[av8or1]

I solved the wall “access” issue by running my plumbing along the top plate. Then dropped wherever I needed. Same for my electrical. Keeps folks from drilling holes in the dangerous/expensive stuff. Threaded black pipe could be a decent solution for you. Flexible configs, adaptable later if you choose an option.

Well, we think alike CJ. I would follow suit, stringing the air stuff along the top of the walls, dropping lines where needed. The trouble is access. When you can't even get to that area, it's difficult to stand on anything tall enough to reach that high.

And yes, black pipe is indeed the way I have decided to go with my particular install, whenever and wherever it happens. I had debated only regarding pipe diameter. I've pretty much settled on 1" but haven't given that any cycles in quite a while, so...

Anyway thanks again!

[DavidR8]

I hear you on the ‘so much stuff that I can’t get to the walls’ problem.

I rented a storage container for a month to store much of the stuff in my shop so that I could run electrical, insulation and panel the interior.

That was a good call on your part and definitely the way I'd go if I was to plumb the shop. The hassle of said rental is yet another reason I have yet to travel down that path, if to speak openly.

Yup I get you on the hassle part.
I found a company to dropped off and picked up for $100.
Was a piece of cake.


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[av8or1]

So today was filled with family stuff, but I made it out to work on the project in the late afternoon. 'Always fighting daylight/darkness when ya do that. No surprise there. I digress.

Occasionally when I run the plasma things go a tad awry. I haven't yet determined if it is me or the machine. I am suspecting the former the majority of the time that I ponder over it. The one thing that I've discovered - or at least appear to have discovered - is in regard to the plasma cutting process as a whole. It seems to be rather persnickety and somewhat rigid. You need to have the workpiece clamp on fresh clean metal and if you attempt to cut through anything that is other than fresh clean metal (paint for example) then it is possible that you won't be able to complete the cut. At least not without issue anyway. That could be this particular machine, the whole inferior arc sensing circuit business that was previously mentioned, or it could be me. Not sure yet. I do know that the cutting of these caster plates down to size was more of a pain than I had anticipated. And in the end a couple of them came out looking like "fido's butt". Might just be me...

The table is doing fantastic work though, serving many roles:

storage rack 25.jpg (215.61 KiB) Viewed 3634 times

And the lil' mini-me air supply system is doing a bang-up job as well:

portable air 7.jpg (211.04 KiB) Viewed 3634 times

So in the end I am reasonably pleased. Hopefully once I have some "seat time" as Jody might describe it under my belt with the plasma things will be "like cheese". TBD.

[av8or1]

So the first order of business was to trim all 6 of those caster plates down to size. I had three remaining. I powered through that, verifying settings (and modifying if need be) as I went in an attempt to dial things in. In the end they are all cut down sure enough but boy, some of them need some touch-up and how...

Anyway, that done I turned my attention to the diamond plate. The edges that were cut of the three sections needed grinding down with the flap disc, so I tended to that straight away. In addition, I rounded off the corners on all 3 sections to aid in future don't-cut-yourself endeavors, as well as ground down the sides and tops-n-bottoms of those sides. Essentially I tried to make every bit of that diamond plate smooth to the touch of a bare hand so that there would be no concern in the future, most especially in regard to the lil' un I have runnin' around. Funny how the little things like that are the largest time sinks aren't they???

Prior to doing all of that however, I marked and trimmed down one piece of the plate:

diamond plate 11.jpg (228.37 KiB) Viewed 3634 times

diamond plate 12.jpg (75.32 KiB) Viewed 3634 times

[av8or1]

And then began applying my usual rusty metal primer to these panels:

diamond plate 13.jpg (70.21 KiB) Viewed 3633 times

Ya use a fair amount of this stuff on your larger projects dontchaknow:

diamond plate 14.jpg (217.7 KiB) Viewed 3633 times

[av8or1]

I coated both sides of the one that I cut, but only managed to do the top side of the other two, since the lil' un insisted on getting back onto the top of the rack when the primer had dried:

storage rack 26.jpg (224.43 KiB) Viewed 3648 times

So I still have the underside of those two panels to-go. However that is not a big deal, since all three of them will need to be removed again in order to weld the underside of the supports and gussets, not to mention the trimming down (with the plasma again) of the feet to match the size of the casters.

And this is what I prefer to see in regard to the fitment of the diamond plate when working on these types of projects:

storage rack 27.jpg (31.5 KiB) Viewed 3648 times

Grind that back to metal along that ridge in a few places and you can easily weld-in your stitches. I just prefer that approach for whatever reason. 'Easier to secure than welding onto the sides. For me anyway.

[av8or1]

And here is the one 240V outlet that I use for the toys CJ:

240V outlet 1.jpg (208.46 KiB) Viewed 3645 times

At the time I was unaware that there are a number of different options for a 240V outlet type. The electricians asked what I wanted. My response was basically "...uh, I wasn't aware of that. Just make it fit the compressor's plug. And so they did. However, you need the Nema 6-50 for welding type of 240V toys, so I had to fashion one of those up myself. I went to a box store and bought the thickest gauge wire they had (which was smaller than I wanted, but ...) and a male plug that I thought would fit the female plug that the electricians had installed on the wall. Turns out that those have minor variance, so I had to return to the store for "the other one" to match the outlet!

