TIG Welding Cart Design

Search the dropbox for images of carts others have built:

Search for cart and TIG and don't forget to search the retired files from former years as well.

Best Regards, Keith Marshall snipped-for-privacy@progressivelogic.com

"Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." - Will Rogers (1879-1935).

BIG, good (colson, darnel), locking swivel casters on all 4 corners. The water cooler goes below or next to the welder so if it leaks you don't have water in your machine. Tank rack on back holds 2 full sized tanks 1 inch from floor for easy loading. hooks on sides for cables.

There are a few here:

Larry 'Web Guy & Hobbyist Welder'

I built a cart for my 200DX as the first project.

I put a 5" deep drawer under the deck. It holds the foot pedal, tig torch, tungstens, side shield single focal length glasses, etc. I'm not currently planning on a water cooler. To fit on my cart, it'd have to be pretty short. I've yet to add the cylinder chocks to secure a cylinder.

I have barely scratched the surface of tig welding, but believe most is probably done indoors or in shelter to keep the gas shield intact. That's certainly true for me, because I'm a hobbyist. If I need to stick weld outside, I can always just lug mine, at 45 lb.

One big difference between the Synchrowave 180SD and the Dynasty 200DX is the 180SD is 224 lb., the Dynasty 200DX is only 45 lb., so you'll need a lot bigger cart for the Synchrowave. If you intend to drag it around outside, larger casters, preferably 6-8" pneumatics all around, would be needed. I use locking swivel polyurethane tired casters on carts weighing well over 500 lb. at work, but they're expensive. These casters can be allowed to swivel, or locked at any 45 deg. increment. I only use them on relatively smooth surfaces.

Good luck, and have fun.

Pete Keillor

Considering the weight of transformer machines, rolling over hoses/cords is not, in my opinion, a good practice. Pneumatic tires takes care of this but if you choose solid casters, build a bumper all the way around the caster out of square stock and mount it very close to the floor. This way, hoses and cords get pushed instead of rolled onto or over.

Shawn

Here's the cart i made for mine:

you make a cart you'll find what you would have done differently, so look at as many variations as possible. I wanted small shelves on top to set things on (y'know, like your can of suds.. or soda) pliers, clamps, etc. so i like that. I also used a set of swivel casters from an old discarded shopping cart (that baby sat out in a field for a good year before i took it, some bum is probably heartbroken) but these are pretty heavy duty and they work good. The rear wheels are lawnmower replacements. I went from a

60cf to 80cf cylinder (post flow seems to consumes more argon when stopping and starting alot) If you make it with too many drawers, shelves, etc. it becomes less moveable. I'm cramped for space so making the shelves part of the cart has worked well for me. I've also seen guys make one stand for two machines (tig and mig) but they seemed huge and a pain to lug around. good luck, walt

I have built many a cart, contraption, and tool for specialized uses. It seems like the thing to do is just make the damn thing, and then modify it to suit the needs once you use it and see where you were right/wrong. The final item usually starts to gel on the third try. Trick is to use cheap wheels (shopping cart as suggested) cheap tubing, and build for a concept rather than a final item to present to a marketer.

I have had ideas that didn't work worth a darn, and on the next generation gizmo, were deleted or altered. I have missed entirely obvious necessities that were incorporated into the second generation gizmo. And then, just with use, things appeared that only use would make one comprehend the need for.

So, don't worry about building it right or wrong. That is the beauty of having a shop to putter in. Just build it, and if you have to chunk the whole thing, no biggie. I have had several mysterious projects sitting in corners where people asked, "What is that?" or "What were you thinking?"

The joy is in the process, and not in the final product. Were it so, you would just go and buy a ready made cart.

But then, you would be adding shelves, handles, hangers, etc, etc, etc, and be into it for some $$$. Nothing like some metal, a welder, a chop saw and an idea.

Steve