For the last two and a half days I had the chance to start working on the sheet matal rack for my shop. A lot of prep work like rounding corners on plates and angle profiles, drilling holes into connetor plates, and buying my own magnetic drill, had to be done to get things started. Enjoy the pictures!
After drilling holes into the connector plates, I had to weld the nuts into place. To ensure they are centered on the holes, I clamped the plates onto some bolts. After tack welding, I removed the bolts and finish welded all around the nuts.
It was nice to have all parts done and ready to start building the rack.
Because of the size and weight of the tubing, my little adjustable shop jack came real handy to support the frame extended bejond the welding table.
After tack and finish welding one side, I used my gantry crane to flip the frame over to the other side.
It is nice to move parts into a comfortable position for welding.
I made a simple drilling jig to locate the bolt holes in each corner for the connector plates.
Here is my new magnetig drill in action!
After all the holes were drilled, I welded the support brackets for the horizontal frame sections in place. They will come in very handy when th whole rack will be assembled.
Getting started to lay out and space all the horizontal angle pieces before welding.
After grinding off a lot of mill scale, I was able to start welding.
Here is a close up of one of the many beads.
To strenghten to top corners of the frame, I welded some round tubing inside in the area of the bolt holes.
The left frame is done. Here is a picture of the inside.
And one of the outside of the frame. It’s a pretty hefty piece at approximately 470 lbs. I’m glad I built all these tools in the months past to help me move all the weight around!
