I don't want that large of a cabinet, and still no place to store my welding helmet.
Looking for a welding cart
- Thread starter PoorUB
- Start date
Hmph, I didn't see that one on the site earlier when I was poking around. This thread got me looking for welding tool storage rather than a cart. I bought a MP Klutch machine for a steal from my neighbor, but the "cart" he got (that I don't see offered on the NT website anymore) is really just a tray with casters and a small, cumbersome drawer. It does have bottle storage on the back though. I was looking at the Series 2 cabinet in yellow to somewhat match. That Series 3 looks nice, but with the "Full Bank Cart" on sale for $499 at the moment, it doesn't seem like as good of a bargain. Might keep my eye on the Series 3 if they go on sale.
Adrien
I just hang my hood on the bottle, I have a helmet bag / sac that stores the helmet the hang it on the bottle
You would need to make fabricate a bottle stand / rack - although pretty easy to do.
isb cornbinder
Well-known member
How can you say, "I know" and not know where to shop? Knowing is more than believing. Be pepared to pt out a lot more $$$ when you think you have found your dream box. The retailers are often not forthcoming with the county of origin.
The red shop cart is a SnapOn that came with 2 shelves. (top and bottom) I added the centre shelf. The
#3 shelf came in a box with MADE IN CHINA printed on the box. The shelf fit perfectly. I had to replace the original SnapOn casters because they folded over and jammed after the first day. BTW, the extra shelf was $19.97.
The black cart is one of two that I bought for $10 each. I added the cookie sheet top with a piano hinge. It is perfect for taking things apart. The fasteners do not get away. Parts that contain oil, like hydraulic pumps, can drain out, on the tray. The tray can be tilted to clean up the mess.
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I don't want to leave an expensive welding helmet just hanging out in the shop. Right now it gets put inside a wall cabinet, but I would like to store it in the welding cart.
I could build my own cart. I could paint it and do a flame paint job on it if I wanted to. I have some cast aluminum mag wheels from a go cart if I wanted to go crazy, I have all sorts of ideas floating around in my head that would scare most of you, some involve a welding cart.
I really don't want to build a cart when they can be bough relatively inexpensively. By the time I buy wood or steel, paint and some hardware I may as well buy one.
I sold tools for a few years. I had a customer call me and had me special order a welding cart. I forget where I bought it, but it was US made and not a huge amount of money. I don't recall the name of the company. I did contact the guy I sold it to, and he said he was going to take a look at the cart and let me know. I am holding off until I hear back from him. I find it hard to believe it is the only USA cart manufacturer, but maybe it is.
So, yes I know US made cart were available a few years back, I assume the company is still around. I just don't remember the name and thought someone here would know of something other than the run of the mill import carts. It seems like most things get answered here so I assumed someone would know.
isb cornbinder
Well-known member
I will help you look. I hope this works out, for you.
isb cornbinder
Well-known member
A "Good" Friend sold me this tool/shop cart. We agreed on a price. I did not know when he was coming by to drop the box off, so I left the money with my wife to pay for the box. Mister now Ex-friend dropped the box off and exaggerated the price by $100. Rather than making a fuss, my wife paid up. I don't know what was going through is mind. I called him on what he did. He sluffed it off with a, "Well, you should have been there." That was the end of a friendship of over 40 years.
We had agreed on $250. My wife gave him $350.
This tool cart has gone through a few changes to meet several applications. I still have it. It is made off-shore. The quality if very good. Right now, this cart is hold two Baldor grinders. The drawers are holding abrasives and band-saw blades
We had agreed on $250. My wife gave him $350.
This tool cart has gone through a few changes to meet several applications. I still have it. It is made off-shore. The quality if very good. Right now, this cart is hold two Baldor grinders. The drawers are holding abrasives and band-saw blades
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Mentioned already. High price for a imported, HF quality cart.
rdoty
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Here is my welding cart built around a 2 drawer filing cabinet and some 1"x2" steel tubing. Real file cabinets like Steelcase or Hon are quite strong. You can often find them close to free; I ended up getting one from Habitat Restore for $15. Works great for keeping PPE and supplies with the welder. The large casters work better than the smaller casters on most welding carts. One of the best things I did was to build the extension cord into the cart - this is much better than keeping track of a separate cord!
