Lathe/Mill tooling cart

Firestopper

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This has been on my want list for some time, in fact it keeps me up some nights with different ideas.
As I get older it seems more often these days the tooling, chucks, face plates, vices etc. get harder for me to pick up and move around. Well I don't plan on slowing down any time soon so I have been thinking a robust rolling cart that will fit my needs. I won't bore you all with overall dimensions but the finished height will be suited for my stature and will also accommodate the mill table for those vise swaps, and future 8" rotary table. I got the idea from the iron worker support cart I built last year. That set up has worked fantastic and I don't find myself putting off tool swaps any longer.

The main frame and uprights are 1/8" x 2.5" x 2.5" square. The caster plates are 1/4"x 4" flat strap sheared to 4.5" and punched. I decided to make four extra plates since I had the iron worker set up.
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The punch station made short work of the 7/16" holes. The stop indexes the corners of said plates to the correct hole location. After punching, you flip the plate for second hole, rotate the plate and repeat x 2.
The same machine sheared the 4" flat bar to 4.5".
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The main frame components ready for layout. The caster plates also laid out.
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The casters are 5" and should roll the loaded cart with minimal effort.

I decided to use the new Miller 252 for this entire project. Its a little different as I have grown accustomed to the push mig.
Got the main frame tacked and 1/4" x 1.5" angle iron was used for the lower shelf. This shelf will be used for the chucks, steady rear, follow rest and other heavy tooling that is seldom used.
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Welded up and squared (diagonal) to exact tolerances. Controlled welding technique was used to pull legs to desired measurements. In the end, the frame is perfectly squared.
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The lower shelf requires bracing to support the 14 gauge perforated sheet. I didn't want to use expanded metal since I wanted to have the ability to slide heavy tooling. The perf was leftover from years ago and has some surface rust that should clean up easily.
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The plasma cutter made quick work cutting it down to size. The corner notches where made with a simple 5" grinder and cutoff wheel.
Since I had the plasma set up, I decided to cut the 1/4" top sheet. Those measurement are 30" x 48" and will have a 2" overhang on four sides of the frame.
I'm a big fan of radius edges and rounded corners so the same 5" grinder was used with a 60 grit flap disc.
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Back to the lower shelf bracing. The same angle iron was used for this and was notched on the iron worker to allow a flush fit.
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A second notch the same thickness (1/4") was made to allow the leg to continue past the inside frame dimension.
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A 45• notch was made to soften the corner leg on both ends.
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And finally the finished soft corners.
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This shows the fitment of the cross bracing from the underside of the shelf. It's clear the second notch (1/4") is required for the top of the shelf to end up flush.
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The top where the perf will be welded. I still need three braces down the center using the same notching technique to prevent the 14 gauge perf from oil canning.
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The perf fit nicely the first time:). I used a 9" grinder with a corse cupped wire wheel to clean up the surface rust.
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A corner weld joint shot. Notice the weld seams on the tubing all face the same direction. This practice always pays off in the end once painted. All projects that have seams are never ignored.
Overall the new machine runs well.
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I'm planning on a 5C collet drawer and a top rack for 3MT tooling, QCTH and other stuff. Any ideas would be appreciated......More to come later.
Thanks for looking and as always, any feed back is welcomed.

Turn and Burn!

Paco

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Had the day off today and only got about one hour of shop time in. The four kids had a groomers appointment and they look/smell great! It always takes longer than expected but it beats doing it ourselves. We also stocked up with six weeks worth of food for said kiddos. I better do more side work hehehe.

I was able to finish up the bottom shelf angle bracing to support the perforated sheet. More notching work on the iron worker.

1/4"x 1.5" angle tacked in. This view is from the bottom. The center piece required a notch at both ends to keep it flush topside.
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Detailed shot of the left side.

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The center piece was triple notched at both ends. The last little notch(45•) accommodates the slight radius found on the inside corner of most angle iron.

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A view from the inside (topside) where the perf will be tacked in.

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The cart is now upright. The added bracing should work well supporting the weight of the heavier tooling.

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I'm trying to design a full length drawer that will slide out and kneel/tilt to store all of the 5C collets, indexing cutters (inserts) and other smaller knick knacks. I will be breaking 1/8" aluminum for the drawer with 3.5" deep sides and back and the drawer face TBD. I have a decent selection of precision bearings for the glide/slide but don't want to over think it. Any input would be appreciated. I know theres plenty of engineers and alike here on HM way smarter than me.
Thanks in advance for any shelf design input and as always, general feedback is ALWAYS appreciated.
Gonna hang out with the kids now (on the couch) all 400 pounds of them:cocksure:.
 
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Hey Paco, top notch work as usual. Your usual attention to detail.
Brad (BSS1) made his own lathe base and collet draws, they look great. May want to look at some of his build/drawer pictures for ideas. The collets can take up a lot of space if in one draw, might consider stacking them in 2 or 3 pullout draws vertical on one side of the cart and grouping them in sizes per draw. Will need some heavy duty full extension ball bearing sliders so you can utilize the full draw space. Maybe incorporate a small tool cabinet on the other side. I like the HF 18" 7 draw 68785 for a lot of the smalls. Not sure for the chucks, ideally a heavy pullout shelf/draw would be nice.
http://www.hobby-machinist.com/threads/another-pm1340gt-build.52267/
https://www.harborfreight.com/tool-...y-red-end-cabinet-for-roller-tool-chest-.html
 
Hi Mark,
Thanks for passing along BSS1 post. I had not seen his build before, man it's nice. Unfortunately I can't fit a HF end cabinet into this build as the inside dimensions won't support it.:(
The overall dimensions for the project where dictated by the location the cart will be stored and by where it will be utilized. It's rather compact and should work well directly behind the lathe operator when in use. The hight of the top is a good working hight bench and to slide heavy tooling onto the mill tables. A secondary rack system (design in my head ) will span the back half of the work surface (elevated) and will hold QCTH, 3MT tooling and some R-8 tooling as well. The drawer in question would span the entire inside of the frame (side to side and front to back) and would easily accommodate the entire 5C collets as well as miscellaneous inserts and HSS cutters using dividers. The collets would also have a rack of their own. The drawer slide I'm envisioning would slide straight out then kneel 20-30•. Thats where I'm stumped a bit. The entire lower shelf would hold the heavy chucks, face plate, steady /follow rest etc.

The cart will live between the larger mill and lathe keeping the floor open. When it's rolled out for lathe work it will be parallel to the lathe with a operator work space of 30"-40" between the cart and lathe with access to tooling and as mentioned a large table for mic's, calipers, calculator, oil and what ever else come to mind. A quick 180 degree turn and your back on the lathe.

Thanks for the input, its always appreciated.

Paco
 

Thanks Mark,
I had seen this before and we also have a few rigs with this set up that work well. Probably follow the design without the bigger lower bracket.



sweet set up Paco!
very nice

Thanks Mike, Its been long over due.
 
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