No clue what I am doing here. Feel free to comment and share what you are working on.

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My welder. Forney model C-3 from the late 50's or early 60's. Dad bought it for me at an auction a few years back and I just now plugged it in for the first time. It is actually the same model as what my Dad has that my Grandpa bought new on the farm. This is 180 amp AC only. They were intended to work with the limited electrical supply in rural areas back then. I checked the power cord over and gave it a try. After I knew it worked I replaced the cord and plug.



Outlet box. All I have in the garage for power is 2 duplex outlets on a 20 amp breaker



Installed outside the house. I have been meaning to get a subpanel in the garage for years and has never happened. Now that I am planning on moving I added this as a temporary solution that I feel is better than running a cord from the basement.



Cord end. This came with a scratch start tig setup my Dad got at a garage sale when the company closed. It was used by a company that installed milking systems. Will be adding another type of 220 outlet and a breaker for the 110 outlets.



Miller AC/DC arc welder converted to scratch start tig welder. Have tank and torches. It came with several hundred feet of power cord and a bunch of welding leads. It is on a hand truck with a bracket to hold the tank. I used some of the cord for the Forney welder and one of the sets of leads. Think Dad paid 100 for all of it.



Burning thru paint, dirt, and grease on an old gooseneck coupler. First time using an arc welder. no clue what I was doing. Sun had set . Current welding table is a piece of osb on a trash can. I took the pictures the next day after I cleaned it up with a wire brush on my grinder.


Not as bad as I expected 6011 6013 and 7024 I think?


Stuck 2 pieces together. Cleaned them up a little but did not v groove or gap. I was curious what would happen with poor preparation. Poor penetration. 6013
Welded from left to right. Starting out I had the rod tipped too much. Penetration improved after halfway when I straightened it out some.
Welding in the dark with a flashlight in one hand. Note the new chunk of plate on op of the osb. We are getting fancy here. This is how it looked with no after cleanup.



Stuck it in a vise and bent it with a hammer. Did not fall apart.

 

Good job mang..i could never "push the puddle". Stick always hung up on me. So, went and bought lincoln 220v mig..problem solved, lol

 

Nice work man!!! I am following along.

 

i learned on a gas powered stick machine 50 years ago, and have had a gas powered machine ever since. current machine is a miller bobcat 225 NT rhat also doubles as a 10KW genset for power outages.
i have a lincoln 215 powermig with dual tank setup and a spool gun for welding aluminum and stainless.
the mig is nice, but i prefer the stick welder.

 

My dad had a Forney, not sure what model. It burned up one day, and after he got the fire out, he found his warranty card--3 days to go! Heeeellllloooooowwwww New Welder!

He welded all kinds of stuff, from patio supports to truck frames to tractor loaders. All stick, all the time.

I was always afraid of it. Too many sparks.

 

You are off to a great start. It takes practice. Practice and more practice. I am wanting a new wire feed. I am thinking Miller 252 and I haven't decided what I would like for a TIG welder. Also, I would like to get a decent plasma cutter.

 

Edit just realized how bad the pictures are Will reply with new ones in the daytime


Fixed the railing on my steps tonight. 5 or 6 spindles were broken at the bottom rail. I burned thru the rail bad on the first one and a little on the last. I used 6011 to weld and make holes lol and made the holes worse trying to fill them in. Switched to 6013 to fill them in. Should have used the 6013 from the beginning or the 1/16 6011 but I didn't think to try it.





this one was the first. Made a hole and tried fixing it with 6011. Just made it worse. About the size of 3 dimes in a line. Filled it in with 6013 that was larger diameter but left the amps the same. This one will need to be hit with the grinder a little before painting.

 

Orchard Supply and Hardware, OSH, a California hardware store that seemingly always had what you needed is closing. They have Forney Easy Weld 125s (I think) for about $100. I am so tempted.....

That thing Brandon has could be used in the shipyard to weld boiler plate--