The idea for this one came from an earlier welding discussion the maker read online, and the result is a makeshift gravity-feed rig for stick welding. A wooden block sits over the seam and acts as the electrode guide, so the rod feeds itself down the joint groove until the arc finishes on its own. No motors, no electronics, just geometry doing the work.
The assembly is refreshingly simple. A metal C-clamp holds the guide block in place over the joint, and the workpieces are rectangular steel tubing labeled HSS 2x3x1/4, with two pieces welded side by side along their lengths into a double-chambered profile. The first pass ran a 5/32-inch 7018 rod at 190 amps, and the second pass stepped up to a thicker 3/16-inch 7018 electrode at 260 amps. Once the rod is struck, it burns along the joint while the electrode angle flattens, the wood scorches and throws off smoke, sparks and flame, and after the arc ends the charred block comes away to reveal the bead.
The results look promising for such a crude setup. The first pass left a solid weld bead along the seam, and the maker cut the tubing into cross-sections to inspect penetration and joint fusion. Those cutouts show the penetration depth and the internal profile of the joined walls, which is exactly the proof I would want before trusting the method further.
There are honest trade-offs here. The amperage was set high out of worry about trapping slag or stubbing out, and the maker believes running it colder would probably leave a smoother surface. Next time the plan is to run it colder and add run-on and run-off tabs, and some 7024 electrode might make the weld look better too. One open question remains: the maker is curious how to test the weld metal's carbon content, with a spark test being the best check available so far. Ideas for long flexible welding rods are already floating around, so a follow-up may come soon.
Project by Polished_Perspective. Watch it on their YouTube channel: