As I have said in the past, you are one of my favorite TH-camrs to watch and learn from but one thing puzzles me , how have you been able to do all these amazing projects in that little shop? I mean everyone else beggs for money and says all the projects are "ours" as long as we keep supporting them, and the next thing you know they live in a big house with a dream shop and most of the video is one big commercial and the content becomes crappy. But all the years I have watched your channel you manage to have excellent content and most of the projects are in the same garage you have always worked from. Thank you for being one of the best.
I buy the old school welders for next to no money and donate them to young guys starting up. We old guys need to help the young guys get into welding and mechanical stuff because les and less of the younger generation are able to afford stuff or get the chance to try to weld. Great video hope that machine gets someone going in life.
@MPM Welding that’s where I am and your right. That’s why I try to get youngsters interested in welding fabrication , engines if we don’t we will lose out mechanical knowledge.
@MPM Welding not many stick welders still here in UK . Back in the day I had an old Clarke stick welder I had to weld airtight on exhaust silencers after removing the baffles. I had very little equipment then and plenty of time. My problem now I have all the equipment I need but very little time to use it.
@MPM Welding Learned on a torch setup and a Montgomery ward buzz box. Thought I was the king of the block when I was given a used set that needed replacement bottles, broken rack with flat tires. Still have and use the buzz box and victor set to this day just because it works. And, it's paid my mortgage many times over.
Bought one of these back when I got out of high school (1965) for use around the farm... It was old and beat up then. I used it for about five years until I got out of college and moved out... In the meantime, Dad had learned to weld and kept using it around the farm. That old sucker was still going strong when the entire shop was sucked into that great void in the sky by a Category 5 tornado in 2015. Where ever it landed it is probably still being used today...
My step dad bought one of these when I was in high school. He is gone now and I'm 56 and it has been passed down to me to use for the rest of MY life. Awesome little welder.
And that's why they don't build things that good anymore - if you can buy a welder once and pass it along for generations, they're not going to sell more welders, are they? That's why most stuff is complete crap these days - you're supposed to by 5 of them in your lifetime, not pass the same one down 5 generations
If you ever watched any of those Pakistani or Indonesian channels where they fix 'junk' with 'junk' to get it going, all they EVER use are those basic tap transformer welders.
I still have my late 70's unit and I bodged lawnmower wheels and some handles on it with genuine Yamaha dirt bike grips! She also got a Dryer cord just like yours in 81' and has given Me 45 years of reliability!
These old Tombstone welders never die! For the better of 20 years I used this style for pretty much everything I stick welded. My first one was my Grandpa's, it's still in the family. I later bought one off of Craigslist for 50 bucks, it had a broken switch and I used it for many years after I fixed it. I've been a bit spoiled with some of the new technologies, but I still have soft spot for the old Tombstones! Great machines!
I had to laugh when you opened the case and showed the wiring. I picked up a Miller 225 Thundervolt from a tool repair guy years ago. He'd taken it in on trade, never plugged it in. Made him an offer, he accepted. When I plugged it in it didn't work well, did as you did, mine looked fine inside, checked plug, figure the same guy who wired yours wired my plug. Swapped the connections, runs perfectly. That's why the chuckle, figured that guy got around way too much.
I have one of those. Haven't touched it in decades but it welded good and then I had the weld structural. Oh my god 70 18 on that was a nightmare but we got it done and then we went and bought a bigger DC machine a red one
I started welding with an old Lincoln 225 back around 1970. Fond memories. I now have a Dayton 250 version that my wife got me back in the mid 80s. Lots of hours on that thing and still going.
People like to run down the Lincoln "Tombstone" welders like this one, but generations of beginning welders have learned to weld with them. I started out with a 225 AC model like the one in the video and used it to learn to arc weld. With the proper rods, you can do some amazing work. I later traded the AC model off and got a used AC-DC version just for fun. It's handy to have one around and, as mentioned in the video, they seem to last forever. Nice video. Thanks!
I've got an old Lincoln tombstone from the early 50's (I think) the thing weighs a TON. Pretty sure the old ones had copper transformers, it welds so smooth. Smoothest buzz box I've ever used. It also has a starter circuit that that assists starts then drops out. It has the crank on the front and the amperage indicator on the top that moves side to side to indicate output. I don't use it much but when I have to do heavy stuff, that old bugger really digs in and gets the job done. One suggestion for yours, put some grommets in the case for the welding leads. They can short out against the case over time..
@@sixtyfiveford Long ago, after an unfortunate incident where I ended up with a mis-wired hot plate spot-welded to my kitchen sink, I've gotten in the habit of taking an ohmmeter to used electrical stuff. It only takes a few seconds to verify no continuity between the hot and the case, and to verify that you don't have a direct short. As far as the hot plate goes, it was on the counter next to the sink, and one of the little metal legs was actually touching the edge of the sink. What I did not know was that somebody had wired the hot leg to the case. When I plugged it in, results were predictable. Obviously, this was before the advent of GFCI protection. Things would have not gone well if I had been leaning on the sink and happened to grab a metal pan.
Great job, that came out beautifully. The best part of the whole video for me was watching someone who knows how to properly use an aerosol can to paint things. It drives me crazy watching people paint in 1 second bursts and shaking the can every three bursts of paint. Sometimes getting fancy and spraying while shaking. Then they wonder why it took 75 cans of Rustoleum or whatever brand was on sale at Home Depot to paint their Miata and have it still come out like crap. You did an excellent job on it. In my area the old Lincoln tombstones are going for around $3-600 used (depending on if ac only or ac/dc), which is up about 200% from a few years ago. I'm glad they're being saved for another hundred years instead of being scrapped for metal. Years ago I bought a 1940's Forney welder a lot like the Tombstone. It ran and welded like butter, and continues to till this day. I cleaned it up, did a little bit of body work (like you did) and sprayed it??? Rustoleum Red. I use it as often as I can, sometimes using it when I should be using a MIG, just because it's such a sweet machine to use. It's big and heavy and I keep trying to talk myself into selling it but I just can't. I don't use it enough to necessitate keeping it but what if I need to glue some thick stuff together solid? It'll weld just about anything I've ever thrown at it without a stutter. I paid $50 for it. Great video and thanks for reading my overly verbose comment if you made it all the way down here.
