DIY welder

PILOON

Well-known member
Messages
177
Good Post Points
54
Location
North of Montreal
Welder
Hobart 200 stick
In my late teens I was always into electricity and basic electronics.
Browsing a surplus store I found a stepdown transformer that reduced very high voltage down to 110 AC and had an easy frame design.
Bought it, counted the 110 windings (88 turns) and duplicated them to get 220 input.
For my secondary I used 1/4 inch copper tubing and tightly wound (55 or so turns) for my secondary and re assembled the transformer.
For insulation I poured urathane varnish all over my creation.
Hooked up my creation to 220 and nothing blew up, LOL.
My very first welds were accomplished with 2 prs of vice grips, one as the ground and the second gripping a 1/8 rod wearing a heavy leather glove.
Well sparks flew and a weld was produced!
I crudely boxed it in plywood and had me a DIY welder.
Later I crudely calculated (by style of rods and fuses not blown etc) that my creation could put out somewhere in the 180 amp range.

I've since played around and made a few DIY welders. A favorite small capacity can be made using fairly common 110/24 volt i25 amp industriel units by adding some windings on the 24 volt output side if space is available. Now striking an arc is tricky (low voltage) and very small rods kind of rare but it will work.

Another successful DIY was made from a discarded HD garage booster/charger that a neighbor was scrapping. That one merely wanted a few extra windings on the output side.

Naturally precautions are necessary, like respecting fusing/wire guides and common safety rules working around electricity.

OH, and today I have a Hobart 220 and a small 'el cheapo' wire spool machine.
Never took welding courses but years of DIY projects has me being a fair welder.
At least I can brag that my projects don't fail. (well rarely)
 

welding seabee

Well-known member
Messages
63
Good Post Points
59
In my late teens I was always into electricity and basic electronics.
Browsing a surplus store I found a stepdown transformer that reduced very high voltage down to 110 AC and had an easy frame design.
Bought it, counted the 110 windings (88 turns) and duplicated them to get 220 input.
For my secondary I used 1/4 inch copper tubing and tightly wound (55 or so turns) for my secondary and re assembled the transformer.
For insulation I poured urathane varnish all over my creation.
Hooked up my creation to 220 and nothing blew up, LOL.
My very first welds were accomplished with 2 prs of vice grips, one as the ground and the second gripping a 1/8 rod wearing a heavy leather glove.
Well sparks flew and a weld was produced!
I crudely boxed it in plywood and had me a DIY welder.
Later I crudely calculated (by style of rods and fuses not blown etc) that my creation could put out somewhere in the 180 amp range.

I've since played around and made a few DIY welders. A favorite small capacity can be made using fairly common 110/24 volt i25 amp industriel units by adding some windings on the 24 volt output side if space is available. Now striking an arc is tricky (low voltage) and very small rods kind of rare but it will work.

Another successful DIY was made from a discarded HD garage booster/charger that a neighbor was scrapping. That one merely wanted a few extra windings on the output side.

Naturally precautions are necessary, like respecting fusing/wire guides and common safety rules working around electricity.

OH, and today I have a Hobart 220 and a small 'el cheapo' wire spool machine.
Never took welding courses but years of DIY projects has me being a fair welder.
At least I can brag that my projects don't fail. (well rarely)
A good quickie when in a bind is to just use a car battery. 3/32 rod works pretty good till the battery runs down.

Ron
 

Lis2323

Well-known member
Messages
99
Good Post Points
34
I have heard that a spot welder can be made with parts from a microwave.
Dan

Coincidentally my microwave packed it in over the weekend.

I wonder if I can use parts from my spot welder to make a microwave.

IMG_1917.jpg
 

PILOON

Well-known member
Messages
177
Good Post Points
54
Location
North of Montreal
Welder
Hobart 200 stick
Yes, many internet DIY sites show U how.
It is on my 'to do' project list.
As it so happens I had an early microwave that had a fairly HD transformer and I have already done the winding for the output side.
Only need more time to finish that project.
LOL, too many projects that need finishing but that's what happens when U are retired.
Not enough time!
 

G-manbart

Member
Messages
7
Good Post Points
2
Location
Michigan
Welder
Miller Millermatic 252, Syncrowave 250DX, Miller Dialarc 250, Hobart Champion Elite, Everlast PowerTIG 210EXT
A couple of years ago I had an Everlast PowerArc 200ST that developed a problem that they initially thought was a bad main board, so they sent me a new one. That didn't fix the problem, so they sent me another new board....it was actually just a bad display. They let me keep the boards rather than waste shipping sending them back. I wonder if somebody could take those boards and make their own inverter stick welder? I think it would require a power supply, cooling fan and a couple of other parts, but it probably would be doable for someone with the right skills.
 
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