CARBIDE Crystals! Calcium carbide is a chemical compound with the chemical formula of Ca C2. Its main use industrially is in the production of acetylene and calcium cyanamide.[2] From the past. Used to make welding gas on the farm or for that late night return in your OLDS Touring Car or REO Touring Car.
Right, got it. Welding rods on my next shopping trip to Home Depot (no joke, I make lists and go to HD almost every week. I like to do my own stuff!) Besides, do you have ANY idea how hard it is to find metal coat hangers these days?
Metal coat hangers .. go to the starvation army and look in the dumpster or check the dumpster at the flea market... @ AT Im not exactly sure who made the spool gun but i can guarantee u it came from northern tool or horrlible freight... Also for the low budget guys ...you dont have to use acatelyne for cuttin u can use propane just have to use a different tip... Its not as hot but cutts just fine ...
Lots out there, Google it for a number of choices and remember solar cells charge batteries and you can also purchase wire feed with flux so no gas needed. Then again it is not a MIG but close enough and no worry about wind and loss of you gas bubble.
Great Info, Any idea on the amount of welding time one could expect from a single 12 volt battery? One inches of Weld? Two Inches? Using standard 1/16" 70 or 60XX rods. I have a high capicity 12 volt alternator attached to a Yanmar L48 5HP Diesel so recharing isn't an issue for me. Thanks
It would depend on your wire size, speed and the metal you plan to weld. Check the specs of a unit you like.
HK_User, thanks for the update but was looking at the Caveman Welding setup using a single car type battery and a 1/16" 70xx Welding rod on mild steel, Like repairing a craked/broken steel support 1/8" to 1/4" mild steel. Like one may be force to use out on the farm or back roads. Again appreciate the input
So this is a good example of our need to be clear on welding method. I don't know that HD has electric stick arc welding rods. What I usually see are flux coated gas brazing rod. But a farm store like Tractor Supply, Rural King, Farm and Fleet, etc. will have them and of course your local welding supply. AT
stick welding , Yes HD definatly does have them they come in about 5 pound boxes or so ... HD actualy has a good inventory of welding stuff for ur homeowner ... rods chipping hammers the whole nine yards... Another helpfull tip ... if you are using a wire brush to clean up your weld besure it isnt the same one you use for everything else ... have one just for welding ....
Just don't use a wire brush on stainless steel that was previously used on carbon steel, unless you do not care about the after effect. Interesting conversation....
Good to know. My HD is smaller and they don't have much and no stick stuff that I recall from my last time in the metal tool section. Good advice and I use stainless steel brushes so they don't rust and drop any oxide which could end up in the weld. Also the brush for aluminum welding is labeled and stored separate just for cleaning aluminum, never ever used for any other task and if it does accidentally gets used, it is retired from Al prep work forever and I use a new one. AT
stick welding ... for the farmers and red necks or people that have a tendancy of break bolt heads off .. there are also special rod made just for stud removal and also catipilar has there own special welding rods...
LAst resort repair ... If you have no means of welding or just dont know how here are a few products that can do ALMOST the same job ... Balzona : this stuf gets so hard it can be machined... splashzone: 2 part epoxy comes in 1 callon jugs can can patch almost anything ...it holds most of the baots and barges in the world together,,, I think there is one other product called devcon but im not 100% sure and the red neck life saver JB weld.......
Found one at Northern... 1000 bucks seems pretty rich for what it appears to be unless it has an inverter/rectifier circuit to compensate for the battery voltage and impedance changing as the weld progresses. Hmmmm... Wonder how hard it might be to convert a cheapie Horrorable Fright MIG unit into a 24v battery operated job? I have two MIGs and two generators in my preps so, not too bad of shape. Now the earlier suggestion of woodgas for a torch intrigues me. Will have to go google that a bit. northerntool.com/northerntool/product/detail.do?itemId=164729 AT
i worked as a welder in a machine shop in Californication years ago. I'm enjoying the refresher course. The only welder I have at this time , is a little 110vt buzzbox arc welder, and it doesn't really like the rods sized for it. I have a few pounds on hand now stored in a capped PVC tube. I will try the heating trick and see if the rods burn better. Thanks.
i have no idea about electricity ... But i assure u the man to ask about it would be BTpost ... the man is a electrical wizard { i wanted to say genisious }but didnt know how to spell it and people get mad about miss spelled words around here...LOL I keep an eye on northern toold website they have a clearence section... Also 1000$ is alot untill u need it ...
Personally, for someone that doesn't weld much, I very much recommend a MIG welder. Also called a wirefeed welder, machine inert gas welder, GMAW, etc. It is easier to learn or re-learn, is pretty energy efficient compared to other methods and using multiple passes and pre-beveling of pieces to be joined, it can weld any thickness steel. I have watched the 4" thick steel frames of big mine trucks being welded with a hundred or more passes of a MIG welder. AT
