Bench-top or welded frame

[Doddy]

So, I've been playing with Fusion 360, as much to try to get some familiarity with the software, using the idea of a frame as a starter project...



Design based around 50x50x4 and 100x50x4 (shamelessly stolen from Neale's AVOR design), external dimensions of 1200 x 700 x 600(h). I'm not afraid of cutting / welding steel (or at least gluing steel together with a Tig torch), but there must come a point where you say enough is enough. I'm looking at this in cold light of day and thinking that I'm creating a design for a somewhat top-heavy frame, be a bit of a git to weld up (and use a hell of a lot of argon up in the process). I've found myself randomly adding bits to the design - the braced bed, the bracing for the internal space to house a small compressor, and maybe a suds sump, partial bracing for the frame - but it's at this point I decided to take a step back and question my sensibilities.

(To do - add the top rails - similar to Neale's, as a raised set of rails on the top of the frame)

Basically... when do you stop adding steel? Is a design like this remotely sensible?, or is it steel-work for steel-work's sake? Are there any pointers or directions into what the requirement for a frame is, and how to best approach a design?

...but it needs to be designed correctly.

I suppose that's really my question - are there any sensible guidelines out there that can be used as a frame-bible?