Vintage arc welder.

Sprocket86

Sprocket86

Active Member
#1
#1
My neighbor gave me this rather old arc welder. I have only ever used a MIG in the past.

I was always under the assumption that arc welding was for thick material only and produced strong, but ugly weld bead.

It has seen better days but it still works.

The ground lead is pretty hammered and I feel I should replace or repair for safety reasons. I thought name or brand of this welder was pretty neat. Comet!
IMG_1529.jpg IMG_1530.jpg
 
massacre

massacre

#2
#2
Very cool welder! Looks like it is mounted on a dolley?
Stick welding can be used for thinner stuff too, before MIG became commonplace, that was often the only option.

Definitely take care of any bad cables, safety first with old equipment like this.
Interested to see if it works
 
Sprocket86

Sprocket86

Active Member
#3
#3
massacre said:
Very cool welder! Looks like it is mounted on a dolley?
Stick welding can be used for thinner stuff too, before MIG became commonplace, that was often the only option.

Definitely take care of any bad cables, safety first with old equipment like this.
Interested to see if it works
Click to expand...
I thought so too! Made in Canada eh lol.

Yes the thing is mega heavy and it's mounted on a dolly with small solid rubber wheels. It has to weigh over 100lbs!

Okay good to know.

It's only the ground lead but it uses AC current so it certainly could be dangerous for sure.

I got to get some rods and a good mask and I'll post the results.
 
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desert rat

Well-Known Member
#4
#4
When I was doing construction welding I had a 15 foot long ground lead. I at one point had over 1000 feet of stinger lead. I was standing on my ground all the time. Don't sweat the ground lead just put some electrical tape on it and call it a day. When you price out the cost of lead wire you will be grabbing a roll of tape beleave me. Just looked and it is $7.19 a foot. 10 feet 71.90 plus tax. 20 feet is 143.80 plus tax. the cost adds up real fast.

https://www.mcmaster.com/welding-leads/
 
Sprocket86

Sprocket86

Active Member
#5
#5
Haha yeah after I made my 2nd post, I thought, that's some heavy gauge wire and quickly realized how much that would add up.

I have a bunch of large diameter heat shrink tubing that I could use to repair.
 
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desert rat

Well-Known Member
#6
#6
On another point , if you are having problem welds, blow threw, you can reverse your leads and it will not "dig" as hard. In effect "cooling" your weld in the books it's called reverse polarity. 6013 first pass rod gives hard dig and fast freeze, 7018 gives strength and visually pleasant cover pass. That machine will make you or brake you on stick welding because you have to change, the machine is dead set none adjustable, the thinner the rod the hotter the weld. stick with it and You will get it.:cool:
 
FOMOGO

FOMOGO

#9
#9
That thing aint old. Well, it is... When I was in auto shop class in high school, we had a stick welder that was as old as dirt and on top of that it was made in Russia. All the writing was Russian. It was about 30'' round and 5 feet tall. The shop teacher was retired air force and really sharp. He figured it out and used it when he needed it. I went back 15 years later when he retired and taught that same class in the same building and that machine was still there. Probably ended up in the scrap when they closed the Vocational classes. Sadly, the state closed all the Vocational classes, and they are still gone. We had great facilities but that doesn't matter. I ran across the front end alignment machine in the scrap yard 4 or 5 years later. Still had the school stickers on it. Who knows where the 30 Snap-on toolboxes full of Snap-on tools we had went...
 
Mr. Pink

Mr. Pink

Well-Known Member
#10
#10
I see on the second photo that there are settings for a carbon arc torch.
So I did some Googlin' and found out carbon arc is a pretty nifty method of heating metal.
I had known that carbon arc was used in theater projectors and searchlights, but did not know about metal work.
Learned something today.

I bet you could make a miniature version out of a 9v battery and two pencil leads.
 
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desert rat

Well-Known Member
#11
#11
Mr. Pink said:
This welder is strictly AC. So reversing the leads would not make a difference.
Click to expand...
You are right. That is why on my big welding power supply I can fix my A/C balance. Look right above the word WAVE on the top row . Old machines did not have a way to fix the A/C so if something was off you just swapped the lead to "fix the problem. You can call it an old hack but it can work If you are having problems.
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https://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/...ou-welding-with-post-your-set-up-here.171910/
If you use carbon arc cutting use ear plugs AND ear muffs. That is the loudest thing I have ever done with a welder.
https://esab.com/us/nam_en/esab-university/blogs/air-carbon-arc-gouging-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work/#:~:text=Air carbon arc gouging is,melts and cuts the metal.
 
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