I have a 1947 Westinghouse Stick welder that works better than most of the new ones. It takes two "real men" to lift it. It can weld almost all day without getting hot and stopping. I do have a Lincoln 180 Mig welder that is used a lot more than the stick. Anyone else have vintage welders? Pictures? Mike
most of the ones I've seen are rig welders. Lincoln 200D's that are still being used on pipelines. They used a flathead continental engine in them up into the early 70's, IIRC. Saw a Hobart rig welder in Saratoga, WY a few years ago. Outside a little shop called squirrel auto repair. It looked like it had a flathead v-8 on it, but it was stored outside, probably didn't work, and the shop owner didn't seem to know much about it. Some guys like the older machines, the transformers were built heavier. y'all have a good day, Keith
i remember my dad had one, a stick that had all the different holes on the front to plug the cable into, rather than a knob to up the power, you plugged it into another hole....thing weighed about 500000000000 pounds, and ran on 220. it was awesome!!!!!!
I found a old Miller AC-DC stick welder from the early 70's once. It leaned back on a handbuilt wheels and dolly rig, and it quickly got the knickname- R2D2. It was totally under water through several Florida hurricanes. I bought it real cheap and took her home. Took it apart and started cleaning, and cleaning, and cleaning. After I felt comfortable with the clean job, I had to free up the big coil, and lube up the way's. Then I cut the leads down about 6 inches on all the ends to get to area's of uncoroded cables. The highest amp rated ground clamp from H/F was next. A can of Miller spray bomb blue paint, and I had a practically new stick welder. A friend came over and we hooked up his Tig torch and we began welding everything we could think of for the test run. A 100% excellent welder was the result of a few hours work and less than $100. TR
I started welding in 1956 and used 100's of welders. The best of those was the Lincon with the Continental flat head 6, most of those were crank start, They were easy to start in all weather. I would run 3/16 7024 all day long with no broblem
Love my old Lincwelder ac250k. Bought it 20 years ago from an old guy who had it forever.http://www.jalopyjournal.com/jal_attachments/9/4/2/3/1/1251641.t humb?d=1298668285 Think it is mid 50's. Traditional welder .
We went to a buddies house to install a cat back system on a truck. He has a new lift but the Sears buzz box had to be from the 50s if not the 40s. I was rolling my eyes thinking they are going to make fun of my welds with this POS. Boy was I wrong. It welded like butter. I was really impressed with it. It just looked so antique-ey.
I just got rid of my old Forney last fall that I had used since the late 70s. I bought from a farmer in Purcell Oklahoma who bought from the local highschool in 1957. You plugged the leads into whatever amperage range you needed and started welding. It had an old glass screw in fuse on the front that fed a 110 duplex receptacle for auxiliary power. That thing would weld all day long without overheating. I have a Miller 300 amp TIG now and I still miss that old Forney stick machine. It was so easy to use as long as you didn't need to move it. It took three of us to load it in the back of the pickup when I gave it away.
here is a couple of clues for all; the older ones have copper wound transformers in them, and the contacts inside are brass and what should be done occuationly is open them up and clean them out and clean the contacts with a wire brush and get some electrical grease(NOT AUTOMOTIVE AXEL GREASE) and put a light smear on the contacts and make sure your leads are not dried out and cracking and that machine should last another 50 yrs. where as ones from the 70's on might have alumium windings and if the duty cycle is exceeded they will melt. had that happen to one i fixed once. and the real new stuff is a printed circuit board and they are an inverter. always weld test the machine before you buy it or if that is not possible offer them scrap price and tell who ever you are not sure if it is really any good or not and don't let them tell you theyy used it last weekend. good luck
I have a Forney from the 50's as well. It is also a battery charger, and has a port to magnetize screwdrivers. It works awesome.
Both these welding machines came to me in the late 1960s. Nothing solid state. Relays, capacitors and so on. If need be, I can repair them myself. (smiling) After over fifty years of use, never any real problems with either. The Miller 330, TIG and arc machine, weighs about 1000 lbs. And with it I can arc weld a battleship or TIG aluminum foil. Miller uber alles!!
I got this last winter...full of heavy copper wires...I had an issue to get it wired up..but it's all good now..a great vintage welder..when you turn it on you can hardly hear it's on..dated late 1950's..I use it all of the time.
1947 Hobart 400 amp TIG water cooled ! We use it everyday . 300-400 Lbs of copper ! No change in Elect. bill. Weld-On !!!!!
I've still got my big old Forney welder with the plug in cables to change heat levels. It is out in the shed stashed away right now but It is up to any heavy duty task that a guy wants to throw at it ad was a big truck shops only welder for a lot of years before I bought it from them. I've also got an old Craftsman welder that works in similar fashion and I think is older. Tan case on that one. Update: The Craftsman I have is a twin to the one 16OzSchlitzman has in his post. I've never tried to use that one yet as it is buried in the shed. I paid 5.00 for it at a swapmeet 15 years ago. The guy I bought my mig bottle from uses his great grandfathers old Craftsman welder that must have been one of the first 220 welders they ever sold. It has to be out of the 30's or 40's.
I am using my 1946 SA200 and my new one A 1967 SAE 400 Lincoln's. I bought the 200 for 150 bucks and all I did to it was a set of rings. The 400 has a 244 Continental 6 in it. I had to put a new head on it. I have less than 1000 dollers in two of the best welders I have ever used. Lee
I have an old Montgomery Ward stick welder. A friend gave it to me in the early 80s. Don't know exactly how old it is but it works fine.
UPDATE...Mr48chev...you paid $5.00 for the welder like mine..gee you must have around 125 to 150 lbs of #1 copper in that box...let's see $3.25 a pound that is around $450.00..gee that would help if your building a car..I did weigh the one I have it's 278 pounds..including the cabinet and cast wheels...anyway I thought I would add this info...I most likely would not strip mine..it's a classic..
I have a Sears Craftsman, I think its around a 59' model with a rope pull twin cyl Onan.Runs like a top.
I was given this old Craftsman 220 arc welder by the widow of a neighbor who passed away. It works great! Anyone know how old it is?
45 years ago I started welding on an old lincoln that we called the buzz bomb. It was about 6ft tall and made some awsome moaning noise, but welded great, looked like an old gas pump.
The Miller 330A/BP, the 'GoldStar', best machine ever made. I bought this one from the shipyards in Baltimore - it had a fixed head and steel plate ran under it being welded. They had 2 settings marked on the dial and it ran constant for almost 20 years and i bought it over 30 years ago (had to add the foot control and hoses. It is sitting on the water tank. Like FlatHead said, battleships to beer cans.
I have a late 40's or early 50's Westinghouse AC/DC 200 amp. I have had it for 35 years...About 5 years after I got it the selenium stack burned up so having many big diodes on the shelf I made up a full wave stack and fit it in the same place as the original. I added a home made high frequency unit, gas controls and a bigger fan. It is dedicated to aluminum and magnesium welding because my Miller doesn't do AC. It has a 50% duty cycle...Plenty for what I do.
Here is one I inherited. Its a 1934 Waukasha. It still runs but the welder isn't putting out any Amps.
Have a radiator off of a old Hobart. Was going to use it on a car but sold the project before I put it on.
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