Hey thanks. I buy one of these, use it a few times and it sits for a year and I end up selling it . And then I end up missing it so that's why I keep buying them. I've talked myself out of buying a couple Forneys.
I still have my Lincon 225 amp welder just like this one I bought back in the early 70s and I still have it and it welds like the day I bought it. I since then have graduated to a Miller Mig 200 amp and a Miller 140 amp wire feed welders. I have all three and also a Large bottles and Victor Oxygen Acetylene torches and tips for gas welding and a smaller set of them for gas welding too. I wanted to become a welder after I got out of high school but life led me in a different direction and I got into the Plumbing and Septic business trade and made more money that way than I ever would as a welder. But I still make things and love to weld. I learned to weld back in high school around 1970.
Bought my Lincoln buz box from 1978. Often use it for everything from farm tractor and vehicles repairs to tinkering. Nearly 44 years later its still kicking!
I picked up one about 20 yrs ago and good thing I opened it up to find a mouse nest inside! I cleaned it up and put a new plug cord on it and it worked great! I just recently sold it after I picked up the AC/DC model and I love it!! Great video!
Cool video. I found a NIB Lincoln AC/DC-225 model from a garage sale for $50. A widow said her husband bought it and died two days later unexpectedly. She had no idea of it’s worth and just wanted lots of stuff “gone” (including the welder), as she was downsizing for a move. SCORE!!!
I found one of these on the side of the road next to a local Trailer Park. It had been discarded and left for a scrapper. It was in rough condition and the shell had rusted through at the bottom. (not to mention the leads had been cut off.🙁 However, the internals we still good. A little work made her functional again! Thanks for restoring yours. It looks brand new!
Yes you can use 120 volts. It will cut in half the output. Adding a high frequency unit and hooking up a air cooled tig torch with with appropriate gas and you can weld light gauge aluminum . Please note this is for a AC unit only. This was unofficially told to us in an advanced welding class at Lincoln's school back in the 80's. Please don't think about using 440v, it will be dangerous for sure. I served a welding apprenticeship with GM in the mid 1970's and was fortunate to attend advanced welding classes at Lincoln and Hobart many times. At almost 76 years young I still weld and always find myself learning to this day.
I'm 60 years old, inherited Dad's tombstone ( that just doesn't sound right, the machine I grew up with.) No telling how many boxes of rods the thing has burned building fences, garages, trailers, you name it. Just as hot as it ever was. The only issue I've had is the dadgum black widow spiders think it's a condo. Fan quit, took it apart and the fan blade was basically tied in place with spider webs. Cleaned it out inside with quick shots from a WD40/ Bic lighter flame thrower, good as new.
Nice job! I'm glad I still have my Dad's old Lincoln welder. I remember, when I was a little kid, he would give me an old welding helmet and let watch him weld, and sometimes let me attempt to weld. Thanks for the video, brings back some good memories for me.
I just wanted to let you know with a follow up comment when this video came out two months or so ago I left a comment on here saying I was going to look at my Lincoln tombstone welder that I acquired for free from a neighbor that moved out. Anyways long story short after cleaning some dirty connections replacing the AC plug, the electrode holder then oiling and manually working the fan until it wanted to freely spin again the welder now works like a champ I just wanted to thank you for giving me the inspiration to actually take on the task without watching your video I probably would have never messed with it and it would sat in the corner of the garage until I needed the space and then I probably would have tossed it into my scrap hauling utility trailer. So now I just got 10lbs of electrode sticks from Amazon (Christmas eve) and now I get to learn the finesse of arc welding, I have gotten pretty good at my 110V fluxcore wire feed (I still haven't bought the bottle for it to make it a MIG but that is another story) so I figure learning a stick welder can't be to hard.
I was given a tombstone welder about 10 years ago for scrap. The guy said it worked but he took the leads and power cord off of it for another machine. He left about 6 inches of lead hanging out so I just put ends on it and wound up with about 50ft of lead and used a power cord from an RV. The thing is still welding today and now have over 100ft of leads. I will say you have to run a higher AMP setting depending on how much lead I'm working with but I love it.
I own a Lincoln and a Miller welder. Both from the early 1970's. The last time I used both were in 2006. Thanks to your video I'm going to get them out of the storage locker (which is unfortunately located in another state 300 miles away) and start using them again.
I bought mine in the late 70s and it's still going. Ran it off a 30 amp dryer circuit for years. It worked but would pop the fuse at around 130 amps if I welded for too long. Mine never had a wheel kit but it's a great idea and those large wheels sure are nice. Great little machines! You did a nice job restoring it!
Yessir! I’ve had a Lincoln since about 1973! All I’ve used until recently getting a $79 flux core wire welder and just a few weeks ago finally an Eastwood multi function mig/tig/arc. But when I need to weld up something for strength from thick metal I always use my old standby! It welds deep and strong! Thanks for showing the old classic some love!!!
Great job of refurbing that old box. It will never die if someone doesn't screw it up again. When I saw that wiring I let out a cry! But...I have been guilty of the same crime. I moved to Germany from the States in 1965. I moved into a house with a young family and they had a new washing machine. It had a cord, but no plug. "Oh, I'll connect it up for you." I never would have thought that red was ground...but it was. I nearly killed the young mother when she was standing with bare feet and touched the drum. Red had been ground in Germany since the early years and only in the 1970s did green/yellow become ground throughout Europe and later throughout the world. After that, whenever I wired up anything I looked at where the wires go inside the machine. You never know what you are going to find.
@@Hoaxer51 There was no green. There were just red (ground), black and white. Green/yellow became standard for ground in the 1970s, but still not everywhere. It always pays to open up the machine and look where the wires go inside.
