Welding cart vs cabinet -preference?

[shortykorte]

One thought is to determine where you will store cart or cabinet. That might help your decision. This started out as a cart style but like others I like having consumables with the welder.

 

[CraigStu]

Here is what I did and I like it. Its kind of a mix of both worlds

Something like this is my next project. I built a small cart for my Miller Tig but I need a welding table sometimes. My small garage doesn't have room for another table or bench so I will add one over top of my cart to get a table w/o using any more floor space.
Edit; Ooops I didn't realize I don't get the picture w/ a quote.

 

[boecker351]

I wanted to be able to store all of my welding supplies in
One place, as well as have it mobile. I made this welding cart out of stuff I had laying around.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

I have one of the generic HF carts that I added a shelf to and some plastic drawer bins for storage. Whole thing sits along side the wall in the garage and it hard to get to. The rear wheels are fixed so I have to rotate it out to make use of it at all. But it does hold the bottle and the Hobart MIG decently, so that's what I use.

WHY?

I also have one of the red HF service carts and I had never thought of just using the drawer unit by itself. The cart is now surplus and looking for a purpose. It has excellent casters, though I think they might be fixed for two of them. Replace those with swivels that lock and I could slide it out sideways instead of having to rotate. HMM.

Already have some thoughts. The top flips up and is awkward. Maybe fix that in place and cut access holes on the side to make that an open shelf inside instead. Maybe put the shelf unit as the base, move the legs up vertically and put the MIG on top of the cabinet, and a shelf above that as a work surface? Oh wow, maybe put up a flip up tool shelf? HF finally sells those in store for about $25.

Dang, now I'm unhappy with my open cart that collects metal dust, dirt, and loose **** all over it. Now I want to do something with more hooks and storage. Garage Journal once again costs me work hours.

 

[zkling]

FWIW... Here's my home made welding related stuff:

I made a piggyback caddy to install my Lincoln 110V mig on top of my ESAB 220V Mig, Tig, Stick welder. Handy and compact.

O.. that's slick. How did you mount the support shelf for the portable mig to the Esab? Would like to do that to my setup.

 

[52wrench]

Lincoln 175 Square Wave TIG Stick on the bottom, 180 MIG in the middle plasma on top. Ar and C25 on the back. Plastic drawer rack for tips,etc. Brazing and TIG rod vertical rack on the other side.

 

[wagspe208]

WOW, you guys have some sweet setups.
I just have my miller mig, tig, and plasma cutter on the miller carts. For my setup, I need the portability. My "shop" side is where all machining is done. I do some welding and cutting there. If anything big, I roll welders over to "storage" side, and weld away.
Nice work!
Wags

 

[over40pirate]

I like this cart a lot. Nice small footprint and easy to move.
I would add some drawers between the table and mig.
Nice work.

.

 

[ZRX61]

Both my MM210 & Syncro 200 are on wheels already. I use a Horrible Fright welder cart for the Spectrum 375 plasma cutter. All my welding kit is in an older 7 drawer Craftsman roller... ok, *most* of it is... there's some overflow into another toolbox.

https://scontent-lax3-1.**.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/200397_1793804537668_5455587_n.jpg?oh=697b167d39d09c033ee6e43c555aa7ab&oe=571EDBB6

 

[ZRX61]

That beater bag on the top has at least 225lb of lead in it.
Inside looks like:

 

[ZRX61]

Magnets are all on the left side...The box of TIG stuff in the previous post came from ArcZone. They have kits for most popular TIG welders, now I have no worries about needing something I don't have in the middle of something ...
....& I just realized what's missing from the box, so I'll have to go sort that out tomorrow.

 

[dbabicky]

I ordered the Snap-On KRBC60T Welding cart/station back in August. Haven't seen it yet. Back-ordered I'm told. I would have cancelled the order by now, but I got a great deal on it. It's supposed to be here next week. We'll see.......................!

 

[MrBreeze]

I ordered the Snap-On KRBC60T Welding cart/station back in August. Haven't seen it yet. Back-ordered I'm told. I would have cancelled the order by now, but I got a great deal on it. It's supposed to be here next week. We'll see.......................!

Wowza, that's one nice (and pricey) cart!
https://store.snapon.com/KRBC60T-We...Welding-Heavy-Duty-Textued-Black-P818845.aspx

You will have to give us your review once it arrives and you have a chance to live with it for a while.

 

[boecker351]

Wowza, that's one nice (and pricey) cart!
https://store.snapon.com/KRBC60T-We...Welding-Heavy-Duty-Textued-Black-P818845.aspx

You will have to give us your review once it arrives and you have a chance to live with it for a while.

That is a whole bunch of money for a welding cart!

 

[junkyardwarrior]

$5 goodwill file cabinet, some blue paint, and a new MM 211 which I absolutely love, for what I use it for.

Total investment in the cart, $5. I had the wheels left over from a lawn mower that I scrapped. I had some John Deere wheels the same size but the yellow really didn't go well with the blue cart. I wanted the cart to be blue, I originally was going to order the correct Miller paint but it's not cheap. I had the blue paint at home already so I just used it, even though it doesn't quite match. The caster wheels came in the cart.

The spool gun in it's case fits in the bottom drawer with the helmet. Top drawer has the bottle cap, wire, and a small tackle box with some tips, wrench, etc in it.

I did build the frame out of tubing, it's all throw away stuff from work. Yamaha crates...actually the racks that they used to ship the Vikings on. They'd ship them 2 up, one on top level and one underneath. Lots of 1 7/8 .070" wall square tubing and then 4 round bars for supports, they're like 1" round and .187" thick.

