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Make a carbon arc torch for your 220 volt stick welder
by Phil B on August 20, 2008
Table of Contents
Make a carbon arc torch for your 220 volt stick welder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Intro: Make a carbon arc torch for your 220 volt stick welder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Step 3: Prepare the handles for the spring and nylon tie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Step 4: Drill the ends of the handles for the steel rods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-carbon-arc-torch-for-your-220-volt-stick-we/
Author:Phil B
I miss the days when magazines like Popular Mechanics had all sorts of DIY projects for making and repairing just about everything. I am enjoying posting
things I have learned and done since I got my first tools. I enjoy studying the Bible and recently retired after 40 years as a Lutheran pastor. I like to dabble
with some electronics projects. I have a lathe, a radial arm saw, a router, and both a 220 volt stick welder and a flux core wire feed welder. I appreciate
Instructables from others that are practical and address real problems with useful solutions. These are the type of Instructables I try to write and publish.
Intro: Make a carbon arc torch for your 220 volt stick welder
MIG welders can do many things, but they cannot heat metal for bending or brazing. Your stick welder can do those things with a carbon arc torch added to it.
I am using a torch already fully constructed, so you will not see the parts aside from their place in the final unit.
Materials needed:
2 pieces of 1 x 2 firring strip 6 inches long (each)
2 pieces of 1/4 inch steel rod 7 inches long (each)
2 1/4 inch water pipe nipples 2 1/2 inches long (each)
2 #8-32 thumb screws about 1/2 inch long each
2 #8-32 nuts
2 1/4 inch flat washers
2 pieces of steel 1/8 inch thick and 3/8 inch x 3/4 inch
2 crimp-on connectors for #10 stranded wire
2 #8 terminal screws from an old electrical outlet
1 compression spring about 1/2 inch in diameter and 2 inches long
1 nylon cable tie about 6 inches or more long
8 #8 round head wood or flat head sheet metal screws
20 feet of #10 stranded plastic or rubber covered copper wire
2 pieces of scrap steel or aluminum 1/16 to 1/8 inch thick and 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches (each)
1/4 inch carbon rods (Get at a welding supply house.)
Tools needed:
Wood saw
Hack saw
Drill press and bit assortment
#8-32 tap
Crimping tool for electrical terminals
Soldering iron (150 watt) or gas torch and solder
Arc welder
Begin by cutting the wooden handles from the firring strip--6 inches long each.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-carbon-arc-torch-for-your-220-volt-stick-we/
Step 3: Prepare the handles for the spring and nylon tie
Using the torch will involve squeezing it with one hand. You want the spring to gently push the handles open when the pressure from your hand is released. But, you do
not want them to open without limitation. So, a nylon cable tie goes through the center of the spring and around the bottom of the handles to restrict how far the handles
can open.
Close the handles and drill a hole about 3/16 of an inch through both. The nylon tie will go through these holes later, but not right away. Open the handles wide and drill a
1/2 inch countersink hole on the inside face of each handle. These holes are for the ends of the spring.
Wait to install the spring and nylon tie until after the next step.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-carbon-arc-torch-for-your-220-volt-stick-we/
Step 4: Drill the ends of the handles for the steel rods
The holes for the steel rods should be straight and parallel to each other so the tips of the carbon rods will touch when the handles are squeezed together during use of
the torch. A drill press or similar assistance for drilling holes parallel to the outer surfaces of the handles is a big help, although it may be possible to get pretty close with
a hand-held drill. These holes should be about 1 1/2 inch deep into the ends of the handles.
Weld a flat washer on each steel rod. Insert the rods into the handles. Drill for a locking screw on each handle. This screw fixes the rods so they cannot shift or rotate
from your setting of their angle.
Now place the spring into the countersink holes on the inner surfaces of the handles. Hold the handles together lightly and insert the nylon tie so it goes through the
spring. Slip the end of the nylon tie through its own retaining hole and adjust the tension on the nylon tie for the amount of space you want between the handles when
they are not being squeezed. Trim the nylon tie so the extra is removed. You may want to heat the cut end of the nylon tie with a match so it loses its sharp edge.
