Pics of my welder and welding cart

[Bama72]

I finally got a free moment to make a welding cart. After I bought my 211 about 2 weeks ago I searched this forum for pictures of welding carts trying to get some ideas. So I thought I would share mine.

It's no Picasso, but it gets the job done. It's also easily manuverable.

Sorry about the poor quality of the pictures, I took them with my phone.

 

[Desert Rat]

Bigger pics please.

 

[Bama72]

Bigger pics please.

No problem, I just updated the post and made the pictures larger.

 

[ryoken]

modified hand truck? does it have casters in front, or do you move it like a handtruck?

hehe, i dig the matching Miller blue...

 

[Bama72]

modified hand truck? does it have casters in front, or do you move it like a hand truck?

hehe, i dig the matching Miller blue...

It started out as a very used pressure washer frame. When I got all the powder coating off of it I learned that the powder coat was the only thing holding it together. So I cut the handle and the axle off and started from scratch. Except for the handle its all 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 1/8 angle iron. It does roll like a hand truck, thats how I wanted it so that it would be alot easier to move around when I'm on grass and gravel. I got lucky with the Miller Blue, its 2 coats primer, 2 coats duplicolor bedliner, 2 coats duplicolor 500 degree high temp blue (it was on sale and the two blues are very close) and 2 coats of clear.

I replaced the body mounts on my 72 blazer last month and two of the lower mounts were still in ok shape so I saved them. I used them on the front of the cart for the front stop. I find it ironic that I bought the welder to replace sheet metal on my blazer and I ended up using parts from blazer to make the cart.

 

[kyle.rj133]

how do you like that welder? are the presets on it work good, pros and cons?

 

[Bama72]

how do you like that welder? are the presets on it work good, pros and cons?

I'm new to MIG welding and I'm by no means qualified to say how good it is. But I like it, on 110 the autoset is close, just put it where it says too then turn the heat and wire speed down one number each. On 220 the autoset is not even close, its way too hot and the wire speed is way too fast. The bottom floor of the cart is 24 GA and it was alot easier to weld on 110 compared to 220. The frame is 1/8 inch and it was super easy on 220 but was a little slow on 110. Once I got everything tacked together I completely welded every joint and seam, top, bottom, sides (I needed the practice) and it took probably close to 40 minutes. I would make one weld then go straight to another until they were all done. I bought it at my local Air Gas and they told me that when the amp is turned downed halfway or less that its close to a 100% duty cycle, so I put their words to test and I have to agree with them. If it had the choice to go back in time and buy it again I would. The dual voltage option is perfect for me. In my last picture, in the background you can see my gas engine Lincoln arc welder, I doubt that I will be using it again except for really thick steel.

 

[tRustyK5]

Nice job! That's what i love about welding carts, there isn't a really wrong way to build one, and the best ones are made from leftovers. Mine was an old hand truck and some scraps I had.

Rene

 

[folkenheath]

how do you like that welder? are the presets on it work good, pros and cons?

I have the same welder and love it. (MM211) The 110 capability is good for portability, but the 220 has much more power and duty cycle.

As far as the presets go. I find I like to use the chart parameters better than the autoset. Autoset does work well, but I like to set the voltage a touch higher usually to get it to melt in better and look nicer. So when welding I usually set it manually.

However, the autoset does work well, and I always use it for tacking stuff. Because sometimes you want a tack a few things in place, that are different thicknesses, and you are in funny positions under the truck or something, and with the autoset you just set the thickness and tack, no looking up stuff in the chart. I don't weld often enough to memorize the settings for every thickness for both input voltages, etc.

Last night I welded for a solid 1.5 hours on 1/4" (some 3/16") steel at ~85% duty cycle, and it didn't even care. It has thermal overload protection but it never hiccuped (except for when my ground clamp started working loose once) But that was my fault for clamping it funny.

By the way, that welding cart looks very functional, nice job!

 

[kyle.rj133]

well i bought one and i must say its freaking sweet. i also got the spool