newbie with a bit of a story

oh, before someone screams that I should Google the archives, I am in the process of doing so now.

oh and other limitations

no workshop. just room enough to stash the little welder. plenty of outdoor space tho. hence the trailer with the bottle rack is going to be "all weather"

no 240v outlet.

A newbie will not like the 120 volt stick welders. Not that you can't do decent work with one (with LOTS of limitations!) but they generally have a very low OCV (Open Circuit Voltage) that makes it tough to start and hold an arc. With practice it is an irritation, a newbie may find it a roadblock.

Pop for some NEW welding rod, I'd suggest a couple pounds of 3/32"

6011. I hope your welder has enough amps to run the 3/32" if not you might as well try something different. The 6011 is fairly harsh rod that will give you good penetration on old/rusty/painted steel at the expense of nice looking welds. 3/32" rod is fine for 1/8" thick angle, you can do 3/16" with some practice. If you want some nicer looking welds, try 6013 > in my previous job, I learned how to weld with a gas MIG welder, and did

SNIP-Snip-snip

The first welder I ever bought for use at home was a Monkey Wards 110v welder. Man that was a long long time ago. It didn't even have cheap battery clamps. The ground had to be clamped to the work by vise grips, "C" clamp or have a heavy rock set on top of it. The electrode holder was a piece of partially flattened 1/2 inch tubing that had a 1/4 inch hole drilled through it from side to side with a thumb screw. You put the welding rod through this hole and tightened the thumb screw in place to hold it. Or you could put a single

1/4 inch carbon rod in it for brazing or heating things.

The first thing I built was a heavy duty folding tow bar, for towing a 1956 Jaguar from Oceanside Calif. to Raleigh NC. Next I build a boat trailer for a 16 foot wooden boat. It was barely adequate.

I found that if I did a lot of preparation work, beveling edges and making multiple passes it would get the job done, but it was slow. And it took some practice and a real steady hand to get good a it. Later on I bought a "tombstone" welder (Lincoln AC225) but kept the little one around as a spare.

I finally gave it to my son about 10 years ago and he used it to put a long tongue and a storage box on the back half of a 80 Chevy pickup to make a trailer to haul a large cab-over camper. He hauled a large cab over camper around for several years and actually lived in the camper for a while. Today the camper and the trailer both se behind my shop waiting for the next trip. I added a lift cylinder to make the pickup bed on it into a dump bed. We have 3000 lbs of gravel in the trailer when we redid our driveway a few years ago. he point being hat he tongue my son welded on with the 110v welder hasn't broken yet. And my son has some Liberal Arts degrees, and is not a welder by any means.

Yes it can be done. In fact you as a beginner will probably get better welds (penetration and strength) with it, than you would with a 110v MIG welder. Of course the MIG welder is easier for a beginner to make pretty welds with. But I prefer strong welds.

What happened to the welder? Well the case finally had more rust holes in it than Swiss cheese, it got wet and fried itself a couple of years ago. I definitely got my money out of I.

Ive got a very elderly Marquette 110vt buzzbox, with 3 outputs...25/50/90 amps. It will run on a 20 amp breaker and produce moderatly decent welds...but it likes to stick the rod to the work piece if you are not careful.

I broke out welding with that old beast...using 3/32 6011. I still drag it out once in a while and fire it up, just to see if it still works. I think it will be working long after Im gone. Gods know how many owners its had before me. When I got my first tombstone..I was in hog heaven.

Gunner

"I think this is because of your belief in biological Marxism. As a genetic communist you feel that noticing behavioural patterns relating to race would cause a conflict with your belief in biological Marxism." Big Pete, famous Usenet Racist

OK - 'When I was a lad' time again!

My first welder was based on a big transformer I bought for scrap from the firm I worked for. I kept the mains primary but unwound the secondary and wound one with the heaviest cable I could find. First job was to weld a new floor pan in my Austin Healey Frog Eyed Sprite (this was 1968-9). Not pretty, but it got through it's MOT ! Totally unsuitable welder for the job but needs must when the devil drives

AWEM

thanks for the other replies everyone. can someone point me to place to determine a layout for the above? I'd like to start shopping for steel. the rack will be part of the trailer and not removeable. I'd like it sturdy enough for launch field bumps and highway potholes. anyone have designs that implement a 2nd change backup failsafe in case a weld or two did fail (I plan on designing so all the welds could fail and the bottle wont come off, but want to see others plans)

sounds about right, I was having a heck of a time keeping an arc. glad to know it is the welders limitations and not mine. I thought maybe the welder was broke.

I have a pound of 1/8" 6011 and 3/32" 6011 that i need to use up regardless what i do about the launch trailer. so i'll be practicing and experimenting with settings and stuff.

I got an angle grinder with cup brush and grinding wheels, and should be able to clean parts down to real good metal. any suggestions besides

6013? It looks like getting and keeping the arc are my problems (and could be atributed to poor MIG habits)