Got MIG??? Home made mobile bases

[John Bush]

I bet you all were thinking of Angelina Jolie with 2% homogenized on her upper lip and a welding helmet on. I had posted in several threads about mobile bases and I thought others may be interested in how I handled mobility for some heavy new iron. I got a MIG so I could use it to make "things" in the shop and then I had to buy several new machines to make "things" for.

I initially got four leveling castors from Great Lakes Castors for a lathe I got last July(~1200#s with bed extension and large banjo)

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i84/bushhog104/PICT0170.jpg

Then before X-Mas got a new BS(~600#s) A bit fuzzy

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i84/bushhog104/PICT0149.jpg

another view:

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i84/bushhog104/PICT0151.jpg

In action:

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i84/bushhog104/PICT0152.jpg


Jointer base:(~800# machine)

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i84/bushhog104/PICT0154.jpg

In action:

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i84/bushhog104/PICT0158.jpg

The two sets as delivered:

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i84/bushhog104/PICT0146.jpg

The castors are $12.00 each and the steel was ~$60.00, playing with the MIG without burning down the shop-----priceless!!

In mobile phase the castors allow 360 deg. rotation so you can spin the machine with ease. To lock down you rotate a cogged wheel within the housing with you finger and a rubber "foot" lowers to make contact with the floor. No movement at all, even with a large, unbalanced block on the lathe. I googled several different leveling castors and found these as the best value, and their performance has been great. Rustoleum even has a matching Griz color in the hammered finish. For those that have seen this posting before, my apologies and hopefully this info will be helpful to all the others. Thanks for looking. John.

[Jim Becker]

Very nice work! Good sturdy mobility solutions are always nice to see.

[John Bush]

Thanks Jim,
They are likely overbuilt but they sure are stable. JCB.

[Steve Clardy]

Nice work!

[john tomljenovic]

john. you are righteously proud.

for those in the know, your casters look like Zambus knockoffs I have seen other copies as well. I own a mig machine but havent found a need to build a mobile base yet, that looks to change. anyway keep up the good work.

[Matt Robinette]

Thanks Dave I have been looking for casters for my MM bandsaw the mobility kit they sell isn't the best. I am also going to put a set under my MM J/P.

Have Mig will travel.
Matt

[Jason Morgan]

Great work. I'd love to do that myself. How do you get started welding? I remember doing some in high school shop, but that was a long time ago.

Thanks

[John Bush]

Hi Jason,
I trust the emotion in Appleton will swing for support of the Seahawks Saturday---,or maybe for that old Favre guy. Good luck to the Packers, but I'm pushing for the 'Hawks.

I have always wanted to learn to weld, but had no real excuse to buy the necessary equipment and learn to do it. I finally signed up for a general, introductory class at a local Vo-tech school. The class was taught by a long time Boeing welding specialist who had been teaching for years. He did most of the welds done by Boeing on the Hubble Space Telescope, so he knows his poop. Most of the students were mid-twenties, had lots of skin art and perforations, two still had mohawks, they all had good teeth:D and they all had a huge interest in learning the trade. They all seemed pretty sharp and motivated to learn and get out in the field and work. Lots of job opportunties for them and it was refreshing to see this generation X, or Y, step up and expand their work ethic. I, on the other hand, just wanted to be able to show off to my nighbors that I could fix their old lawn mower with all my shiney, sparky new gadgets!!

We got to try gas, stick, flexcore, MIG, and TIG welding, gas and plasma cutting in a one quarter school term. More classes were available in progressively more specific techniques that could ultimately lead to state certification for jobs.

I bet if you checked with the local welding supplier and local fab shops you could find a class or an individual that would teach you, or you could come out here and I could show you, now that I have done a grand total of 18 welds and consider myself quite the expert. At least I can show you how to use the grinder to smooth out all the welds that resemble seagull droppings!! Good luck. John.

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!

[Matt Robinette]

Jason
You can check the schools in you area. Mig welding is pretty easy. You can go to the Miller welding web site and find alot of good information.

[Rod Sheridan]

John, nice mobile bases.

I make mine the same way except for the angle iron brackets for the casters.

I normally use unequal angle, with the angle flipped upside down from your use, so that the caster only raises the base aproximately 1/4" above the floor, and I usually add a pair of threaded levellers to look the base in position once I've moved the machinery to where I want it.

Regards, Rod.

[Al Willits]

Looks sturdy, better than those that they sell at the wood stores.