Years ago I thought of wiring up a four wire, 10 gauge cord and mounting a small four circuit breaker panel on my welder. Two breakers for 240 volt for the welder and two 120 volt outlets for grinders or lights. One less cord to drag around the garage.
mike93lx
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I think I'd be inclined to just put a 120v receptacle next to the welder receptacle and tape or zip tie a 12/3 extension cord to your welder extension cord. A breaker panel is a lot of bulk and complexity
I don't think it would be that big of a deal. You can buy a six circuit breaker panel for $30. They are less that 12" square. Mount it to the welding cart, on the back or side, out of the way. Run wire to an 120 volt outlet on the front of the cart, and one on the back for the welder. Once installed you will never notice it.
Put a fairy long four wire cord, maybe 50 feet on it so you can roll it out of the shop into the driveway.
I haven't done it, and probably never will. If I was welding as much as I used to I think I would do it. But I don't weld every few days like I did in the past.
LopezBart
Well-known member
I have a 4 wire extension 50A (240/120 volts) cord I used for charging our Tesla back in CA; if I plug this into a 50A outlet, the only breakers needed on the cart would be 20A for the 120V outlets, since the 50A 240 GFCI protection would be provided by the breakers protecting the 50A outlet the cord plugs into. The 120V breakers could be in a small breaker box on the cart. I'd use the cart for storing welding PPE, grinders, etc; some of the welders would be on their own carts/casters; my stick welder weighs over 400 lbs already. I've often ended up welding on stuff that doesn't fit on the table. Basically, this ends up being a welding cart with a built-in spider box.
True! I was over thinking it, except for the GFCI part. But I would only need one or two 120 circuit breakers.
I ended up buying the Harbor Freight welding cart. The one with three drawers and a hatch in the bottom.
Eastwood has the same one as the Metalman cart for less money, but still over $300. I decided the hatch was good enough for the $150 difference in price.
Eastwood has the same one as the Metalman cart for less money, but still over $300. I decided the hatch was good enough for the $150 difference in price.
emeraldcoupe
Well-known member
i've had that cart for quite a while, i like it. i did replace the front wheels with better ones, rolls much better now.
dr_clyde
Well-known member
I realize OP has already bought a cart, but I wanted to share my carts for future reading.
I am a strong proponent of building custom built carts to suit. You do need to have a strong understanding of what you want and how to build it, but once you build your own cart to your needs, anything store bought will leave you wanting.
I didn't like the cart that came with my Millermatic 255, so I made one. I also made a cart for my Dynasty 200 and cooler. The bigger welders either come with running gear or the factory cart is well enough made that I didn't need to make my own. Some day I might even get around to painting the MIG cart.
The basic framework is nothing fancy, just square tubing welded to formed sheet metal shelves. I use an old Cornwell midsection toolchest to hold various consumables like contact tips and nozzles, spare welding lens covers, etc. I also left a shelf on the bottom big enough to hold a couple spools of wire. Since building this cart I have decided I would like to have the cart hold the push-pull Alumapro gun I have for this machine, and that bottom shelf needs to be a couple inches taller. I may re-build this cart for that at some point in the future. Which is why I probably haven't painted it yet.
The MIG cart has a cooler on the top that isn't hooked up to anything, it's just a spare. I occasionally need it for when I have 3 guys running TIG simultaneously and I need to water cool my Maxstar, or if I need to take a cooler on the road. The Coolmate 4 is all plastic, has a built in handle and is easy to take into the field.
These cylinder retention brackets were just purchased from the welding supply and slightly modified to fit. They work better than chains and the cylinder doesn't rattle and make a bunch of racket when rolling the cart.
The cord hangers are removeable and easy to slide around or change sides. I need to get another couple made up, I really would prefer more than one on each welding cart. Part of the reason I went with square tube vs round for the framework.