Back in the day, this is the welder I cut my teeth on in welding class. They just plain work. In my opinion, everyone should learn to weld using an Arc welder.....They make all other welders super simple to navigate and use. Cheers Moe! Enjoyed this and you definitely dodged a bullet there my Friend! Zip!
WOW!! Scarily, that's exactly what I figured was WRONG with IT😱 and no ring terminals for the icing on top😳 gives a whole new meaning to the name tombstone welder! Great machines that'll last a lifetime and SMAW is actually my preferred process for most welding over 14ga! Nice find and fix👍🏻 might've just saved someone's life!
My wife bought me one brand new 20 years ago, she wanted a BBQ pit! I owe her a BBQ pit. But the thing is still brand new I love it! Wow, just when I thought the video was over, full restoration of the box! Thank you
Love recycling older equipment however before I test anything out I take readings with my multimeter to check for any faults to the housing that could lead to serious injury. It’s well worth the time and then do a serious visual inspection of the equipment. Love the finished product! Only tombstone welders I saw in the day were some cheap buzz boxes that ran on 120 volts and they were at Lowes, must have been chineesium clones with the Lincoln badge on them.
My best project with this one...... welded a dropped tie rod for my 57 Chevy 2-dr hardtop (balanced and blueprinted 350+.030, 12-1/2 : 1 Jahns, Holley 3 bbl on Edelbrock, Isky 3/4 Roller and alum needle bearing rockers, idle at 1000rpm, alum flywheel, close ratio 4 spd, 4:11 rear), so I wouldn't have to disconnect it every time I dropped the oil pan.
Always liked it when a customer would bring something like this to my shop and would say I had my son in law look at it, he’s an electrical engineer,he worked on it said he didn’t know what’s wrong with it. Easy fix and an ignorance charge was in order.
I used this welder in a business making stock crates when I was a young apprentice. It got hammered every day, like day in and day out and never ever complained ....... it ran like a trooper.
If you work on equipment, you need a welder. I have done small welding jobs on equipment I work on for customers 4 times in the last 6 weeks. It comes in handy, is enjoyable, and keeps you from running back and forth getting welding done by another shop.
I own one from the early 60's and yes it still runs great. Good to hear it should out last me. I mounted mine on a small wooden skid with steel wheels makes it very easy to move around the shop. Seeing yours makes me want to paint mine up as well.
The good part of these Lincoln welders is that you welded most things on two or three settings which were always exactly the same every time you went there. Not a little higher or little lower but right on 90, or right on 120, or right on 200. You always knew exactly what to expect.
I bought two of those welders for $50 each. One was pristine with 30 foot leads and the other literally fell off the back of a truck. I fixed up the ugly one and sold it. It paid for the nicer welder, 20 lbs. of rod and a DIY 240 volt extension cord. They are easy to fix, easy to shine and you can't kill them. You scored a find too.
I taught myself to stick and MIG weld on a Forney 140 Easy Weld. I was so easy to learn, and the welder paid for itself with my first "job" repairing a liftgate for my boss at work.
I loves me some barn finds! Years ago I picked up a Century transformer AC/DC machine for a song. Talk about a workhorse! Then, I stumbled on someone selling a dirty, dusty, crappy looking 300 amp Everlast SMAW (stick) inverter machine on the serious cheap. Apparently, the poor cosmetics kept everyone away. Once home, I opened up the machine to find all kinds of crud on the inside including a rather large wasp nest. I disassembled it completely, cleaned everything, and power washed the case inside and out. It now looks like a brand new machine! Oh, and the buttery smooth arc of modern electronics with dig and hot start! You know you've arrived as a serious fixer when the home shop sports a lathe, welder, and oxy-acetylene rig.
Great video, with some good points to check _before_ powering it up, lol. I bought one of the Lincoln AC-225's when I was in high school; 50 years later it still works just fine. Over the years I added some wheels, a handle with holders for a chipping hammer and wire brush, helmet hook, and a big binder clip for a pair of gloves. My grandchildren will probably still be using it. I had the good luck to pick up a pre-inverter Lincoln Century 140 (Lincoln Canada Ltd.) wire-feed welder - pretty basic, which means not much to go wrong. For $55 or $60 and working, I couldn't pass up. The only tweaking it needed was adjusting the wire feed. I use it nowadays for 95% of general repairs and fabrication. It did come with the factory plumbing for connecting a gas bottle - that's been useful on some jobs. However, for most "fix-it" work flux-core wire is just fine. This one has an AC terminal block in the housing that allows connecting either a 120 or 240 VAC cord. Although the top-end amperage is less, having a 120V plug is handy. The big plus apart from wire feed is the size and weight compared to a buzz box. Even pre-inverter it's still a one-hand carry, lighter and smaller that the "tombstone." Thanks for your great videos - they're always enjoyable and often educational.
I had one gave to me in the 80s. It's what I learned to weld with. Called them a buzz box. I still stick weld only. I have a welder in my truck for the last 20 years.
I've had mine since the 80's. Still works like brand new. I actually used the wooden base that it was bolted to and just added casters to it. Great video.
When I was in high school shop class in 1990 the shop welder was really an ole school welder, the way we had to change the amperage was to unplug the cables to different plug position on the welder to achieve different amperage 🤦🏿♂️so the welder you have is what out shop class should have had a more modern welder at the time🤷🏿♂️....but the is a good job on restoring that welder one more thing I see you're a Ford guy💪🏿💪🏿
I have one of those from 1982 which is wall mounted. It has to come down every so often to oil that fan. When changing my compressor over to 240V, the price of the wire and plug was outragious, so pricing a new welder cord was about half the cost......that was the way to go. My garage has a 30A circuit and my Lincoln can only go to "90" or it blows the fuse. Enjoy your stuff, keep up that good work!!
