Container Weld Shop build -

[dragoneggs]

Dang it Mark, now I'm REALLY gonna hafta HURT ya

Your comment on the plasma cranked up my twisted brain (like it NEEDS any help wid dat )

So I went out and measured my PM45 vs. the "dead air space" ABOVE the MM211 - it's do-able, but do I WANNA "do-able" it??!? NFW, but Hmmmmmm.... - Pm45 is NARROW enough it'd fit above the welder WITHOUT interfering with either bottle in/out OR fully opening the mm211's side door; it's "un-tall" enough to NOT stick above the "roll cage", SHORT enough front-to-back to NOT hit the rear vertical OR stick out past the front handle on the MM211 - AND, there's room on the other side for another lead hanger.....

Just WALK AWAY Steve, go look at the purty I beam that actually NEEDS your attention - big heavy grinders and wire cup brushes can be FUN; FUN, I tell ya

It's working; MAYBE... Steve

Here is my simple rack I built to fit on top of the HF welder cart. It allows the 211 door to open fully and I have a view of the tank gauges. It's a great space saver but it scares me a bit because of its height. I am considering putting a thick steel plate on the bottom to lower the C of G and some better casters.

 

[BukitCase]

"I am considering putting a thick steel plate on the bottom to lower the C of G and some better casters."

Those would be my first choices also - and LARGER too - casters that small tend to STOP when they hit a BB, not to mention anything larger - and the combo of sudden stops AND top-heavy is a perfect recipe for disaster...

These 4" Caster, Double Locking, Swiveling with 4 Hole Mounting Plate
Are my favorite REAL casters, got 'em on several tools - they come in 3-4-5" wheel, 4" is usually the smallest I'll use (BB effect) - they lock in BOTH axes. Not cheap, I typically "stock" a couple sets, Woodcraft has 'em on sale a couple times a year.

IF I were doing your cabinet (and did NOT need "offroad" capability), I'd build an angle frame, go "outboard" with HF's 10" solid rubber rear wheels (so I could do a "dropped axle" to keep things low (same with front casters) - the angle frame would leave room for a plate (lower CG) and if the angle frame interfered with bottom drawer operation, just cut that side down a bit - This one's for a Bridgeport, but it's what I meant by "dropped axle"



Doing it that way would keep tank swaps no more difficult than they are now, keep the CG as low as possible, make it easier to roll, AND those casters will make you wish you'd tossed the OEM's a LONG time ago

And this is my bandsaw, rear wheels are 13" no-flats - in that particular case I WANTED more height, so no dropped axle :thumbsup: Also, the rear setback is to keep the saw from "doing a wheelie" when it's in vertical position...



To keep your cart low, the "drop axle" would be a "Z" bracket outside the angle frame with a 5/8" hole thru the vertical part - then a 5/8 bolt (axle) thru the larger tire, and 2 nuts locking the bolt to the Z bracket (kind of the reverse of my bandsaw version)

The bigger better wheels would lessen the "bb" effect, the frame and plate would help lower the CG, and if you use the casters I linked you wouldn't have to scratch your head to figure out which way is "locked"; it's MUCH more obvious

If my description wasn't clear enough, holler and I'll do a sketch... Steve

 

[dragoneggs]

No, I got it... thanks for the pic however, might just steal that design. I like the idea of a dropped axle and outriggers for a bigger footprint. Not sure I want to give up the shop real estate but probably is the prudent thing to do... one tip over and I might be crying for a long time. I might just sketch up a couple designs and see what the weight would be and how much it would lower the CG, with and w/o the outriggers. I think I have enough scrap material to do this without much, if any additional $$$.

On casters, I have been pretty happy with the HF ones. Much of my larger equipment, air compressor, sand blaster, drill press are rolling on these.

 

[BukitCase]

Glad you've had better luck with HF casters than me, the ones I linked get fairly $pendy even on sale

Once I get more "supplies" out of shop space and into containers I'll need to build one of those "tank transporter" bases for my 12" helical head jointer



It doesn't look like it, but if I can keep the base low enough to NOT raise the beds more than about 5/8", I can put that 1000 pound "aircraft carrier" on the far side of the small planer and band saw, and still maintain my goal of a minimum 10' in AND outfeed on each machine (bandsaw fires OVER the 6" jointer, DeWalt planer fires OVER the "aircraft carrier" outfeed table, etc)



Oh, and if you do your outriggers like the heavy gray base (Bridgeport but lighter) only the SWIVEL casters would stick out a bit further than your leads ALREADY do... Steve

 

[dragoneggs]

Glad you've had better luck with HF casters than me, the ones I linked get fairly $pendy even on sale

Oh, and if you do your outriggers like the heavy gray base (Bridgeport but lighter) only the SWIVEL casters would stick out a bit further than your leads ALREADY do... Steve

I don't have any super heavy loads on them so that is probably why... and very good point on the width of the base with outriggers not sticking out past the leads. :duh:

Now I am sold on your design... in fact it might protect my leads by reducing the chance of scraping/pinching them while trying fit/park in tight spaces! :dance1:

 

[BukitCase]

Man, I LOVE it when I can bully people into doin' things MY way - JK, I just try to present any and all pro's/cons as I see 'em so people can make decisions that work for THEM - I've found that very few (if any) of my "mad scientist" creations stay at V1.0 til they're finished, so I try to pass those "un-intentional omissions" (AKA freakin' big-azz mistakes :laughing along...

