Upcycled Welding Cart

To build the frame for Project Supernugget I had to get a TIG welding machine which would allow me to lay sweet dimes - not that I'm good enough to do that, but I didn't want the machine to be the limitation. I settled on the Primeweld 225X, which can provide more power than I'll ever need with an air-cooled torch. Combining that with the budget MIG my brother's letting me borrow and there are few things I can't weld.

Any good welding machine needs an equally good cart, and when I saw an abandoned shopping cart on a highway median I decided to rescue it for this purpose. It ended up being the perfect size for the two machines and fit them along with shielding gas and leads in a very compact and easy-to-roll package.

I like to utilize CAD as much as possible, so that I can frontload my effort in the manufacturing process. I cut away the top basket and did a 3D scan of the lower part of the cart frame. This ended up having some suprisingly complex geometry which made the scan very useful, and allowed me to make the lower welder platform flat and level.

The rear of the cart has a platform and retention features for shielding gas bottles.