  My garage is not big, and I cut a lot of wood and tile out there, among other things.  Plus, you never know when some hunk of metal is going to go flying around.   So...   Seven feet tall, four feet wide, 2 and half feet deep!  I was going to build something similar, but I got these 2 units at a charity salvage for less than I could've ever bought the material for.  They are on casters, with leveling feet, and most importantly, have front and rear doors to keep sawdust and other debris out.  They also have fans in the top, and PDUs, so my tungsten-dedicated grinder and plasma cutter will be going on slide-out shelves in the left rack ( like the welder already is ).   I obviously have work left.  Drawers to build for the left side, reels for the right. PVC rod storage tubes, as well.  I should have plenty of room to store everything welding-related when I'm done ( except raw material ).  Either a manual or temperature switch for the fans, not yet decided.   I searched this forum, and the Internet at large, and couldn't find anyone else who has re-used server racks for a welder cart.  There may be a really good reason, that I haven't discovered yet   I spent a large chunk of last week in a data center, restoring applications on my server which happens to be almost exactly the same size and weight as my Syncrowave.  I think this idea germinated sometime around 2 AM after too many hours surrounded by the deafening hum of 10,000 hard drives.   We'll see if it works...__David Hillman
Reply:Very interesting. I like it.
Reply:I don't see anything wrong with it, trick it out and see how it works out.  Post some pictures and let is know.  SteveLincoln Pro Mig 180Everlast PowerARC 200
Reply:Mmmm...data center. Keep an eye out for freebie backup power supplies. Scrap the batteries if they are dead and connect appropriate car/truck/RV batteries (gas venting, location, safety, stuff you already know) for killer backup shop lighting and modest power during storms.Needs Miller stickers and blue neon case accent lights. I searched this forum, and the Internet at large, and couldn't find anyone else who has re-used server racks for a welder cart.
Reply:Originally Posted by farmallMmmm...data center. Keep an eye out for freebie backup power supplies. Scrap the batteries if they are dead and connect appropriate car/truck/RV batteries (gas venting, location, safety, stuff you already know) for killer backup shop lighting and modest power during storms.Needs Miller stickers and blue neon case accent lights.
Reply:you mind telling me where you know where a guy can get serveral slightly- simular racks? im in milwaukee all the time and dont mind taking a trip down to ILL. I like the idea of it my shop also gets very dusty from all kinds of things I would love to have a set up like that! feel free to send me a PM on here with where and price? thanks, Ryan
Reply:Originally Posted by barefooter14you mind telling me where you know where a guy can get serveral slightly- simular racks? im in milwaukee all the time and dont mind taking a trip down to ILL. I like the idea of it my shop also gets very dusty from all kinds of things I would love to have a set up like that! feel free to send me a PM on here with where and price? thanks, Ryan
Reply:As I recall from my stint as a field tech for a large brown shipping company, racks like these were frequently found in climate controlled rooms. Something about heat sensitive electric gizmo's needing to run 24/7 blah blah blah. Makes me wonder what a small window unit ac ducted in from behind or under the welder could do for duty cycle. cold air in, hot air out,add some desiccant pacs and it's  totally humidity controlled. (Thats it, my harbor freight unit gets its own dorm fridge....seriously, all kidding aside the worst your setup can do is preserve the appearance of your machine, the best it can do is help it last forever.) Nice. Oh, and go blue!
Reply:I have a similar rack already in my shop I was going to use for offsite servers, but using it as a welding cart might not be a bad idea.  Main problem I can see is just the size and weight.  It's not too easy to wheel around especially if the floor isn't perfectly clear.  If you don't need too much mobility I'm sure it would work fine.
Reply:David Hillman-Thanks for the info I am for sure going to take a look I can make the doors pretty easily I will price it all out and see what the best way to do everything is. but I like the idea of tricking it out! using the water jet to cute a miller emblem and then putting some blue LED's in it! haha.
Reply:Makes me wonder what a small window unit ac ducted in from behind or under the welder could do for duty cycle.
