I found this microwave in my neighbors garbage can. So I took it home, and turned into an
AC stick welder. In this project, we'll be testing out this contraption to see if it
actually works. Because if it does, we'll have the metal welding power to make a puzzle
for entertaining guests, or build improvised weapons for a zombie apocalypse.
I just modified these microwave oven transformers to weld metal, and made a little container
for it all to fit into. This arc welder is finished and ready for testing, so to do that
I got some pieces of scrap metal from a welding shop down the road. I switched out the blade
on my chop-saw with this cutting wheel and I'm cutting these bits of steel into smaller
pieces. The sparks are pretty hot and fly everywhere, so it's important to wear protection
and keep them away from anything flammable. Ok, our pieces are cut and resting on this
larger piece of metal. This is gonna act as a base plate for the ground clip to connect
to. I've got a 6013 welding rod that gets clipped into the stinger, and the amperage
is controlled with this device I call the ScariAc. Look for how to build this in another
video. The amps are adjusted to work with these 1/16" cellulose coated rods, and with
2 of our pieces butted up next to each other, it's time to see if we can strike an arc.
They say it's kind of like striking a match, and there we go. These welding rods are consumable,
meaning they get used up in the weld. You can actually see where the end of the rod
turns to molten metal and pools into the joint. To give this a little more strength,
let's flip it over and do the same thing to the top side. The UV radiation from stick
welding is enough to give you a pretty bad sun burn, so if you try it, make sure you're
protected from head to toe. Alright, the weld has cooled, so now we can knock off the layer
of slag that's formed on top, then clean it up with a wire brush. Now it looks good to
me, but I've never really welded before so I'm not sure how to tell if the weld is good
or not, so let's break it. The piece gets clamped in a bench vise and these channel
lock pliers should give us the leverage we need. I'm actually expecting this will snap
in the middle … but it didn't. I welded another piece and tried bending it back and
forth multiple times to snap the weld, but the joint never broke. Just for fun and a
bit more practice, let's weld all the scrap pieces together. I've also got these framing
nails we can tack on in random places, and a link of galvanized chain we can weld to
the end. Well, I think it's safe to say this welder is working. And I've got my first piece
of metal art to prove it. It's a little rough, and probably not the kind of decor I'd want
to put on display, but in a weird way I kind of like it. Now I'm amazed that even with
all this welding, the transformer coils are only slightly warm to the touch. I tried welding
some larger 3/32 rods and that was a different story. They work alright, but the welder heats
up fast. To cool it down, I have a fan that was salvaged from one of the microwaves, and
it slides right up to the vent hole on the left. When it's turned on, air flows over
the transformer coils, and exhausts out the other side. In the case of extreme overheating,
the whole top lifts right off for maximum ventilation. This welds metal pretty good
in my opinion, but I took it to another welder to get his thoughts on how it worked. He tried
some welds on pieces of his own scrap steel, and seemed pretty impressed with the results.
He said the weld penetrated the metal completely, and probably wouldn't break. So we tried some
more destructive testing to break the weld, but even with good leverage and quite a bit
of force, the weld held strong and the metal broke first. To finish this project up, let's
try making something a little more useful. This time I've got a horseshoe and some chain,
and I'm welding the links in-line with the tips of the shoe. This 2" steel ring goes
over both of the chains, and the remaining links are welded onto another shoe. We can
clean up the welds in the usual way, and look at that. We've got a horseshoe puzzle ready
for entertaining. The challenge is to get the ring off, which seems impossible because
the ring is way too small. But it can be done, and my wife just proved it. Why don't you
make your own and see if you can figure out how it's done? Well there's a MOT stick welder
that works, and my first few experiences with the world of welding. If you liked this project,
perhaps you'll like some of my others. Check them out at www.thekingofrandom.com