The Lincoln welder at the farm where I grew up still works, the fan takes about 5 to 10 minutes to "warm up" and get to full speed, use the circuit breaker on the main panel to turn the welder on and off because the switch has long since went bad. I am 52 years old and remember this welder as a child, very likely WAY older than me!
Leebuck, mine did the same thing. I hosed the bearing down with WD-40. Now it gets up to speed immediately. The bad thing about taking that long to get up to speed like that is the windings in your fan will pull more amps and eventually burn the fan motor out.
Welding is something I have always wanted to try. Maybe someday I can get to that. Great buy and thank goodness you did not get shocked. That was sure lucky. Thanks for all the tips and videos.
Call just about any weld shop and express your interest. I doubt they would turn you away. Local makers groups are another. I started 5 years ago at age 57.
Like just about everybody else, I've got one of these that I've had for at least 30 years. I traded out some carpentry work for it from a guy who didn't know how to weld. Stock condition, still runs like a champ. Mine still has the tiny little wheels and the virtually nonexistent handle on top to move it around. It's so heavy and awkward to move around that I bought an inexpensive hand truck at Harbor Freight and just zip-tied the welder to it as a permanent feature. Makes it a lot easier to move around and provides better cord storage too. It will definitely outlive me. Nice job.
I learned how to weld on my first real job. Worked at a shipyard for ocean going ships. Our welding machines were from WW11 looked just like yours but navy grey they were still in use in 2000
It looks and works Great! And a stick welder works in the wind. We were welding deck 3 stories up while it was blizzarding out, and in my best Bob Seger voice, started singing "Against the wind. We're just welding, we're welding against the wind."
I just refurbished one of these. It was more rust than paint and was bolted to a chunk of plywood with one caster still left on it. I replaced the spring in the selector/ pointer with a lighter tension one so that won't break off in my hand. The rest of it is bulletproof. It is bolted to our PTO generator and ready for action.
Also slight differences between the older ones and newer models are the leads coming out the front.. over / under vs side by side configuration..most only need the contacts cleaned in the amperage adjustment mechanism and maybe the fan replaced if it doesn't run when the machine is plugged in..seen alot of people add a Chinesium bridge rectifier the brick style 1600a to get both AC/ DC and add a scratch start tig torch as well..probably the best DIY beginners welder ever made to date as they last generations..
@@sixtyfiveford having an AC / DC stick welder has merits as the DIY modification gets you all the amps vs the half amps from a factory unit..and if someone didn't have a tig welder a scratch tig would be well worth it if shielding gas was available..of course dinse connectors would simplify the modifications greatly not needing switches just different sockets / connectors on the front panel for the leads etc..there's great deal of intrest in such mods and current videos are rather poor at explaining the process..they usually use a grossly over rated bridge rectifier such as a 1600a unit about $27 or whatever is readily available around $20ish that's over rated etc..there a few limited videos here on YT but there is a really good website showing pics of such mods..yeah it could turn into a $40 to $50 project plus a chinesium tig torch etc..but your the channel to really do it well for others to learn..as so many people have a Lincoln 225ac in a garage, shed , barn collecting dust as its limited with only AC stick welding available..
Looks really nice! Haven't used one of these since high school. You got me checking Craigslist for one. That's the one thing I hate about Rustoleum. It takes FOREVER to dry.
This is Jim Man guy again very nice job on that machine very nice job and I didn’t know that about the aluminum windings anyway this is a German guy again thank you very good tutorial
I am getting my dad’s tombstone Lincoln and his linde mig plus his victor torch. I want to get the Lincoln up and going and convert the mig to a spool gun since we cannot find the replacement feed parts. My son has taken a huge interest in welding and all I currently have is a clarke mig set up for flux core. He is learning a lot in his high school ag class too. Your welder looks great
Amazing. The day you posted this I was taking the panel off of a Marquette 240 spot welder. It plugs in, power passes all the way to the transformer and circuit board...but then something is a miss. I'm stuck. I don't want it to go to scrap..that would be a waste. Leads are in good condition..someone will need this thing.
My goodness, the things you see. I enjoyed the education about this type of welder. My dad always had his close by and your right. He had his for well over 30 years. They don't die...as long as you don't screw it up.
Excellent repair/restoration! Glad you didn't get bit. Hindsight is always easier... But it would make sense to continuity test between the plug leads and the frame of any machine that there is any question of how it was wired, in the future. I currently use a multiprocess (TIG/Stick/Spool) and a dedicated MIG machine; but I originally learned on a Lincoln tombstone welder. They're still a tremendous amount that can be done and repaired with a machine like that.
Bought mine brand new year's ago for $99.00. It looks like brand new today as I keep it covered in my garage. It came with no wheels and has no wheels. It is heavy and I always assumed that the transformer was copper wire. Thanks for the great video.
It's funny, about 10 years ago my neighbor was moving out and he left one of these I grabbed it and it's been sitting in the corner of my garage ever since I've never plugged it in after seeing the inside of this, it's super simple I thought it was complicated now I want to pull mine out of the garage and do the same treatment to it
My dad had one of those in his shop, it is capable of really good work. I am NOT a welder but I could make his Lincoln work (sort of, just glad no photos exist of any of MY welds). He had a guy that was a welding wizard. Ernie could build anything with a torch and a welder.
Great video! I'm past 80 yo and would like to learn to weld, but I'm retired on little income and can't afford to spend a lot. Next $50 'dead' tombstone I run across, I'm gonna buy it. Thanks!!!!!!!
You just have to keep looking. I've picked several up for around $75 with 100' of cord, helmet, gloves, electrodes etc. Everything you need to start. If the cords are excess to your needs you can sell them off and make money off the deal while keeping the welder
Interesting video. That cord! Never underestimate the power of human stupidity! Never had a Lincoln. Learned 50+ years ago on Dad’s Forney C6 buzz box (unfortunately, the Forney was too far gone when he died in 2014). Always appreciated that the 180 amp Forney was designed with Rural Electrification Areas in mind, and needed only a 30 amp circuit. The 250 amp AC/DC machine I bought from Monkey Ward in 1980 calls for a 60 amp circuit, but works on a 50 with a range cord. I’ll keep my eyes open for a steal deal on a tombstone.👍
I love these old death machines that people have done a hack job on the power cord. One of them I had was so bad sparks shot out of the kluged connection when I powered it up. I have owned 15 vintage welders and they all ran fine when the power cord issues and bad output grounds were fixed. Good video.
