well, back to the drawing board... i had pretty much everything done except painting, btu when i finished welding the top on, it ended up being a little more wavy that i can live with. the pieces were slightly more than a tight fit to begin with, and then the heat from welding pushed it over the edge. i cut the old top out and i'm going to replace it with a piece of 14ga plate i have left over from a bench top.
i wanted to have it welded all around so that it had a good seal so dust, coffee, beer, or whatever couldn't seep down past and end up in the drawer. i think i may just tack weld it on this time and run a bead of caulking around the underside. i may pick up some small (3/4") tube or angle this weekend to have a consistent ledge for the metal to sit on... or, i may just shim it where i want it and tack it as i go. i found a toolbox top mat from an old craftsman toolbox that i'm going to cut to fit the top shelf too.
i also decided that i'm not happy with the rack i made for the spool gun, so that's going to be changed too. i think i may copy 4shorts cart slightly - where he used the pipe rails i may use some similar looking flat bar rails on the sides. i'm still not totally content with this either because even if i bolt the rails on, i would have to remove one whenever i need to load a new spool of wire. there's got to be a more elegant solution, though i can't come up with it yet.
:thumbsup:
