Welding cart

[blubiker78]

Hi, I'm planning on building a MIG cart for my new small 220v mig.

I am thinking of putting a piece of 1/8" plate 24" x 24" on top of the cart to weld up smaller projects. The plate will be at a height of 44".

How wide should i make the cart so it will not be tippy. I was thinking 24" would this be enough?

[Hotfoot]

1/8" is too thin to use by itself for a welding surface, so plug weld a couple cross pieces of angle to the underside to keep it from buckling. its a small top, so make it a "drop-in" so, if it still warps, you can always pull it and go up to 1/4" or greater piece.

24" wide will be tippy that tall, so mount your swivel casters to outriggers to move them out a couple inches... that will triangulate your footprint enough to make it stable.

Mount the welder low.

Be sure to mount a fireproof (sheet metal) shelf just above the welder to keep molten stuff from falling on it.

[blubiker78]

I think i will use the medium size bottle, so hopefully that will help it to be more stable also.

[slag_ch]

blue, if your going with 24" width, and it's not stable, make a couple "outriggers" on the corners of the cart so that it still is 24" wide when stored, and when you need the stability, run your outrigigers down. you could have them either swing out horizontally with a screw foot or swing down vertically like a backhoe stabilizer.