I found the Nema outlet online as I recall and ended up with this:

240V outlet 2.jpg (228.12 KiB) Viewed 3645 times

And so that is how I power my welder, plasma cutter and the other welder whenever I use them. The compressor doesn't need this rig and merely plugs straight into the wall socket.

This CJ is limiting, most-definitely-not ideal and not even to my liking. However I have decided that I just don't want to spend the $$$ upgrading the workshop if I am intending to move, since the likelihood of being able to recover that investment when I sell is almost-certainly zero. I recall two appraisers who both told me that any improvements I do to the workshop should be done with the notion that I am spending my own money for my own gratification and to not expect to see that money, or any percentage of it, when I sell. I have taken that notion seriously and thus have avoided upgrading. I digress.

[av8or1]

These are the looking-worse-for-wear caster plates after a disassembly:

casters 18.jpg (70.01 KiB) Viewed 3645 times

So the next step in this process will be to grind these down. After that, I need to weld the all-thread to them and then re-assemble. And speaking of assembly/disassembly, this was the second or third time I've done that:

casters 19.jpg (76.96 KiB) Viewed 3645 times

And thus even though I have mentioned this a few posts ago, I think it bears repeating: this is why I usually just weld the casters to whatever I am building!

Thank you for reading.

[cj737]

What you can do to make your life a bit easier is to fashion "pigtail" adapters from all of your different machines to use that wall mounted outlet. From the looks of it, the wall is an L14-30. Grab a couple of male L14-30s, wire them to different "R" type mating plugs, make the pigtail about 2' long with ample gauge wiring. Plug the pigtails into your machines, then you are ready to swap own the fly.


I have probably 6 or 7 different pigtails for single or 3-phase connectors. you never know where/what power is going to be around.

[av8or1]

What you can do to make your life a bit easier is to fashion "pigtail" adapters from all of your different machines to use that wall mounted outlet. From the looks of it, the wall is an L14-30. Grab a couple of male L14-30s, wire them to different "R" type mating plugs, make the pigtail about 2' long with ample gauge wiring. Plug the pigtails into your machines, then you are ready to swap own the fly.


I have probably 6 or 7 different pigtails for single or 3-phase connectors. you never know where/what power is going to be around.

Sage advice thanks!

[av8or1]

Well I made good progress tonight y'all. Even did alright with the rod to boot, which was a welcome change. Funny though how the little tasks require the most time, isn't it? I would certainly see that general fabrication axiom hold true today. I began with grinding all 6 of the caster plates:

casters 20.jpg (75.95 KiB) Viewed 3617 times

And applying primer:

casters 21.jpg (76.16 KiB) Viewed 3617 times

[av8or1]

Then applying even more primer to the undersides of the two diamond plate panels that still needed it:

storage rack 28.jpg (233.86 KiB) Viewed 3616 times

Then flipping the rack on its side and then on its top to weld the bottom of the supports as well as the gussets:

storage rack 29.jpg (244.17 KiB) Viewed 3616 times

[av8or1]

The largest time sink of the day however would involve the casters. I needed to weld the all-thread to the caster plates. The idea was to insert the end of one of the all-thread rods into the opening in the middle of the plate. There was approximately at 1/16" gap there, so I wouldn't be able to simply cram them together, 90-degree it from two sides, weld and call it good. And the weld would be on the opposite side from the rod, not on the side that would thread into the feet. In other words I decided to plug weld them together.

After some brew-hah regarding how to go about doing this, I cobbled together this jig:

casters 22.jpg (67.32 KiB) Viewed 3618 times

casters 23.jpg (64.92 KiB) Viewed 3618 times

[av8or1]

That kept things in alignment until I could get it tacked:

casters 24.jpg (215.45 KiB) Viewed 3618 times

In fact it yielded positioning good enough that I ended up welding most of the 6 caster plates and all-threads while simply leaving it in this position:

casters 25.jpg (70.24 KiB) Viewed 3618 times

Gave 'em the ol' eye-ball test after they came out of the oven. All but one looked spot on. And the one was only slightly off; dunno what happened but it was insignificant enough that I opted to live with it.

[av8or1]

Seeing as how I won't be able to install the two middle support legs until after I finish the work on the wife-eee's car build (during the course of which will use this storage rack) I elected to only assemble 4 of the 6 casters:

casters 26.jpg (70.93 KiB) Viewed 3618 times

Daylight was fading and how by this point, and I was bound-n-determined to at least get-in a mock-up of the rack near the Crown Victoria.

Note to self: 10" of adjustment is downright way-too-much. And crazily so:

casters 27.jpg (214.17 KiB) Viewed 3618 times

Simply threading these 4 into the feet became a time sink in and of itself!