" it might protect my leads by reducing the chance of scraping/pinching them while trying fit/park in tight spaces"

Yup, my mm252 is close to having that problem - I added a second lead hanger on the other side of its dual running gear, got tired of having to separate 30 feet of spool gun lead from ground, power and 15' torch - downside is that area is now the widest part when I'm trying to shoehorn it in the garage along with the TIG, other MIG, Stick, plasma, etc...

Got about 35% of my HF crane's "I beam upgrade" de-rusto'd this afternoon, actually went pretty well so far - large cup brush on the 9" grinder, finally got smart enough to set the beam up on horses tall enough to stand STRAIGHT for a change, back's thankin' me a LOT - by the time I quit, that cup brush had maybe a dozen wires left - rest were helpin' me pass as a porcupine Sooo, bein' the Misguided ********* I am, I went and bought two MORE of those brushes (jist cain't git enuf a that there pain )

It'll be nice when that beam's primed and painted and the crane's ready... Steve

 

[Oldpath05]

(02-16-2018, 07:45 PM "It'll be nice when that beam's primed and painted and the crane's ready"... Steve) Humm, yeah wont it be nice, someday, anyday, a diffenite maybe.

 

[BukitCase]

Yeah, thanks fer noticin' - teensy bit of "side-track-itis" lately, gettin' the other two 40' hi-cube containers locked in while they're still available that nice - got 24 yards of 1-1/2- rock delivered on time last Monday, spread about half of it Tuesday, drove around on it with the 580 til it looked like crap (but SOLID crap), then back-drug (a LOT) til it looked driveable (but not really, this time of year) - then the weather couldn't decide whether it'd snow, rain, sleet, freeze, etc, so it did ALL of 'em in varying amounts, just enough to keep old wussy retirees thinkin' good things about wood stoves....

Finally went out today to do some more "drivin' around the new parking lot", and the old 580 had finally used up enough hydraulic oil to insist on "another round", too cold so forget it -

I DID get the I beam primed on the ONE day it got warm enough to paint - think I'll work on INSIDE stuff that still needs done til it warms up a little - for the HF crane "upgrade" I'm gonna add something like this



Except my version will CLAMP onto the beam and post, since I wanna keep the option of variable post spacing like I did with the I beam clamps.

Talked to my "container guy" this afternoon, the containers are a go - but won't get delivered til mid next week. By then I should have things packed down more so the truck(s) can get back outa my place

Hopefully the next "episode" will be more about "I did" instead of "I'm gonna" ... Steve

 

[BukitCase]

Yesterday I realized that the small bundle of 2" tubing I had hanging in the small work area next to the 20' container (with a 24x24 roof over it) was mostly in my way til I got a few things more under control ("control" part is mostly a fantasy of mine ) - Among other things, the increased winds have shown me that I need more areas blocked, including the area on TOP of the container, which presently is open; kinda hard to get to it with all the stuff in the way -

That bundle has a piece or two that're still 24' long, so not a lot of "wiggle room" under a 24' roof



Decided it wuz time to test part of my "container weld shop fantasy system" :laughing:

So here's the "Tinker toy" setup for long bundles -



Picked up, ready to go -



A wider view -



Almost there -



Done, resting on the HF 1000 lb. hydraulic cart so it's still semi-mobile -



All in all, the TinkerToys ruled again :thumbsup: - once the bridge crane's built inside the container, this type of move should be even easier - and all those pieces will get cut to size (max. under 10 feet) for the afore-mentioned "porch roof" frame, so they can be just tossed into the brush bucket (their temporary "build site") after getting cut in the weld shop container (cuz the Jet saw lives there now) -

If all this gets too confusing (I'm good at that ) you might wanna go back a few pages, it's all there (Notice I did NOT say that I wuz all there :laughing ... Steve

 

[Oldpath05]

And when your done getting stuff under control, maybe sweep the floor it looks dirty. I like that tinker toy, that's some excellent brain work right there, can that be switched up so stuff can be lifted higher?

I made a temp set up similar to your side bucket lifter upper, sometimes a tractor just cant get from point A to point B, I had two heavy 16' beam to lift up on 3 post couple years ago and with no sky available I clamped some 2x4s to my forks and easy does it.............