These welding Machines are timeless and they love 6011 that’s all I run in mine I learned to weld at 10 years old with same Machine self taught 45 years old now
The household drier plug is 30 amp, whereas this requires a full 50 amps. You can definitely use it, but any longer welds or higher amp welds with 7018 will trip the breaker a lot.
I have the same welder I bought from a guy several years ago. And even though I have a bigger shop welder I still use the little Lincoln for some projects.
Grew up with one of those in our pole barn/shop and it's the only kind of welder I've ever used. It still works just fine, but we never used it heavily like a professional would. Not sure when my Pappy bought it but I'm sure it was before I was born in '68.
Love those old dog house welders. This was my first welder and that was over 60 years ago. ☼ It never made the trip to Montana where I retired, but I had a neighbor give me a NOS still in the box from around 1970, he said. ☼ I'll add a 1/2 wave rectifier on the outputs for some really nice welding and a couple of posts for the AC and the DC sides.
I have one of these from about the same time. Leads were shot, so I replaced them with new. And CORRECTLY wired in a new power cord. The one I have sat outside in a field for 20 years. Fan motor takes a minute or two to get up to full speed, but welds just fine.
Another saved .. i remember those in body school in 1970. They were a beast but very good you could weld a frame stronger than factory ..next time you paint something like that try automotive engine paint it's really durable and lasts for a long time .. i use it all the time the colors are limited so you have to choose what's right for your project..i really come here to see Ginger..lol..
A Lincoln tombstone welder was my first welder and I plan to keep for as long as I am around. I have fancier welders, but if those go down for some reason I know I can count on my buzz box to keep working.
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As I have said in the past, you are one of my favorite TH-camrs to watch and learn from but one thing puzzles me , how have you been able to do all these amazing projects in that little shop? I mean everyone else beggs for money and says all the projects are "ours" as long as we keep supporting them, and the next thing you know they live in a big house with a dream shop and most of the video is one big commercial and the content becomes crappy. But all the years I have watched your channel you manage to have excellent content and most of the projects are in the same garage you have always worked from. Thank you for being one of the best.
Wow thanks. I'm glad you enjoy the videos.
Agree 100%
I think his shop is pared down to the essentials but I suspect he has a lot of storage.
Wow, you hit the nail on the head! This is a pattern you see a lot on TH-cam! First time to the channel, the content is really good! Thank you!
I agree too 👍
I buy the old school welders for next to no money and donate them to young guys starting up.
We old guys need to help the young guys get into welding and mechanical stuff because les and less of the younger generation are able to afford stuff or get the chance to try to weld.
Great video hope that machine gets someone going in life.
@MPM Welding that’s where I am and your right.
That’s why I try to get youngsters interested in welding fabrication , engines if we don’t we will lose out mechanical knowledge.
@MPM Welding what type of welding do you do.
Where are you located I’m in Leeds.
@MPM Welding not many stick welders still here in UK .
Back in the day I had an old Clarke stick welder I had to weld airtight on exhaust silencers after removing the baffles.
I had very little equipment then and plenty of time.
My problem now I have all the equipment I need but very little time to use it.
I used to do that but lately when I offer a welder. The entitled little creeps say they want a Miller, GTF out of my shop is my response.
@MPM Welding Learned on a torch setup and a Montgomery ward buzz box. Thought I was the king of the block when I was given a used set that needed replacement bottles, broken rack with flat tires. Still have and use the buzz box and victor set to this day just because it works. And, it's paid my mortgage many times over.
Bought one of these back when I got out of high school (1965) for use around the farm... It was old and beat up then. I used it for about five years until I got out of college and moved out... In the meantime, Dad had learned to weld and kept using it around the farm. That old sucker was still going strong when the entire shop was sucked into that great void in the sky by a Category 5 tornado in 2015. Where ever it landed it is probably still being used today...
The welder flow away
First time I hear such thing
My step dad bought one of these when I was in high school. He is gone now and I'm 56 and it has been passed down to me to use for the rest of MY life. Awesome little welder.
It would be awesome to pass it on to a young guy some day to get them interested in welding as not many get chance to try welding.👍
And that's why they don't build things that good anymore - if you can buy a welder once and pass it along for generations, they're not going to sell more welders, are they? That's why most stuff is complete crap these days - you're supposed to by 5 of them in your lifetime, not pass the same one down 5 generations
If you ever watched any of those Pakistani or Indonesian channels where they fix 'junk' with 'junk' to get it going, all they EVER use are those basic tap transformer welders.
Neighbor put one of these down the bottom of his driveway with a "FREE" sign. Turned out it needed a new switch. Works good. Cheers!
I still have my late 70's unit and I bodged lawnmower wheels and some handles on it with genuine Yamaha dirt bike grips! She also got a Dryer cord just like yours in 81' and has given Me 45 years of reliability!
I have one I bought in 1971 for $89.00 new ,still working never has let me down !!!!
These old Tombstone welders never die! For the better of 20 years I used this style for pretty much everything I stick welded. My first one was my Grandpa's, it's still in the family. I later bought one off of Craigslist for 50 bucks, it had a broken switch and I used it for many years after I fixed it. I've been a bit spoiled with some of the new technologies, but I still have soft spot for the old Tombstones! Great machines!
I get used to welding with the modern inverter welders and forget how smooth a transformer welder actually is.
they never die because they use to be made in Canada but now they are probably made in China.