[av8or1]

At last it found home:

casters 28.jpg (81.27 KiB) Viewed 3624 times

Times 4:

casters 29.jpg (232.11 KiB) Viewed 3624 times

[av8or1]

First test-fit above the automotive build candidate, as it were, which is still under cover for the time being:

storage rack 30.jpg (73.66 KiB) Viewed 3625 times

Fits quite nicely, just as I calculated it, which was a refreshing change of pace:

storage rack 31.jpg (83.49 KiB) Viewed 3625 times

[av8or1]

Right at 2":

storage rack 32.jpg (57.73 KiB) Viewed 3624 times

The son insisted that I haul my ol' fat a$$ up there and play for a bit:

storage rack 33.jpg (80.19 KiB) Viewed 3624 times

Good time was had by all. There are several housekeeping type of tasks that remain. I still need to weld the diamond plates to the frame, finish welding-out the feet to the 4 verticals and install some type of bracing that will provide additional rigidity to the structure by connecting each pair of legs together, back-to-front. Later on of course I'll need to add the to verticals to the middle of the structure but can't do that just yet for obvious reasons.

Thank you for reading.

[cj737]

You might run 2 pieces of angle iron side-to-side underneath. Stitch them to the crossed rails. You'd be surprised at how much strength that will add in the center preventing the "sag".

[av8or1]

You might run 2 pieces of angle iron side-to-side underneath. Stitch them to the crossed rails. You'd be surprised at how much strength that will add in the center preventing the "sag".

Thank you for that CJ ... to be clear, are you suggesting that the angle should be applied parallel (and likely adjacent) to the support beams or that the angle should connect those support beams together by running the angle parallel to the 12' long main beams?

[cj737]

Parallel to the long sides. Welded at every intersection. This turns all "rails" into a more monolithic structure. Plus, angle is very strong in it's vertical axis. 1.5x1.5x.187 (3/16) would be quite stout.

I like X bracing on the legs, personally. Again, angle iron works really well. You can reverse the two angles to be horizontal flange against each other and weld them at the intersection. Cope the corners to fit your leg profiles. A few stitch welds, and Magilla the Gorilla won't be able to flex that thing.

[DavidR8]

@av8or1 looking good!
Are you at all concerned with the legs splaying when it’s loaded up and needs to be moved?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[av8or1]

Parallel to the long sides. Welded at every intersection. This turns all "rails" into a more monolithic structure. Plus, angle is very strong in it's vertical axis. 1.5x1.5x.187 (3/16) would be quite stout.

I like X bracing on the legs, personally. Again, angle iron works really well. You can reverse the two angles to be horizontal flange against each other and weld them at the intersection. Cope the corners to fit your leg profiles. A few stitch welds, and Magilla the Gorilla won't be able to flex that thing.

Alright then. I do have a bit of the 3/16" angle left over from the gantry build, but not enough to cover even one span. So I sent an email to the metal supplier. Haven't heard back, will check tomorrow.

I had planned on joining each pair of legs, though I hadn't considered the X bracing thing. 'Was thinking more along the lines of simple ladder rung stuff. Just something to keep them together. I also wanted a convenient means of climbing onto the rack if it ever came to that.

Thanks again!

[av8or1]

@av8or1 looking good!
Are you at all concerned with the legs splaying when it’s loaded up and needs to be moved?

Thank you!

Confused though. Am I concerned about an issue with the legs when? As it sits currently, I will not store anything on it in that configuration. I am using this storage rack in a double-duty fashion at present. Its first task will be to hold my tail in suspension above the wife-eee's car while I cut out a hole for her new moon roof. Once that is done, I will finish off the work to convert the rack into a proper storage system. So until then, it'll hold nothing other than my large carcass and some relatively light equipment. Let's say 300 lbs in total. With the gusseting I'm not worried about that, no. And if I can lay hands on some angle tomorrow such that I can weld that in prior to hauling my too-fat self up on top of it, then I would be even less concerned.

As for the work that remains to convert this rack into a good storage mechanism, there are still two more legs and casters that I will weld into the center of the 12' span. I haven't done that yet simply because the rack couldn't then be used to straddle the car, as seen in the pictures in the previous post. Anyway, I will weld-in these legs and the 6 gussets that go along with them prior to placing the rack into the outbuilding and stacking stuff on top of it. Here are those components:

storage rack 34.jpg (53.08 KiB) Viewed 3575 times

These are mostly ready to go. I just need to weld on the feet and then assemble them. Finally, I then need to weld them onto the bottom of the 12' longitudinal beams and put everything into rusty metal primer.

Hope that makes sense.

[av8or1]

Well tonight after work was filled with more of the little stuff: welding the outer gusset seams, the feet, the diamond plate panels, grinding, primer, etc.

I opted to just tack the diamond plate into position in several places rather than stitch weld them. They don't need much really; just enough to remain in position and hold up to light shifting. And so that's the way I went with it:

storage rack 36.jpg (22.67 KiB) Viewed 3573 times

And no, I don't care if the primer runs in these types of builds. Coverage and plenty of it is all I care about:

storage rack 37.jpg (20.93 KiB) Viewed 3573 times

Which is a good thing 'cause I don't know about y'all, but the consistency I seem to experience when using spray (rattle) cans is anything BUT consistent.