What to include in welders cart

[Sammy]

I am new to welding and just got a red box 5000 HD as a starter. I want to make a cart for it and will probably do some plans up at school tomorrow on CAD. Any suggestions as to what i should include on the cart, such as space for certain tools... or any cool things that you guys did that worked out good? Let me know your ideas.

Thanks so much in advance!!!

[Kamikaze]

A couple of items I find I am always looking for:

Welpers
Clamps
Marking Pens / Silverstreak
Square
Nozzle Dip
Extension cable (I run a heavy duty 220 V)

[tom37]

Sammy, everyone is different man. What I think would be important may not be what the next guy thinks should be there. The best advice I can give, would be to make a snatch folder on your desktop. Then you can build sub folders within that folder labeled to different projects. Every time you see something cool you can (save as) to the folder of choice, and its super easy to find all the cool pics you have saved. That way when you want to look for good ideas, they aren't far away.

When I first started I just had to have a cart right now, so I built one. Don't get me wrong, the cart got out of control fast with all the stuff I thought I needed. It was not a total loss since it gave me good practice.

Look and look and look some more, there is many years of thought on this site. With that much experience there is some really great ideas.

Myself, I keep 3 lids on my cart. Two hang on the front are both auto-dark and a fixed shade #3 for the plasma sits on top of the welder. Other then that I have a couple plastic bins, since I didn't have material at the time. I also keep my 220 cords on my cart.

All the other stuff is in a neat little cart I got on sale at HF.

[Jack Olsen]

Cutters for wire
Wrenches/nut drivers for changing polarity or switching wire spools
Metal thickness gauge
Wire brush
Pam spray for nozel
Spare tips
Soapstone
Wire rolls
Spare gloves

Nice to have a place to hang your jacket and helmet, too.

[Sammy]

Excuse my ignorance, but what are welpers??? I have come across that term a couple of times now but since i am new to welding, it is a learning process.
Thanks in advance for your replys and thanx for all the help, and advice.

[wb4rt]

This is a link to a picture of welpers:

http://www.airgas.com/browse/product...3&WT.svl=12293

[muskt]

One item that no one mentioned, that has come up before is a fold-out shelf to lay things on. BAD PLAN!! If you do make one, the day will come when you just need to touch up something with the grinder. No matter how dedicated we try to be, that "just a quick touch-up" will occur. You do not want that grinding dust in or near your welder.

Best of luck with the project.

Jerry in Anchorage

[SpyGuy]

-Mini-fridge (for the beer)
-Receiver-mounted hibachi and charcoal carrier
-Stereo rack with separate-mounted speakers

.... oh, wait .... sorry, that's the party cart, not the welding cart ...

-large wheels for offroad capability
-some sort of steering for the front (think wagon)
-slot rack for commonly-used tools; i.e., pliers, hammer, wire brush, etc.
-bar rack for clamps
-small tray for pens, punches, little parts
-cable reels
-torch holder

[SmokinPRanch]

I like big wheels for "off-road" use. Pneumatic or "flat free" tires so it doesn't rattle when going off-road.

Cable reels or racks...never fails to be rolling along and have a cable sneak under a wheel to bring things to a screeching halt.

If you plan on being mobile quite a bit, balance is important. Low center of gravity to prevent tipping, wide wheelbase, load distributed evenly.

Al

[nocheepgas]

Not familiar with your model of welder you mentioned, but it's nice to have your cart wired. That way you plug your welder, grinder, drills, whatever into your cart and plug your cart into the wall. I also like a drawer, grinder hanger and cord/cable hooks.