I had to laugh when you opened the case and showed the wiring. I picked up a Miller 225 Thundervolt from a tool repair guy years ago. He'd taken it in on trade, never plugged it in. Made him an offer, he accepted. When I plugged it in it didn't work well, did as you did, mine looked fine inside, checked plug, figure the same guy who wired yours wired my plug. Swapped the connections, runs perfectly. That's why the chuckle, figured that guy got around way too much.
That's funny.
I have one of those. Haven't touched it in decades but it welded good and then I had the weld structural. Oh my god 70 18 on that was a nightmare but we got it done and then we went and bought a bigger DC machine a red one
Always feels good to breathe life back into something salvageable and usable. Nice work Moe.
Thanks Steve
I started welding with an old Lincoln 225 back around 1970. Fond memories. I now have a Dayton 250 version that my wife got me back in the mid 80s. Lots of hours on that thing and still going.
People like to run down the Lincoln "Tombstone" welders like this one, but generations of beginning welders have learned to weld with them. I started out with a 225 AC model like the one in the video and used it to learn to arc weld. With the proper rods, you can do some amazing work. I later traded the AC model off and got a used AC-DC version just for fun. It's handy to have one around and, as mentioned in the video, they seem to last forever. Nice video. Thanks!
I've got an old Lincoln tombstone from the early 50's (I think) the thing weighs a TON. Pretty sure the old ones had copper transformers, it welds so smooth. Smoothest buzz box I've ever used. It also has a starter circuit that that assists starts then drops out. It has the crank on the front and the amperage indicator on the top that moves side to side to indicate output. I don't use it much but when I have to do heavy stuff, that old bugger really digs in and gets the job done.
One suggestion for yours, put some grommets in the case for the welding leads. They can short out against the case over time..
that's an Idealarc model
Great restoration work on the welder , Glad you didn’t get shocked from the previous crappy wiring job
Thanks. Me too.
@@sixtyfiveford Long ago, after an unfortunate incident where I ended up with a mis-wired hot plate spot-welded to my kitchen sink, I've gotten in the habit of taking an ohmmeter to used electrical stuff. It only takes a few seconds to verify no continuity between the hot and the case, and to verify that you don't have a direct short.
As far as the hot plate goes, it was on the counter next to the sink, and one of the little metal legs was actually touching the edge of the sink. What I did not know was that somebody had wired the hot leg to the case. When I plugged it in, results were predictable. Obviously, this was before the advent of GFCI protection.
Things would have not gone well if I had been leaning on the sink and happened to grab a metal pan.
Great job, that came out beautifully. The best part of the whole video for me was watching someone who knows how to properly use an aerosol can to paint things. It drives me crazy watching people paint in 1 second bursts and shaking the can every three bursts of paint. Sometimes getting fancy and spraying while shaking. Then they wonder why it took 75 cans of Rustoleum or whatever brand was on sale at Home Depot to paint their Miata and have it still come out like crap.
You did an excellent job on it. In my area the old Lincoln tombstones are going for around $3-600 used (depending on if ac only or ac/dc), which is up about 200% from a few years ago. I'm glad they're being saved for another hundred years instead of being scrapped for metal. Years ago I bought a 1940's Forney welder a lot like the Tombstone. It ran and welded like butter, and continues to till this day. I cleaned it up, did a little bit of body work (like you did) and sprayed it??? Rustoleum Red. I use it as often as I can, sometimes using it when I should be using a MIG, just because it's such a sweet machine to use. It's big and heavy and I keep trying to talk myself into selling it but I just can't. I don't use it enough to necessitate keeping it but what if I need to glue some thick stuff together solid? It'll weld just about anything I've ever thrown at it without a stutter. I paid $50 for it.
Great video and thanks for reading my overly verbose comment if you made it all the way down here.
Hey thanks. I buy one of these, use it a few times and it sits for a year and I end up selling it . And then I end up missing it so that's why I keep buying them. I've talked myself out of buying a couple Forneys.
I still have my Lincon 225 amp welder just like this one I bought back in the early 70s and I still have it and it welds like the day I bought it. I since then have graduated to a Miller Mig 200 amp and a Miller 140 amp wire feed welders. I have all three and also a Large bottles and Victor Oxygen Acetylene torches and tips for gas welding and a smaller set of them for gas welding too. I wanted to become a welder after I got out of high school but life led me in a different direction and I got into the Plumbing and Septic business trade and made more money that way than I ever would as a welder. But I still make things and love to weld. I learned to weld back in high school around 1970.
Bought my Lincoln buz box from 1978. Often use it for everything from farm tractor and vehicles repairs to tinkering. Nearly 44 years later its still kicking!
I picked up one about 20 yrs ago and good thing I opened it up to find a mouse nest inside! I cleaned it up and put a new plug cord on it and it worked great! I just recently sold it after I picked up the AC/DC model and I love it!! Great video!
Cool video. I found a NIB Lincoln AC/DC-225 model from a garage sale for $50. A widow said her husband bought it and died two days later unexpectedly. She had no idea of it’s worth and just wanted lots of stuff “gone” (including the welder), as she was downsizing for a move. SCORE!!!
that welder built America back in the day old school. the best
I found one of these on the side of the road next to a local Trailer Park. It had been discarded and left for a scrapper. It was in rough condition and the shell had rusted through at the bottom. (not to mention the leads had been cut off.🙁 However, the internals we still good. A little work made her functional again! Thanks for restoring yours. It looks brand new!
That's awesome
His is better than new! Big wheels and cable hangers.
Yep, the old ones are simple and you actually have to try hard if you're going to wreck them. The previous owner of this one looked like he tried 😆
Yes you can use 120 volts. It will cut in half the output. Adding a high frequency unit and hooking up a air cooled tig torch with with appropriate gas and you can weld light gauge aluminum . Please note this is for a AC unit only. This was unofficially told to us in an advanced welding class at Lincoln's school back in the 80's. Please don't think about using 440v, it will be dangerous for sure. I served a welding apprenticeship with GM in the mid 1970's and was fortunate to attend advanced welding classes at Lincoln and Hobart many times. At almost 76 years young I still weld and always find myself learning to this day.