Reply:Something else to consider, for those thinking about going a similar route, is how to provide power, especially if space is tight.  I didn't think about this enough until this weekend.   These racks are designed to be set on raised floor, and powered from directly below.  That's not an option in the garage.  It gets worse with a heavy duty welder power cord, too, since that won't fit between the floor and the frame on my units.  Luckily, my racks have a 5" high full-width removable panel at the rear bottom.  I removed that from the rack holding the welder, and ran conduit down to 5" off the floor, where I put the junction boxes and 240v receptacles ( 60a plus a roughed-in 30a for plasma-cutter-to-be-named-later ).  When the rack is against the wall, the surface mount box extends into the rack through the 5" opening... otherwise I'd waste about 4" since the rack wouldn't be able to roll back against the wall.   The welder power cord can stay plugged in all the time... but it doesn't coil and uncoil smoothly.  This limits the ease with which you can roll the rack in and out.  Hopefully I won't need to do this very much, but to some degree, it defeats the purpose of having a wheeled cart.  It may turn out to be worthwhile to put the leveling feet on the rack down, anchoring it in place, and invest in some longer leads, although I can cover about 1/3rd of my garage as-is.   I thought I was going to get around to building some accessories for my rack this weekend, but between the holiday and trying to route #6 wire around a bunch of obstacles, didn't get have enough time.__David Hillman
Reply:Good idea on using a server rack. Those ones with the round holes should be scrapped anyway, I hate those. I work in a datacenter too, not too far from where you are at. Let me know if you need anything before we throw stuff out around here like another shelf.Last edited by Gamble; 04-25-2011 at 05:19 PM.Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:If you are throwing out any shelves, or drawers ( unlikely ), I'll probably take 'em.  I don't often work in our data center, I just have to go there once every couple months and rescue some application.  I've offered to take any extras from ours as well, but those all go into our test labs.   Thanks.__David Hillman
Reply:I may be able to get you a shelf or two.Torchmate 2x2 CNC with Flashcut CNC controlsHypertherm Powermax45 Esab ET220i Razorweld 195 MigRazorweld 200ac/dc TigTormach 770, Tormach xstechRazorweld, Vipercut/Vipermig, SSC Foot Pedal Dealer
Reply:Update... nothing rocket science, basically exactly what you'd expect.   Turns out that the tank I have will *just* fit behind the welder shelf, without any other modification.  I thought I was going to have to trim, or replace, that heavy duty slider to make room... but all I wound up doing was making this support bracket.   Filler rod storage.  Plenty more room, but I ran out of scrap PVC.__David Hillman
Reply:Good use for an equipment rack! I see used racks at auctions sometimes. If someone wants a new  equip. rack, Altex computers sell enclosed server racks identical to yours.
Reply:My 1st thought was "Look a phone booth he can change into his tights in!" Can you get those costumes in fire retardant spandex stock or do you have to special order them?  And yes I'm old enough to remember both phone booths and the old B&W Superman Tv shows...  Nice salvage job. Looks good..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:Those would make a pretty good paint booth for small parts too. Put some filters in and they'd work fairly well.www.excorioprecisionarms.com
Reply:That is just flat out awesome setup. :-) I would imagine those are old computer server cabinets.
Reply:Thanks.  More simple upgrades...   Lead holder, which I think I'm going to move to the opposite side, and higher.  It's really nice to be able to bolt-in part like this, and move them later.   I raised the welder shelf up so there's enough room under to store the foot pedal.   Still tons of space... plus the second rack to the left.__David Hillman
Reply:Originally Posted by DSWMy 1st thought was "Look a phone booth he can change into his tights in!" Can you get those costumes in fire retardant spandex stock or do you have to special order them?  And yes I'm old enough to remember both phone booths and the old B&W Superman Tv shows...  Nice salvage job. Looks good.
Reply:its still a Miller LOL
Reply:Update:I removed the drawer and shelf from the left rack, and packed them into the right side unit.  The right side unit is now 'done', at least until I decide I need a place to store electrodes in it.  All the blue tubes have filler rod.  All other consumables are in the drawer above the welder.  Foot pedal stays permanently attached and stores underneath, which is nice.Removing everything from the left side rack enabled me to adjust the vertical rails to fit the 22" drawer slides I bought.  I picked up a dozen of those cheap, and am in the process of making drawers to hold lots of supplies.  'Course, I had to build a brake press first, which took some time.Need to practice welding up some thin corners before I try it for real...__David Hillman
Reply:Needs a 1U computer with a cam and a slide-out keyboard/monitor combo so you can post from it.Originally Posted by farmallNeeds a 1U computer with a cam and a slide-out keyboard/monitor combo so you can post from it.
Reply:Speaking of never getting any work done... I'm still working on this 'cart'.  In the unlikely event that someone copies this idea, I found a much better way to store filler rod than my original design above.   It was a real pain to get the caps on and off the tubes in the original setup, as the weight of the stack fell on the caps, being larger than the tubes.  As you can see, I scraped up the paint on the tubes and caps quite a bit doing so.  New design is much more user-friendly.  Those are 1/2" solid rods with 2x1/8" strips for runners.  I cut the rods with my Fury 3 on 60* angles, beveled the bottom about 1/8" and the top just enough so I don't slice open my hand when reaching for something else.__David Hillman
Reply:that kicks ***Lincoln Power Arc 4000 Thermal Arc Fabricator 252 iThermal arc 186Thermal Arc 26 tigTweeko 200 amp spool gunHobart AirForce 400WP-17V-12R