When I was a kid about 12 or 13 my dad bought a 75 Amp Craftsman with various taps up to 75A. He could weld ok with it on 110V but I would stick the rod every time. He had it for years and then when he bought a bigger farm, he stored the little welder in a corn crib. He gave it to me after I was married and didn't have squat to spend on a welder. I cleaned out the mouse nests and rewired it for 220v and added a cooling fan and I loved that welder. It was heavily wired in copper so it handled the load just fine. My son even learned on it. My brother wanted a welder and I took it over and wired it up in his garage. He only had it for about a month and gave it away to someone.
Dad gave me another welder along with his torches and tanks when he got too old to do anything. I converted that Monkey Ward 225A stick welder to AC/DC using some used, huge 150A diodes we changed out on a resistance welder at work. There were quite a few to change out and I saved a bucket full. I wired up a bridge netwok on the outside of the welder on insullating board and made a mech cover over it. I sold it when I moved to Florida in 2012. It welded great and the guy who bought it sold me the Miller Thunderbolt for $40 and gave me a dozen 64 1/2 inch band saw blades for free. I still have a few of those big old diodes around her somewhere. I tried one of the Harbor Freight 100A flux core welders but It was only good for thin stuff so I sold it last summer.
I still weld a little bit but not as pretty as I'd like.
I can still write my name in the snow though, but have trouble crossing the Tees and dotting the eyes....LOL
Last edited by Stan Bennett; 01/02/2023 09:02 AM.
