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So, Around 6 years ago or so I got a little lawn tractor, and one if it's jobs is to take the garbage down to the road everyweek. I was busy at the time and thought, I'll just whip up a quick little temporary cart and will get around to making a nicer one someday. It's low to the ground, so it makes it easy to put even a very heavily loaded garbage can on it.
That poor little temporary cart has finally gotten to the point where it's just not quite doing the job anymore. Old 2x4s and crusty OSB base....
Well, All this talk about welders finally got me off my hind end. My current welder is a little no-name cheapo my brother in law gave me many years ago. I've never gotten it to work quite right and have never really been able to draw a bead with it. It looks like it want's to support gas, but did not have the standard fittings, and it had a pretty low duty cycle I'm sure.
Well, Time to upgrade. I took Stu's advice and went ahead and got a 220 volt MIG unit. I had already bought a bottle of welding gas (argon/CO2) a while ago, but never really used it because it never worked on that other welder. I got the Lincoln 180HD at Home Depot. I have to say, I'm quite pleased with how it worked. Quiet, I used it for quite a bit today and never had to wait on it to cool down.
I admit, The TIG that Bryan got was tempting, but this is, as Stu puts it, pretty much just point and shoot. Could not be happier.
I had also picked up a little electric bandsaw from HF A while ago. Didn't really use it till today, but I have to say it worked great. Made slicing up the metal a quick and easy chore. A metal cutting chop saw would probably give me better results, but this thing throws no sparks and cuts smooth as butter. With careful use, all I needed was just a touch of grinding to get even my miter joints ready to weld.
So here's just a bunch of in process pictures.
And here we are, with the frame pretty much complete. Tomorrow I'll do a little clean up on it, some spray painting, and cut a piece of (replaceable) plywood to use as the base.
I might think about putting some kind of little low railing around it, but will see how it works first.
Oh, That front cross member is 1.5" square tube, the rest of the frame is 1.5" angle iron. It's the result of a bit of a miscalculation on how much angle iron I purchased, but if anyone asks, its because I was looking for a little more strength at the front.
If I didn't figure in the cost of the welder, The cost of the cart isn't all that bad...
That poor little temporary cart has finally gotten to the point where it's just not quite doing the job anymore. Old 2x4s and crusty OSB base....
Well, All this talk about welders finally got me off my hind end. My current welder is a little no-name cheapo my brother in law gave me many years ago. I've never gotten it to work quite right and have never really been able to draw a bead with it. It looks like it want's to support gas, but did not have the standard fittings, and it had a pretty low duty cycle I'm sure.
Well, Time to upgrade. I took Stu's advice and went ahead and got a 220 volt MIG unit. I had already bought a bottle of welding gas (argon/CO2) a while ago, but never really used it because it never worked on that other welder. I got the Lincoln 180HD at Home Depot. I have to say, I'm quite pleased with how it worked. Quiet, I used it for quite a bit today and never had to wait on it to cool down.
I admit, The TIG that Bryan got was tempting, but this is, as Stu puts it, pretty much just point and shoot. Could not be happier.
I had also picked up a little electric bandsaw from HF A while ago. Didn't really use it till today, but I have to say it worked great. Made slicing up the metal a quick and easy chore. A metal cutting chop saw would probably give me better results, but this thing throws no sparks and cuts smooth as butter. With careful use, all I needed was just a touch of grinding to get even my miter joints ready to weld.
So here's just a bunch of in process pictures.
And here we are, with the frame pretty much complete. Tomorrow I'll do a little clean up on it, some spray painting, and cut a piece of (replaceable) plywood to use as the base.
I might think about putting some kind of little low railing around it, but will see how it works first.
Oh, That front cross member is 1.5" square tube, the rest of the frame is 1.5" angle iron. It's the result of a bit of a miscalculation on how much angle iron I purchased, but if anyone asks, its because I was looking for a little more strength at the front.
If I didn't figure in the cost of the welder, The cost of the cart isn't all that bad...
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