Old Welder for Christmas

[rakane]

I had a chance to buy an old welder for myself so I called it my Christmas present. It is an old stick welder. For $20 I can take a chance. The seller gave me some rods to try, they are old and he told me to bake them a bit.

I'll have to change out the plug but it will be fun learning. I've never welded anything so off to YouTube to watch some instructions.

Meanwhile is a 30' Grady White.

 

[theoldwizard1]

For $20, you can not go wrong.

 

[sberry]

Buy 3 rods. 1/8 6011, 3/32 7018AC and 1/8 7018AC.

 

[Shootinok]

WOW !
Merry Christmas indeed.
That’s a smokin deal.
That’s an oldie too, should have good old copper windings.



Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Mgdoug3]

7014 is good to practice with as well. 7018AC can be hard to restrike for a beginner.

 

[John in OH]

Wow!! That is an awesome deal!! Those Lincoln "tombstone" welders are great machines ... ya done good, pilgrim!!

I'd suggest 3/32" E6011, 3/32" E6013, and 1/8" E6013 welding rods.

 

[American Locomotive]

Classic Lincoln Tombstone welder.

IMO, don't bother with the old rods. Go buy some new ones. I've never had much luck welding with old rods that sat out in a shed or garage.

 

[mitusa]

Yeah, get new rods......6011 for my tastes.

And an auto-darkening helmet will make it easier to learn.

Those old welders are almost bullet-proof. I bought one similar at a flea market that the seller claimed would work. It did.....had extra heavy cables with long leads. $60. Still using it. Lots better than the newer tombstones.....heavier cable and better ground and electrode holders.

 

[johninct]

Classic Lincoln Tombstone welder.

IMO, don't bother with the old rods. Go buy some new ones. I've never had much luck welding with old rods that sat out in a shed or garage.

x 2.

 

[marineman]

Nice score. A light bulb wired through the drain plug of a cooler makes a fantastic rod oven. 6010 for cutting 7018 for putting it back together.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Nice find! I would be good with that if it was me. Keep us posted on your projects.

 

[jeepinerdeep]

While I'm sure there are some, I've never seen a broken Lincoln transformer based stick machine in my entire life. I think 20 bucks was a safe bet.

 

[shanny19]

6010 for cutting

There's something that the raised on Mig generation didn't learn.
It's fun to let them pull out the torch for some expanded metal, then blow their minds by gifting them 20 minutes of their time by turning the buzz box "up to 11".

 

[Hdonly0]

Paid$150.00 for a new Lincoln Tombstone. Used it for 20 years. Sold it for $75.00. Still worked good. Just sold it to by a used 230 amp Craftsman ac/dc for $50.00. That Lincoln will last near forever.

 

[sberry]

While I'm sure there are some, I've never seen a broken Lincoln transformer based stick machine in my entire life. I think 20 bucks was a safe bet.

Very few of them ever burned up. I have ran them wayyyyyyy beyond their duty cycle and then some. I like the thinking of the post above this , the AC is better than no welder, cant be beat for 20$ and have a value of 75-100, the 50$ DC is a bargain.
Back in the day it was a joke among construction workers, pay 100 more for a DC welder and never have to buy rods.
Baking those electrodes probably wont help much unless water is dripping right off of them. My bet is they are 6013, they are designed to have some atmospheric moisture in them. If they have been laying a long time in one spot they often tend to "fingernail" too. The heavier elements in the coating tend to sag around to one side.
I have 10 machines, am a career welder and this is still my go to shop and outside apron machine. Its hooked on a common ground grid with extensions and 2 stingers, can reach without moving it.
I remodeled a few years ago, pic 3 is all the snot I took out of it. Pic 4 youi can see the edge of the door jamb, apron out there and these are the leads to reach out, ground shared with a plasma.

 

[bczygan]

Picked up an old Lincoln AC/DC "Tombstone" machine for $70.

Need to hook it up and try it.

Bill

 

[jd_1138]

Around here, I see those beat to hell and back and the seller still wants $200 for it. Great deal. Being able to weld opens up a lot of doors for repairs and cool projects.

 

[Bretny]

Bake the rods in the garbage can...get some fresh rod my friend. Not worth poising your whole family over $8 in old welding rods.

 

[rakane]

Thanks for the replies.

I'll take the advice and pick up some new rods.

Thanks.

Meanwhile is a 30' Grady White.

 

[John in OH]

Nice score. A light bulb wired through the drain plug of a cooler makes a fantastic rod oven. 6010 for cutting 7018 for putting it back together.

Uhhh ... no. 6010 doesn't run on an AC machine.

 

[John in OH]

Thanks for the replies.

I'll take the advice and pick up some new rods.

Good decision. Don't waste your time on "old" rods, may cause too much frustration when trying to learn to weld.

General hint ... the 6011 and 6013 rods were made for AC machines and ambient moisture will not be a problem with these rods. But, any rod beginning with "70", such as 7018, are nice rods but MUST be kept dry (like heated dry). If they draw moisture they will still "run" fine, but, if moist, may result in underbead weld cracks.

 

[rakane]

Good decision. Don't waste your time on "old" rods, may cause too much frustration when trying to learn to weld.

General hint ... the 6011 and 6013 rods were made for AC machines and ambient moisture will not be a problem with these rods. But, any rod beginning with "70", such as 7018, are nice rods but MUST be kept dry (like heated dry). If they draw moisture they will still "run" fine, but, if moist, may result in underbead weld cracks.

Thanks for that. I'll have many questions later.

Randy

Meanwhile is a 30' Grady White.

 

[strutaeng]

Boy, you just found yourself a real hobby! Welding is fun. Spend some time learning how to start an arc and just burn rods and run beads. 6011 is what I learned on with an AC buzzbox.

My best advice is to go to a scrap yard or recycling center and pick up some cheap scraps of steel. Something 1/4" or thicker, angles, bar stock, channels, whatever.

Weldingtipsandtricks has a video on Youtube on the functionality/versatility of an AC buzzbox.

Good luck!

 

[sberry]

You can use up old rods. I done it a lot over the years.

 

[Doug Arthurs]

I only looked at this thread to see if I was getting an invitation to go somewhere for Christmas. Old wait no that's an old Weldor.