Tool box cart

[ranger_mclaren]

Man you wasn't kidding when you told me the size of your top box. I guarantee your welding better than I would. Thats next on my bucket list learn to freakin weld.

 

[Black'03LevelII]

Progress!

So I actually got to work on this little project of mine again today. First up a pic of a weld before grinding it down smooth, took the advice of both Weezle and Jester, looks much better than the first couple I did! Thanks again guys for the tips!

how does this look? just brushed off the "slag" and funky burnt stuff.

the part that the box will sit in all finished! on to the base and uprights!

measuring 16 times! cutting once, then laying out for test fit!

bottom piece is complete! still need to figure out caster placement and such. but I will worry about that after i get a piece of plate steel to fill in the bottom to hold the jack, and stands, and such!

 

[Black'03LevelII]

Progress continued!

actual uprights welded to the bottom side of the top piece (that tool box sits in) welded to this first since that dictated where the upright would be located

These next three shots are varying angles, of the cart, I still need to add angled braces and actually weld the very bottom to the upright stands, but it gives ya a good idea of the size and shape.

the next pic up for viewing pleasure is the actual box itself, it is 24" tall by 42" wide overall. has 10 drawers and a flip up lid.

I'm hoping to finish up the fab part Saturday, get the plate and paint it next weekend.

 

[Grey_04]

looks good so far to bad you didn't have that old headache rack jm leasing tossed away last week it was all diamond plate.

 

[The Jester Race]

So I actually got to work on this little project of mine again today. First up a pic of a weld before grinding it down smooth, took the advice of both Weezle and Jester, looks much better than the first couple I did! Thanks again guys for the tips!

how does this look? just brushed off the "slag" and funky burnt stuff.

Be sure to get all the slag off. Everything circled in red is slag.

You typically cannot get most of the slag off with just a brush, you need to use a chip hammer....or anything hard with a point, corner of a piece of flat bar, hammer and a cold chisel, or anything really. The idea is to break the slag shell off then use a wire brush to clean it up.

You can also use a wire wheel for a 4.5" grinder/ die grinder, but if you do be sure to wear safety glasses and a respirator. That flux is some nasty shit.

The 1/3 of the weld that is exposed looks good, it's wetted in good, doesn't appear to have any undercut or coldlap. Keep it up.

On a side note, on anything structural ( i.e. suspension brackets) DO NOT grind your welds. Grinding can, and usually does weaken a weld. Grinding can create pressure ridges in the weld that can cause the weld to fail.

-Jester

 

[Black'03LevelII]

Good stuff to know! Thanks again for the input. I did go back over it a pointed body hammer (looks similar to what you posted but had a flat head on the other side) and it did look more like the parts not in red.

I am gonna go look at the Home Depot Saturday for a hammer like you pictured, and a magnetic holder deal too.

 

[crawlin91]

I see a lot of fire hazards in there as far as welding or throwing sparks with a grinder goes.... rugs, and laundry on the floor, different accelerators and other random fuel sources, all it takes is one, and you don't see everything when under a welding hood.....I would clean up a little better. Also whenever I am welding I make sure to have the hose turned on and run to just outside of the garage with a high pressure nozzle tip and a fire extinguisher on hand. I'll also stay in the garage for an extra ten minutes or so afterwards and drink a beer or cleanup while on fire watch, just in case.

 

[ranger_mclaren]

Nice progress man, I can't wait to see it done. I can see your set up for your air compressor you mentioned at the meet. I'm not going to lie to ya I thought the same fire hazard too when I saw the one pic but I could also see me doing the same thing too.

 

[--weezl--]

those welds look quite good! just try to focus on making your swirls uniform now and you've got it... try welding inside 90* corners too, if you can do that, you can do anything...

 

[Black'03LevelII]

I actually have three fire extinguishers in the garage, just moved em out the way while moving around takin pics. I keep a bigger 10lb deal within three feet of me and the project, and two smaller 3lb deals just outside the door. (as far as the clothes go, those are my sisters, I keep tellin her to get her crap put away!)

Hey Weezle, i did try a couple on the inside of a 90, they look ok but need more work! (not load bearing on this so . . . . ) seems the more i mess with it the better my welds look, I do appreciate the pointers you guy have given me so far!

 

[Black'03LevelII]

Oh yea, I almost forgot, I did get a little more done today. Ran out of wire so I had to run to the store to get another roll! Got the bottom welded in, and got the arms that will hold my ramps in storage.

the arms that hold my ramps for storage.

how they look from the "front" of the cart.

an end shot of the ramps stowed away, I'm going to add two small "leftover" pieces on this end to hold my creeper.

So far during this build I have used one 1lb roll of flux core wire, and about 35' of 1" square tube. If you count the roll of wire I had to buy today, I'm out a grand total of $21!

 

[--weezl--]

looking good!

when i say an inside 90* bend, i mean something like 3" wide flatbar over a 6" or longer stretch... so difficult... doing 1" square tubing isn't easy, but flatbar, or anything else that doesn't really give you access from the sides is SO much harder... because you have to get the gun in there, keep it moving, AND see what you're doing all in 1/2 the space as you do when it's flat...

most welds of >90* are HARD dare i say nearly impossible... i can (used to be able to, haven't welded ANYTHING in about a year, haven't mig welded in about 5 years or so) do 90's alright, tried some around 100ish... more than that and i don't think you could unless you're sticking it

 

[The Jester Race]

looking good!

when i say an inside 90* bend, i mean something like 3" wide flatbar over a 6" or longer stretch... so difficult... doing 1" square tubing isn't easy, but flatbar, or anything else that doesn't really give you access from the sides is SO much harder... because you have to get the gun in there, keep it moving, AND see what you're doing all in 1/2 the space as you do when it's flat...

most welds of >90* are HARD dare i say nearly impossible... i can (used to be able to, haven't welded ANYTHING in about a year, haven't mig welded in about 5 years or so) do 90's alright, tried some around 100ish... more than that and i don't think you could unless you're sticking it

What in the hell are you rambling on about?

You want hard, try welding tube nodes. Those are some tricky sonsabitches.
Or Mirror welding, that's some fun stuff.
THESE ARE NOT MY WELDS

-Jester

 

[--weezl--]

those are beautiful welds... tube welding is hard, but i have the hardest welding with not being able to see what i'm doing... tube welding you can atleast see... even the inside corners... different people have different strengths though too eh?

the two hard angles would be hard as hell for sure on this picture though... i don't envy the person who had to do them

and i'm probably rambling on, on a result of my rye

 

[nate09]

Another quick note about grinding your welds... always grind perpendicular (90 degrees) to the weld direction or you'll create stress risers (areas for the weld to fail).