Since everyone loves a new welder cart build, I figured I may as well put mine up. In my shop floor space is always at a premium, so whenever I build something it has to be as small as possible but still do what I need. Because of this, I wasn't going to find a commercially made cart that would be just what I wanted, so it was time to build one.
I knew I waned a drawer for small item and consumable storage, and I don't have a brake (yet), so I decided the easiest way to get one was to cannibalize an old metal desk. I was able to get one for nothing, but even if not, you can often find an old metal desk in your area on craigslist for anywhere between free and $50. Since it was a whole desk, I now have four more drawers and slides stuffed in the attic for the next bench/cart project. Once I had a drawer to build around, I was off to the races. The pieces I used were not always design choices, but what I had around, plus whatever I could scavenge.
Here's a selection of pieces off the racks along with some cannibalized pieces from the desk.
Top and bottom shelves.
Overall frame put together.
It rides like it's on wheels.
The desk gets put to good use - the top shelf and the drawer are set in place.
Formed up some bottle racks for the back and hacked up an old trailer wheel into some cable wraps. There's also a place to put a rod guard full of electrodes in the bottle rack support.
It's together and functional for now. I need to build a holder for the spool gun, and I need a pull handle for the front of it. I also want to get a couple of rod guards for tig filler and build a similar bracket to hold them on the back. Hopefully I'll find the time to disassemble it and paint it once I get the little details finished too.
I knew I waned a drawer for small item and consumable storage, and I don't have a brake (yet), so I decided the easiest way to get one was to cannibalize an old metal desk. I was able to get one for nothing, but even if not, you can often find an old metal desk in your area on craigslist for anywhere between free and $50. Since it was a whole desk, I now have four more drawers and slides stuffed in the attic for the next bench/cart project. Once I had a drawer to build around, I was off to the races. The pieces I used were not always design choices, but what I had around, plus whatever I could scavenge.
Here's a selection of pieces off the racks along with some cannibalized pieces from the desk.
Top and bottom shelves.
Overall frame put together.
It rides like it's on wheels.
The desk gets put to good use - the top shelf and the drawer are set in place.
Formed up some bottle racks for the back and hacked up an old trailer wheel into some cable wraps. There's also a place to put a rod guard full of electrodes in the bottle rack support.
It's together and functional for now. I need to build a holder for the spool gun, and I need a pull handle for the front of it. I also want to get a couple of rod guards for tig filler and build a similar bracket to hold them on the back. Hopefully I'll find the time to disassemble it and paint it once I get the little details finished too.
