Scorpion Welding Cart

While I was home for Xmas 2010, my good friend Brian Mort gave me his Millermatic 130XP MIG welder. Can you believe it?  This is a really nice machine, and this sonofabitch just gave it to me.  He suggested my first fabrication be a cart for my new Millermatic. The following is a documentation of a guy learning the art of welding.

As I stumble through this, I welcome any and all comments, suggestions and critiques. If you are a funny person, feel free to make jokes.  If you'd like to start welding, maybe you can learn from this as well.

I've done some research and have gotten friends' advice, but there's nothing like hands-on doing it.  Hopefully buying this mask will be the worst of the mistakes made.

After browsing the many carts out there, I chose this style.  Its low center of gravity and wide rear wheel base provide mobile stability and the tilted platform allows for easy access to the controls from a standing position.

Of course, the one pictured above is kinda boring.  I'm sure the good folk at Lincoln Electric know what they're doing, but I'll need to make some changes.

Scorpion Welder v1.1

As you can see, I'm a graphic designer as well as a welder.  The claws grasp the gas cylinder and the 10 ft gun is the tale with a "stinger" at the end.

Scorpion Welder v1.2

I'll be using 5/8" square tube for the majority of the frame since that is what is plentiful in the scrap bin at my local metal yard. 

Strips of cardboard were used to make a template.  As you may notice, the design continues to be refined.  As I'm looking at this, I'm noticing changes I'd still like to make.

Aside from the claw design and angles of the legs, this is close to what I expect the end result to look like.

I set up a workspace in the backyard,

tented off my area to keep dirty metal bits from getting all over this clean white dog,

and started up the angle grinder with a cutoff wheel.  There are a lot of different angles on this piece so I decided to cut them a little long and then figure out the angles. 

I'm not sure this was the best idea, because I ended up cutting everything twice, but I did get the angles pretty close.

Wherever two ends met, I tried to cut each at an angle that was half of the total angle. A bench grinder and/or a vise would've helped and will probably be the next additions to the tool kit.

Then the edges where beveled to leave room for the weld since I plan to grind these smooth.

After tacking all the pieces together on one side, I figured I'd get some practice welding on the bottom side which no one will see.  Pictured is one of the better attempts. Many of the others looked more like the two tacks in this photo.

I see a lot of grinding in my future, but The Scorpion Welding Cart is taking form.  The steel square represents the placement of the welder.

I'll need to make sure this construction is sound since it will support the machine I plan to use for future projects.  More to come once more's done.