use for old but functional 150A AC welder?

Totally off-topic but... anyone else ever notice that welders are some of the most butt-ugly machines ever made?

Yes, and I think they've got butt-uglier over the years too. I prefer the appearance of the older AC welding transformers to that of the latest MIG and TIG machines. But that Philips machine is one of the ugliest of its era, for sure. The GEC and Oxford machines on the same site are neater. The Oxford is very like my own machine, but smaller, and mine has castors instead of fixed wheels.

Chris

I always preferred the boxy look to molded plastic.

Not so cool, then. It doesn't look as nice as the old school

Chris

My old Emerson was actually kinda cute. It was a multi-tap in a small cabinet with nicely rounded corners like an old Crosley refrigerator.About 1 foot square and 2 feet high. more or less. I think my kid brother is still using it.

I'm pretty sure the setting that is circled is the pipe thawing setting.

Shawn

Grant, if you are heading through Eugene any time in the next half year or so, there is a fellow who looks a lot like me who would be happy to buy that welder from you, if you were so inclined. :)

Jon

Might last longer in an open shop door building - or a backyard :-) Looks like a covered trash can - no one will take.

Pretty machines might draw flys :-)

Like the issues going on in Paris right now. Ripping and tearing at everything.

Martin Martin Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH, NRA Life NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

Christ>

Buy it and donate to a beginner.

I have recently been given an old Olympic (Oxford) Bantum 180A stick and all it needed was a new earth clamp/cable and I am sorted.

Been finding it difficult striking the arc and doing a decent weld as only used Mig before and found that a lot easier. But, I am practicing and loving every minute.

Even love the smell.

Love to, but these mythical beginners are a whole lot scarcer than you guys seem to think, and once I let a 200 pound item into my shop there it stays, displacing traffic forever, collecting dust, grime and chips, and gradually becoming invisible. Far easier to simply harden my heart BEFORE it gets in, than to go on some titanic search for a "beginner". Anyway, if there is a beginner in my neighborhood, he can easily spot this on craigslist just like I can, it's a different world now with free classifieds. There are *always* at least two and often up to ten welders under $100 in my area.

Lot more old welders than new weldors.

I was over talking to the guy who is selling the $25 AC welder. He told me he hasn't gotten even one inquiry in about a month.

Go figger.

GWE

Heds wrote:

Grant, check ebay prices. If you cannot make a quick buck buying this item for $25 and selling to a local "beginner" for $100 (as seems to be the case), it is not even worth talking about it. I fully agree with your reasoning regarding clutter and mythical beginners buying crappy welders.

Here is a rube goldberg idea for heating your shop. Make Bucky balls in your shop which uses a fair amount of electricity. Sell the bucky balls to pay for the power and your shop is warm from the power used. You can get a lot more detail off the internet and need to find an outlet for the bucky balls before getting set up. But the process is essentially using a welder supply to run a carbon arc torch in a sealed chamber with a low pressure argon atmosphere. Collect the soot and extract the bucky balls using solvent. I am not sure how they make nanotubes, but it must be close to the same way.

Just one of those wild ideas I get and never seem to implement.

Dan

Coming this way anytime soon Grant? Bring it too me and Ill pass it on to a newbie. Ive got a number of them haunting my work space.

Gunner

"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire. Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us) off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the s*it out of you for torturing the cat." Gunner

Well, I understand this writeup of your idea a lot better than your last (2 word) one! But my shop is heated by parasitic heat from the boiler that heats my home, so all that heat would be simply wasted. Not to mention, I don't have any idea what bucky balls are let alone how to sell them profitably.

I'll leave this one to more capable hands. :-)

GWE

snipped-for-privacy@krl.org wrote:

Bucky balls are a nick name for Buckministerfullerenes. I doubt if that helps a lot. They are just another form of carbon where sixty carbon atoms form a molecule that looks more or less like a soccer ball. A cousin is the nanotube, the stuff some people are talking about using for a high strength rope to anchor a sattelite to the earth and use for a space elevator.

Dan

I've always wondered if my edm makes those, and that's part of what I throw away in my filters.

Anybody want to buy some old EDM filters? :)

Grant, How about all those young guys learning to weld at South Seattle Community College? See if they'll let you park it in the weld shop with a for sale or free sign on it.

Kelley

Scientists found bucky balls in the forge stack in the 'old time' exhibit in Tuscon Az. So a hot forge pipe - found near the top - think Oil refinery cracking tower. The higher the lighter and different levels cool at different rates...

So a wood or coal fire can create Bucky Balls Sell them or use them as a super lube filler - they are super lube by themselves.

Martin Martin Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH, NRA Life NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

snipped-for-privacy@krl.org wrote: