Minor gloat

Good on ya!

--Winston

Score one for getting it, score two for giving it!!

I have an old Airco 225 sitting in the garage that is reserved for a suitable newbie.

This is an awesome deal Carla!

I recently bought a Miller Thunderbolt AC/DC, with leads, for $40.

I had one of those in a previous life, and will buy the next one I see on sight if it is a good price. That is one little fantastic machine for small rods. You will reach the limits real fast with most any 1/8, although it did 6010 decently, but low duty cycle. I also used it a lot for DC TIG on SS, scratch start. Absolutely amazing how heavy that little sucker is. It's all transformer. I'll give you $50 right now.............

I love that infinitely variable crank adjustment.

Steve

I agree. These Thunderbolts are a hell of a welder in a small package. I bought and sold two of those. I have a Syncrowave, so I do not need one, but I was very impressed.

That said, I was also very pleasantly surprised by a tombstone AC buzzbox.

The Tombstones are great, except ............ one needs the AC/DC model rather than straight AC, and I don't like the voltage jumps as much as the infinitely variable kind. Other than that, for a welder that can be had for free to $50 used, they are one hell of a piece of equipment. I got my last one free. If we had a penny for every pound of rod burned by Tombstones, we'd all be millionaires.

Steve

You would probably be pleasantly surprised by a Montgomery Wards AC welder. No prestige here, but it has a continuously variable current and a higher open circuit voltage than a lot of other welders. Decent duty cycle too. I have no idea of who really made the welder.

Dan

Steve, what I was getting at, is that even the AC tombstone laid great welds.

What I really dislike about both Lincoln tobstones and Miller Thunderbolts, is wimpy handles.

I meant machine body moving handles.

This is what I would do, also.