Welding?
Try a adult ed class at your local high school or college, usually a 2 or 3 night class is enough to get ya into trouble..:)

Or if anyone's in the Mpls/St Paul area maybe give me a call, I have one and can weld it for ya.
Or you can use the welder and I'll put out the sawdust fires as ya go....:D

Al

[Rob Will]

John, nice mobile bases.

I make mine the same way except for the angle iron brackets for the casters.

I normally use unequal angle, with the angle flipped upside down from your use, so that the caster only raises the base aproximately 1/4" above the floor, and I usually add a pair of threaded levellers to look the base in position once I've moved the machinery to where I want it.

Regards, Rod.

Yes, they look great. Nice work!
I use inverted unequal angle as well.
In fact, you can make the entire end piece with the angle flipped out and put your wheels on the end. This approach also allows the use of a larger wheel diameter without raising the machine any higher.
Rob

[fred woltersdorf]

I initially got four leveling castors from Great Lakes Castors for a lathe I got last July(~1200#s with bed extension and large banjo)

John.
i went on their website and tried to order 4 castors but they are either out of stock or not carrying them. i'll try to call them and see whats up.

[David Weaver]

I haven't welded anything to get my mobile bases, but I have figured out that a lot of the mobility kits - especially the ones that are adjustable in size, are a whole lot better if you take the extension arms out and drill holes in the sheet metal on the bottom of whatever the respective tool is and just attach the corners with the casters direction to the tool and forget the rest. If I can remember (I probably won't until the weekend), I'll take a picture of the parts of the HTC kit that I attached to my Jet JWBS18-X band saw.

Life is a lot easier the way it is than it would be to put the saw in the adjustable base temporarily, and since my saw needs to be permanently portable, the lack of ability to use the base for another tool doesn't really come into play.

That might not make a lot of sense, but it will once I take pictures. Thanks to Jet for making the bottom of the tool reinforced heavy gauge sheet metal to make it suitable for that trick.

[John Bush]

Good morning Fred,
I ordered mine, 8 in total, in Dec and recieved them in less than a week. I would give them a call. They were very helpful in selecting the castors and should be able to help you out as well.

I agree with the other posters in regard to castor elevation. Extra hieght is not an issue for me, and a wider flange would be neccessary to allow for the ~3" rotation of the castor. I would design and fab them that way now. JCB.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Nice looking bases. I used to buy the Harbor Freight universal base kits. They were a clone of the Delta mobile base kit. I would rob the castor, and wheels from them. Then using 1 X 2, 14 ga rectangular tubing, weld up my own. They look like the ones that Delta sells. Now I buy the mobile bases from Homier and rob the parts.

[Jason Morgan]

John,

I must admit that I am a transplant to the appleton area, but the wife is an avid (rabid) packers fan. I actually like Denver, but they are in the proverbial toilet, so I will root for the pack. I think there is a clause in the purchase contract for our house that to own land this close to Lambeau Field you have to have at least one packer fan in residence.

Do you think welding is something you can teach yourself? Through practice, reading and more practice Ive taught myself woodworking, basic welding with rosin core wire feed welder cant be that much harder can it? I am also worried about having to have a bunch of other metal working tools if I am going to build anything of value. Something like your excellent mobile bases would require a lot of extra equipment? What do you cut your angle iron with?

Go Pack Go!

[John Bush]

Hi Jason,
You could teach yourself if you are not in a hurry. It took me a while to experiment with the amp level, feed rate, gas flow level, and how to coordinate hand position and movement to lay a smooth bead. I found an old Griz horizontal metal BS for $50.00 on CL and it has worked perfectly. I joined the corners with 45 deg joints and they turned out nicely. I bought a HF auto darkening helmet for ~$50.00(watch for sales), a full leather welding jacket(at the insistance of the instructor) which I found I don't need or use, Millermatic 175 with tank and regulator on CL for $650. This unit runs on 220 VAC so I can weld 1/4 steel. The 110 varieties don't penetrate as deeply so you are a bit limited by that, but they work just the same. I already had a 4" angle grinder to smooth out all the crappy welds and , of course, two fire extinguishers. I used the flexcore welder once at the vo-tech, and it was the easiest of all the machines to use and would save the cost of the bottle, reg, and refills and still make excellent welds. I also made a large wood rack for the shop loft to gain more room downstairs, and by the time I finished it, the welds were
looking better. Didn't have to grind away as much "unattractive" welds and the shop is still standing!!

I would keep an eye on CL and see what is available and hang around the supply shops to see if one falls of the truck.. I suggest you go for it, but keep in mind that you should always wear underwear. Look what happened to Britney!!

[Al Willits]

Fwiw, you could weld this up with several different units, a oxyacetylene set would work, along with TIG and stick welder.

The gas set up might be the cheapest and easist to learn I think.

Al

[John Bush]

That's what is so valuable with the vo-tech venue, they have all the different modes to try. I forgot about oxyacetylene, it's ot as sexy as a wire feed but would work well also.

[Steven DeMars]

Any chance anyone else has any welded mobile bases to share . . .

Thanks,
Steve:rolleyes:

[Gene Michael]

The bases look great and I like your approach - buy the MIG, then more tools to make bases for. Yeah!!!!! :D:D:D

[Grady Cowardin]

Lookin good. Seams are invisible. Are you using a chop saw for cutting your steel or doing it by hand?

[Cary Falk]

What do you cut your angle iron with?
Jason,
This one from HF has a cult following on the Yahoo boards. I have it and it works great. I got mine on sale with a coupon and I think it cost me about $130.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93762


Any chance anyone else has any welded mobile bases to share . . .

Thanks,
Steve:rolleyes:

Steve,
I finished this one last weekend. I have since put a wooden shelf in the bottom of it to hold the paper and accessories.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/DSC_0109.jpg

[Kevin Groenke]

What do you cut your angle iron with?


If you have the space a horizontal bandsaw like Cary referred to is a great tool for cutting steel shapes. If you're looking for something a bit more compact you might consider an abrasive or dry cut-off saw. If you have a wood chop saw that isn't precious (and not too plastic-y) you can probably put an abrasive blade in it to cut steel.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=44829
http://www.amazon.com/Porter-Cable-1410-14-Inch-Cutoff-Machine/dp/B0000222X3/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1209605272&sr=1-12


We just got a dry cut saw. Though it feels "just plain wrong" to run a carbide tipped blade into a piece of steel, it works great. It's faster, more convenient and leaves a better cut than a horizontal bandsaw or an abrasive chopsaw.

-kg

[John Bush]

Hi Cary and Jason.
The metal saw in the HF link is the same model I got from CL for $50.00. It is at least 20 y.o, according to the seller and is still sold by Griz as well. It is a bit slow when cutting flat stock or thicker stock but it can cut good 45's if you take the time to adjust the fence. By the way, how do you know when the blade is dull. This is the first metal BS for me and I am not sure if it is cutting WNL or is slow. Thanks, JCB.

[Matt Meiser]

Buy a new blade and look at the difference. I use a Morse blade that my dad told me about. Grainger carries them--I can get you the exact number if you'd like.

I passed up a Wilton 5x7 was with power feed and a lube pump that was a few miles from me on CL for $150. Still kicking myself for that.

[Mike Heidrick]

I took a community college welding class about a year and a half ago. I wanted to learn to weld to work on some tractor implements I had. Oxy, Stick, Mig and Tig were all taught. I find that I really like stick welding - if done right you can make some awesomely strong welds!

[Cary Falk]

Hi Cary and Jason.
The metal saw in the HF link is the same model I got from CL for $50.00. It is at least 20 y.o, according to the seller and is still sold by Griz as well. It is a bit slow when cutting flat stock or thicker stock but it can cut good 45's if you take the time to adjust the fence. By the way, how do you know when the blade is dull. This is the first metal BS for me and I am not sure if it is cutting WNL or is slow. Thanks, JCB.


I have only had my bansaw for a couple of months. I bought a good bi-metal blade. I was kinda wondering myself what the best way to tell when the blade is dull. I'm glad Matt chimed in. I would have probably used mine till it seemed like it was taking way too long to cut. I know it takes a long time now but the tradeoff is no black dust spewed around the garage and it is quiet. I cut some 6"x6"'x1/4" plate last weekend and it took forever. I think there is a piece still being cut in the saw now:D

[Matt Meiser]

This is the blade I'm using:
Link (http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg/productIndex.shtml?operator=keywordSearch&search_type=keyword&QueryString=4wb87&submit.x=0&submit.y=0)

[Steven Hardy]

Lincoln Mig welders are pretty cool also. The flux cored wire makes it a cinch to learn. To cut my steel...I use a good old fashioned Milwaukee sawzall and lots of oil. If you purchase a 220 volt model, you will have three distinct advantages . 1 More power. 2 Easier to use with a small 4-5000w generator since both fields will be in use. 3 Folks are less likely to ask to borrow it because they probably wont have a 220 outlet setup.;)