The TIG cart I made first, and in a fit of madness I actually painted this one. I copied the basic design for the MIG cart I made later.
The rod guard on the cart holds rod stubs and partially used rods I can use for small or quick welds that don't need a full stick of filler. I also have a Plano tackle box full of cups and collets, a tungsten tube for used tungsten stubs, and a home made torch holder.
The rest of my filler wires and welding electrodes sit on some pallet racking above my toolbox, as I have multiple TIG welders and I can't justify keeping a full selection of rods at each machine. Whoever needs a particular kind of rod just grabs the corresponding tube, does their work and then puts the tube back when complete. The tubes are color coded by alloy.
I am a strong proponent of building custom built carts to suit. You do need to have a strong understanding of what you want and how to build it, but once you build your own cart to your needs, anything store bought will leave you wanting.
I didn't like the cart that came with my Millermatic 255, so I made one. I also made a cart for my Dynasty 200 and cooler. The bigger welders either come with running gear or the factory cart is well enough made that I didn't need to make my own. Some day I might even get around to painting the MIG cart.
The basic framework is nothing fancy, just square tubing welded to formed sheet metal shelves. I use an old Cornwell midsection toolchest to hold various consumables like contact tips and nozzles, spare welding lens covers, etc. I also left a shelf on the bottom big enough to hold a couple spools of wire. Since building this cart I have decided I would like to have the cart hold the push-pull Alumapro gun I have for this machine, and that bottom shelf needs to be a couple inches taller. I may re-build this cart for that at some point in the future. Which is why I probably haven't painted it yet.
The MIG cart has a cooler on the top that isn't hooked up to anything, it's just a spare. I occasionally need it for when I have 3 guys running TIG simultaneously and I need to water cool my Maxstar, or if I need to take a cooler on the road. The Coolmate 4 is all plastic, has a built in handle and is easy to take into the field.
These cylinder retention brackets were just purchased from the welding supply and slightly modified to fit. They work better than chains and the cylinder doesn't rattle and make a bunch of racket when rolling the cart.
The cord hangers are removeable and easy to slide around or change sides. I need to get another couple made up, I really would prefer more than one on each welding cart. Part of the reason I went with square tube vs round for the framework.
The TIG cart I made first, and in a fit of madness I actually painted this one. I copied the basic design for the MIG cart I made later.
The rod guard on the cart holds rod stubs and partially used rods I can use for small or quick welds that don't need a full stick of filler. I also have a Plano tackle box full of cups and collets, a tungsten tube for used tungsten stubs, and a home made torch holder.
The rest of my filler wires and welding electrodes sit on some pallet racking above my toolbox, as I have multiple TIG welders and I can't justify keeping a full selection of rods at each machine. Whoever needs a particular kind of rod just grabs the corresponding tube, does their work and then puts the tube back when complete. The tubes are color coded by alloy.
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Yeah the wheels are, well, adequate. I figured before I bought it the wheels will get changed out to a larger size, but figured I would try it first.. At least the main body is all welded. That should keep it square and on one piece longer.
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slodat
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Over the years I have added several welders to the shop. Like Dr. Clyde, I much prefer to make one specific to my needs. My Miller TIG sits on a custom cart that holds the cooler and everything in a nice compact package. I built this 15 years ago. I'm sure I'd do something different, but I don't know what. It has served me well.
A few years ago these caught my eye as well..
I picked up two of them. One holds an older Millermatic 175 that I keep around for smaller wire. The other has a PrimeWeld TIG.
When I bought them, they were about $200. Looks like the price has gone up over the years. A few years ago I picked up the new Millermatic 255. I got their running gear. It definitely could be better, but it is working fine for my needs. So, I haven't changed it.
A few years ago these caught my eye as well..
I picked up two of them. One holds an older Millermatic 175 that I keep around for smaller wire. The other has a PrimeWeld TIG.
When I bought them, they were about $200. Looks like the price has gone up over the years. A few years ago I picked up the new Millermatic 255. I got their running gear. It definitely could be better, but it is working fine for my needs. So, I haven't changed it.