Made a little bit with my MIG welder

[Gary Fowler]

A guy came by my shop with a broken potato plow (best discription)/ It was an 8" x 1" thick flat bar with a broken foot that was about 2"x1" thick. I beveled it and put a full pen weld on it using my MIG with .030 wire. I then put two stiffeners on each side of the 2" wide bar. The owner had some 3/8" x 2" wide flat bar that I used to make a gusset on each side that I welded both side using 1/8" E7018 stick rod.
I told him if he breaks it again, I would repair it for free. He pulls it with a 35 HP tractor.

 

[California]

Great! Your hobby may evolve into a good income.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Great! Your hobby may evolve into a good income.

I certainly dont want that. As I told the few clients that I have had, I am just doing it as a favor to the community since we dont have any welding shops here now. I dont charge for my time much just enough to pay for supplies. For this one, I had about 5 minutes of heating with a rose bud to straighten the 1" x 2" bar which had a fair sized bend, then cutting a bevel on the broken piece, using my chop saw to cut the two pieces of 3/8"x 2" bar stock. It only took about 5 minutes of MIG welding to repair the break then 4 ea 1/8" E7018 electrodes to weld on the gussets.
We BS'ed for about 2 hours while all this was happening. I told him $30 to fix the break then free to fix the gussets but he paid me $40 which was still likely half of what a shop in Hot Springs would have charged him.

 

[California]

... I had about 5 minutes of heating with a rose bud to straighten the 1" x 2" bar which had a fair sized bend...

I have the original carbon arc torch that came with my 1960's 230 A-AC welder (about the same thing as a Tombstone). What's the heaviest material I could heat and bend with this?

I realize this is hard on the welder but at $50 cost and I now have modern gear to replace it, I don't mind a small risk of killing it to do a project that would be expensive to send out. (I also have a second carbon arc torch if that's what fails).

Any advice, anybody?

 

[A-one]

Sounds like you had a little bit of the fun that you had been looking for. It's early in the warm season. The fun is just beginning.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have the original carbon arc torch that came with my 1960's 230 A-AC welder (about the same thing as a Tombstone). What's the heaviest material I could heat and bend with this?

I realize this is hard on the welder but at $50 cost and I now have modern gear to replace it, I don't mind a small risk of killing it to do a project that would be expensive to send out. (I also have a second carbon arc torch if that's what fails).

Any advice, anybody?

Sorry, I havent even seen one of those since high school days when we had one in the shop class that I took. I could never do much with it at the time though. So I cant be of much help there.

 

[California]

Sorry, I havent even seen one of those [carbon arc torch] since high school days when we had one in the shop class that I took. I could never do much with it at the time though. So I cant be of much help there.

All I know is inverter welders have a warning against them. I suppose they run a welder too hard. But an old transformer welder - given plenty of cooling time between runs - may tolerate the load better.

I found carbon rods on Ebay intended for WWII spotlights, and tried those for heating and bending light material. That seemed to make more heat than a MAPP torch. (At far less operating cost). I wonder what the intended use was?

Back in the day, this kind of welder (200+ amps, AC) was sold as a farmer's do-all universal shop tool. Maybe the carbon arc torch was for blacksmith heating.

 

[Gary Fowler]

All I know is inverter welders have a warning against them. I suppose they run a welder too hard. But an old transformer welder - given plenty of cooling time between runs - may tolerate the load better.

I found carbon rods on Ebay intended for WWII spotlights, and tried those for heating and bending light material. That seemed to make more heat than a MAPP torch. (At far less operating cost). I wonder what the intended use was?

Back in the day, this kind of welder (200+ amps, AC) was sold as a farmer's do-all universal shop tool. Maybe the carbon arc torch was for blacksmith heating.

What I heard them used for is thawing out water lines. Not much good at that now with them mostly being plastic.