Sometimes those can scratch and cut. (See the previous panel for the photo there.)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-carbon-arc-torch-for-your-220-volt-stick-we/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-carbon-arc-torch-for-your-220-volt-stick-we/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-carbon-arc-torch-for-your-220-volt-stick-we/
make it work.
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Comments
50 comments Add Comment
difflock says:
Phil B says:
Your version will be more expensive to make and will be heavier for your hand to hold and control.
difflock says:
I know it would be a bit more expensive to make (the cheap electrode holders are less than 10 each)....
http://www.thewelderswarehouse.com/Welding/200amp_Crocodile_Type_Electrode_Holder2.html
I dont know if they are more expensive in the US though......
but apart from a hinge and a spring of some form, its all that would be needed.......
as for the weight, I'm not sure it would be heavy......
the budget electrode holders arent heavy as most of the material is plastic......
I'm definitely going to make a carbon arc torch though.....
I'd eventually like to use it for welding aluminium plus brazing of various metals...
is it possible to simply use aluminium TIG welding rods for filler material?
aluminium welding is the one thing I always seem to need, but I currently havent got the tools to do so (I cant afford a TIG capable of aluminium
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-carbon-arc-torch-for-your-220-volt-stick-we/
raven.sirius says:
astral_mage says:
check out harbor frieght tools .com . not the best quality gear but if yr on a budget go thier.
Phil B says:
difflock says:
I think I'll make up a basic one from scraps (similar to yours) to see how I get on with it....
if it works out, I'll make a nicer one (which will also allow me to correct any errors/problems)
I've never welded aluminium due to not having the right setup, and I've never used a TIG welder due to costs.....
although, I am planning an alternator welder, which will become a DC TIG welder.......
but once I've built a carbon arc torch, and had a go with it, I will indeed post an update of how I got on with it.......
astral_mage says:
hey to the gentle who looking a microwave transformer np im sitting on to of them i can send u 1 np
astral_mage says:
still have 1 atm out of the unit an another still ing the unit.
tfmach says:
Phil B says:
tfmach says:
A picture
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-carbon-arc-torch-for-your-220-volt-stick-we/
Markaw says:
brandon_a_boyer says:
Not if the process is set up correctly. I use a oxy-propadine torce on a regular basis and it leaves a very clean edge.
brandon_a_boyer says:
omnibot says:
co2wms7whcc says:
Look up thermite cutting on youtube. It leaves a bunch of slag but its still crazy!
Phil B says:
Badgermilker says:
Phil B says:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-carbon-arc-torch-for-your-220-volt-stick-we/
ta-manie says:
Phil B says:
rimar2000 says:
Phil B says:
Osvaldo,
There are a number of pages in English on transformer design with all sorts of formulae. I do not know what is available in Spanish.
A friend had a spot welder and its transformer quit working. We think there was an internal short in one of the windings. I do know the secondary was
not made of wire or cable, but a continuous flat sheet of copper wound with an insulation layer around itself. They used copper sheet in order to carry
the high amperage load.
rimar2000 says:
Oh, that is a good notice for me! I could use a flattened copper pipe, wrapped with a plastic hose.
Today I went figuring out, and in my small town there are not many alternatives to choose cables. There was one of section 25 mm and another 16
mm (5 mm copper diameter). I chose the latter, I'll do the test and if it is too scarce, I will buy the other.
I can read and understand fairly well English, when I encounter a word I do not know or do not remember, I go to Google translator. But I think my
experiment don't deserve to study the fundamentals of transformers, it is a simple test.
Thanks for your response, I will let know to you the results.
Phil B says:
rimar2000 says:
Phil B says:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-carbon-arc-torch-for-your-220-volt-stick-we/
rimar2000 says:
dg2clarke says:
Phil B says:
foxtail says:
vapoking says:
omnibot says:
Phil B says:
foxtail says:
Phil B says:
Sounds good. I hope you get a lot of benefit from using your carbon arc torch and really enjoy it.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-carbon-arc-torch-for-your-220-volt-stick-we/
Phil B says:
Phil B says:
n8997j says:
Phil B says:
n8997j says:
Phil B says:
rimar2000 says:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-carbon-arc-torch-for-your-220-volt-stick-we/
Phil B says:
rimar2000 says:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-carbon-arc-torch-for-your-220-volt-stick-we/