I bought one of these in 1967. And it was a hell of a good machine. At 14. I worked all summer to get the money to buy it.
That's awesome
I'm 60 years old, inherited Dad's tombstone ( that just doesn't sound right, the machine I grew up with.) No telling how many boxes of rods the thing has burned building fences, garages, trailers, you name it. Just as hot as it ever was. The only issue I've had is the dadgum black widow spiders think it's a condo. Fan quit, took it apart and the fan blade was basically tied in place with spider webs. Cleaned it out inside with quick shots from a WD40/ Bic lighter flame thrower, good as new.
Nice job! I'm glad I still have my Dad's old Lincoln welder. I remember, when I was a little kid, he would give me an old welding helmet and let watch him weld, and sometimes let me attempt to weld. Thanks for the video, brings back some good memories for me.
I just wanted to let you know with a follow up comment when this video came out two months or so ago I left a comment on here saying I was going to look at my Lincoln tombstone welder that I acquired for free from a neighbor that moved out.
Anyways long story short after cleaning some dirty connections replacing the AC plug, the electrode holder then oiling and manually working the fan until it wanted to freely spin again the welder now works like a champ I just wanted to thank you for giving me the inspiration to actually take on the task without watching your video I probably would have never messed with it and it would sat in the corner of the garage until I needed the space and then I probably would have tossed it into my scrap hauling utility trailer.
So now I just got 10lbs of electrode sticks from Amazon (Christmas eve) and now I get to learn the finesse of arc welding, I have gotten pretty good at my 110V fluxcore wire feed (I still haven't bought the bottle for it to make it a MIG but that is another story) so I figure learning a stick welder can't be to hard.
I was given a tombstone welder about 10 years ago for scrap. The guy said it worked but he took the leads and power cord off of it for another machine. He left about 6 inches of lead hanging out so I just put ends on it and wound up with about 50ft of lead and used a power cord from an RV. The thing is still welding today and now have over 100ft of leads. I will say you have to run a higher AMP setting depending on how much lead I'm working with but I love it.
I own a Lincoln and a Miller welder. Both from the early 1970's. The last time I used both were in 2006. Thanks to your video I'm going to get them out of the storage locker (which is unfortunately located in another state 300 miles away) and start using them again.
I bought mine in the late 70s and it's still going. Ran it off a 30 amp dryer circuit for years. It worked but would pop the fuse at around 130 amps if I welded for too long. Mine never had a wheel kit but it's a great idea and those large wheels sure are nice. Great little machines! You did a nice job restoring it!
Yessir! I’ve had a Lincoln since about 1973! All I’ve used until recently getting a $79 flux core wire welder and just a few weeks ago finally an Eastwood multi function mig/tig/arc. But when I need to weld up something for strength from thick metal I always use my old standby! It welds deep and strong!
Thanks for showing the old classic some love!!!
Absolutely!
Ginger is hilarious. By far, the best bonus footage to date!
Great job of refurbing that old box. It will never die if someone doesn't screw it up again. When I saw that wiring I let out a cry! But...I have been guilty of the same crime. I moved to Germany from the States in 1965. I moved into a house with a young family and they had a new washing machine. It had a cord, but no plug. "Oh, I'll connect it up for you." I never would have thought that red was ground...but it was. I nearly killed the young mother when she was standing with bare feet and touched the drum. Red had been ground in Germany since the early years and only in the 1970s did green/yellow become ground throughout Europe and later throughout the world. After that, whenever I wired up anything I looked at where the wires go inside the machine. You never know what you are going to find.
That's a great story
I’ve always gone by the saying “Green is ground the world around”. I would have done the same thing wiring that washer.
@@Hoaxer51 There was no green. There were just red (ground), black and white. Green/yellow became standard for ground in the 1970s, but still not everywhere. It always pays to open up the machine and look where the wires go inside.
Back in the day, this is the welder I cut my teeth on in welding class. They just plain work. In my opinion, everyone should learn to weld using an Arc welder.....They make all other welders super simple to navigate and use. Cheers Moe! Enjoyed this and you definitely dodged a bullet there my Friend! Zip!
Thanks.
Ok
Wow! That brought back memories from 1977 when i started my metal working career. Good job refurbishing the old stick welder.
i've got the exact same one, except mine is untouched and original, it was my grandfathers. nice that you saved this one!
WOW!! Scarily, that's exactly what I figured was WRONG with IT😱 and no ring terminals for the icing on top😳 gives a whole new meaning to the name tombstone welder! Great machines that'll last a lifetime and SMAW is actually my preferred process for most welding over 14ga!
Nice find and fix👍🏻 might've just saved someone's life!
It's fantastic for penetration and why mig hasn't completely replaced it.
My wife bought me one brand new 20 years ago, she wanted a BBQ pit! I owe her a BBQ pit. But the thing is still brand new I love it! Wow, just when I thought the video was over, full restoration of the box! Thank you
Love recycling older equipment however before I test anything out I take readings with my multimeter to check for any faults to the housing that could lead to serious injury. It’s well worth the time and then do a serious visual inspection of the equipment.
Love the finished product! Only tombstone welders I saw in the day were some cheap buzz boxes that ran on 120 volts and they were at Lowes, must have been chineesium clones with the Lincoln badge on them.
Got mine in 1973. Still rolling strong ! Great video. Thank you !
My best project with this one...... welded a dropped tie rod for my
57 Chevy 2-dr hardtop (balanced and blueprinted 350+.030, 12-1/2 : 1 Jahns, Holley 3 bbl on Edelbrock, Isky 3/4 Roller and alum needle bearing rockers, idle at 1000rpm, alum flywheel, close ratio 4 spd, 4:11 rear), so I wouldn't have to disconnect it every time I dropped the oil pan.