 

[Jazz1]

My son found this cart at the curb in the downtown area,,,it was minus a top. He brought it home. It works just fine. My neighbour refers to it as "the war wagon"
I have some cardex drawers I plan to install under the top for welding consumables. There is a vice on it,,out of view because of welding hood..

 

[smalltown]

I've got a Miller 211 that I need to make a cabinet for. junkyardwarrier I like your build!
I also wanted some place to store the helmet when not in use.

 

[ibedayank]

ugliest cart of the century entry cost to build $0.00

 

[motofool33]

ugliest cart of the century entry cost to build $0.00

20mins with a grinder and a can of paint and it wont be so ugly.

 

[dbabicky]

Wowza, that's one nice (and pricey) cart!
https://store.snapon.com/KRBC60T-We...Welding-Heavy-Duty-Textued-Black-P818845.aspx

You will have to give us your review once it arrives and you have a chance to live with it for a while.

I originally got him down to $900.00. After talking with him and Snap-On directly, because of the miscommunication and long delays, I am now looking at possibly another $200.00 off. I will let ya'll know. We'll see

 

[ibedayank]

20mins with a grinder and a can of paint and it wont be so ugly.

I would have to care what other people think first

 

[gearhead1]

ugliest cart of the century entry cost to build $0.00

Ugly doesn't matter to me, it's about how much you can get away with not spending so you can do something else with that money.

 

[Jazz1]

I would have to care what other people think first

I repurposed a unit similar to your welding cart into a bench top sandblast cabinet. I hope the Chinese economy bounces back but won't be on my dime.

 

[winchman]

I prefer carts.

Thanks for the excellent idea.
I am getting too old to carry my welder and have been looking for a compact design or trolley, off to the garage now to see what bits I can find to make it

 

[philb86]

Nothing like the expensive welders and such, but they fit my budget and work very well for being a hobby guy. Built this cart to hold both the welder and plasma with a shelf up top for pliers and gloves and such and bottom shelf.

 

[winchman]

Looks good.
To save money I am hoping to use a spare cylinder trolly I have as it shouldn't require much work

 

[sberry]

Mine isn't what but where, it has had an evolution and is the 2nd and 3rd home/cart for this one. I am still used to reaching left handed but this is really the right spot and allows access to about 1000 sq ft of floor without fooling with cords and in normal use at the bench has none on the floor.
I got about 10 machines but this is the one I really use. That one and an AC/DC buzzer that is connected to a Y, there is a stinger that reaches there and the benches are grounded and another set of remote leads at the door for outside work.
I have worked in a few shops. The benches and carts here are really crude and started off on the wrong foot when we shoved in, all used stuff added on but it works well enough its not going to make us any money fixing them up.
What is good isn't the quality but where, location, location, location. And the size/shape to some extent. My Bud repaired a trailer fender last night. I actually stick welded the bracket but he was set up right in the bay in front of the tools. He hooked on with that ground jumper you can see on the box in the last pic. Took 1/2 of a rod.
The bench is literally scrap tacked together, some day will treat myself to a real top now that I know how big it should be. The welder reaches either bench but I like the 2 bench system. A vise stand needs a bench, got to have somewhere to set pieces and tools and for fab work like nothing on top, no hanging cords and a catch can so I don't blow snot all over for every cut.
I am fast at hand drill and do it all on the bench or vise with rotator and a battery drill. Cut a lot of bolt holes with a plasma too.

 

[sberry]

There is 50 foot of torch on the plasma and its connected to the common ground so it shares all the jumpers and outside leads and reaches the bench and outside. I can cut in about 40 ft radius from the benches as well.
When I cut at the bench make it a habit to simply reach back to set torch down and its not in the way.
A couple guys can mill around and work without stepping on each other or over cords.

 

[sberry]

In the winter don't use the big side door but when its 50 and above outside or a project going on its open for foot traffic to a house and some other buildings.

 

[milner351]

used filing cabinets are fantastic for garage use, especially the older ones that were built heavier.

I like the HF three drawer cart - especially the fact that all four casters swivel, that makes it really maneuverable when you have a ton of stuff in a space which I always seem to have.

I got a welding cart from Menards, I have not put it together yet - now I'm thinking I should incorporate one of the old tool boxes I have laying around for consumables, pliers, etc.

As usual here, this thread is full of great ideas. Thanks for sharing.

 

[winchman]

Nothing like the expensive welders and such, but they fit my budget and work very well for being a hobby guy. Built this cart to hold both the welder and plasma with a shelf up top for pliers and gloves and such and bottom shelf.

Just been to a friends who is closing his shop, he has given me some box section displays so I can cut them up and I will try and make one like yours but hoping to use the top platform as a small work bench so I can mount my vice or sheet metal shear on it on a quick release.

 

[philb86]

Just been to a friends who is closing his shop, he has given me some box section displays so I can cut them up and I will try and make one like yours but hoping to use the top platform as a small work bench so I can mount my vice or sheet metal shear on it on a quick release.

Give yourself a little room when you measure the base sizes of everything. I made mine to be about an 1/8" longer and wider than what the biggest dimensions were, ended up making the welder a tight fit.

 

[n20junkie]

My syncrowave 350 is on a nice big cart, which never moved when I was in a smaller 20x30 shop. Now that I am working on a 30x50 I will have to roll around the welder to reach projects as the tig has only a 25 ft reach.

So my answer is that it depends. Its rare that wheels are a disadvantage though, if only to help cleaning the shop out every spring.

 

[Karl's Garage]

Cabinet