Always liked it when a customer would bring something like this to my shop and would say I had my son in law look at it, he’s an electrical engineer,he worked on it said he didn’t know what’s wrong with it. Easy fix and an ignorance charge was in order.
I purchased a new one from Lowe's this year. I love the nostalgia of these old AC machines.
I used this welder in a business making stock crates when I was a young apprentice. It got hammered every day, like day in and day out and never ever complained ....... it ran like a trooper.
That's awesome. I've had 2 that were commercially used and looked it. They worked great.
@@sixtyfiveford Yep, I forgot to add that they "looked like they had been to hell and back" but survived lol.
If you work on equipment, you need a welder. I have done small welding jobs on equipment I work on for customers 4 times in the last 6 weeks. It comes in handy, is enjoyable, and keeps you from running back and forth getting welding done by another shop.
Absolutely
I own one from the early 60's and yes it still runs great. Good to hear it should out last me. I mounted mine on a small wooden skid with steel wheels makes it very easy to move around the shop. Seeing yours makes me want to paint mine up as well.
Very cool!
The good part of these Lincoln welders is that you welded most things on two or three settings which were always exactly the same every time you went there.
Not a little higher or little lower but right on 90, or right on 120, or right on 200.
You always knew exactly what to expect.
I bought two of those welders for $50 each. One was pristine with 30 foot leads and the other literally fell off the back of a truck. I fixed up the ugly one and sold it. It paid for the nicer welder, 20 lbs. of rod and a DIY 240 volt extension cord. They are easy to fix, easy to shine and you can't kill them. You scored a find too.
Got one of these for Christmas when I was 16. I think. I have used it a amazing amount. Fantastic welder
Very cool!
I taught myself to stick and MIG weld on a Forney 140 Easy Weld. I was so easy to learn, and the welder paid for itself with my first "job" repairing a liftgate for my boss at work.
I have one that my parents bought me for my 16th birthday. I'm 67 now and its still going strong after 51 years.
Those are some awesome parents!
I loves me some barn finds!
Years ago I picked up a Century transformer AC/DC machine for a song. Talk about a workhorse!
Then, I stumbled on someone selling a dirty, dusty, crappy looking 300 amp Everlast SMAW (stick) inverter machine on the serious cheap. Apparently, the poor cosmetics kept everyone away.
Once home, I opened up the machine to find all kinds of crud on the inside including a rather large wasp nest. I disassembled it completely, cleaned everything, and power washed the case inside and out. It now looks like a brand new machine! Oh, and the buttery smooth arc of modern electronics with dig and hot start!
You know you've arrived as a serious fixer when the home shop sports a lathe, welder, and oxy-acetylene rig.
Great video, with some good points to check _before_ powering it up, lol. I bought one of the Lincoln AC-225's when I was in high school; 50 years later it still works just fine. Over the years I added some wheels, a handle with holders for a chipping hammer and wire brush, helmet hook, and a big binder clip for a pair of gloves. My grandchildren will probably still be using it.
I had the good luck to pick up a pre-inverter Lincoln Century 140 (Lincoln Canada Ltd.) wire-feed welder - pretty basic, which means not much to go wrong. For $55 or $60 and working, I couldn't pass up. The only tweaking it needed was adjusting the wire feed. I use it nowadays for 95% of general repairs and fabrication. It did come with the factory plumbing for connecting a gas bottle - that's been useful on some jobs. However, for most "fix-it" work flux-core wire is just fine. This one has an AC terminal block in the housing that allows connecting either a 120 or 240 VAC cord. Although the top-end amperage is less, having a 120V plug is handy. The big plus apart from wire feed is the size and weight compared to a buzz box. Even pre-inverter it's still a one-hand carry, lighter and smaller that the "tombstone." Thanks for your great videos - they're always enjoyable and often educational.
I had one gave to me in the 80s. It's what I learned to weld with. Called them a buzz box. I still stick weld only. I have a welder in my truck for the last 20 years.
I've had mine since the 80's. Still works like brand new. I actually used the wooden base that it was bolted to and just added casters to it. Great video.
Awesome
When I was in high school shop class in 1990 the shop welder was really an ole school welder, the way we had to change the amperage was to unplug the cables to different plug position on the welder to achieve different amperage 🤦🏿♂️so the welder you have is what out shop class should have had a more modern welder at the time🤷🏿♂️....but the is a good job on restoring that welder one more thing I see you're a Ford guy💪🏿💪🏿
Ive got an old one that used to be my grandfathers, in rough shape. This video gives me some motivation to refurbish it and use it as intended. Thanks
I have one of those from 1982 which is wall mounted. It has to come down every so often to oil that fan.
When changing my compressor over to 240V, the price of the wire and plug was outragious, so pricing a new welder cord was about half the cost......that was the way to go.
My garage has a 30A circuit and my Lincoln can only go to "90" or it blows the fuse.
Enjoy your stuff, keep up that good work!!
The Lincoln welder at the farm where I grew up still works, the fan takes about 5 to 10 minutes to "warm up" and get to full speed, use the circuit breaker on the main panel to turn the welder on and off because the switch has long since went bad. I am 52 years old and remember this welder as a child, very likely WAY older than me!
Leebuck, mine did the same thing. I hosed the bearing down with WD-40. Now it gets up to speed immediately. The bad thing about taking that long to get up to speed like that is the windings in your fan will pull more amps and eventually burn the fan motor out.
Welding is something I have always wanted to try. Maybe someday I can get to that. Great buy and thank goodness you did not get shocked. That was sure lucky. Thanks for all the tips and videos.
Call just about any weld shop and express your interest.
I doubt they would turn you away.
Local makers groups are another.
I started 5 years ago at age 57.
Like just about everybody else, I've got one of these that I've had for at least 30 years. I traded out some carpentry work for it from a guy who didn't know how to weld. Stock condition, still runs like a champ. Mine still has the tiny little wheels and the virtually nonexistent handle on top to move it around. It's so heavy and awkward to move around that I bought an inexpensive hand truck at Harbor Freight and just zip-tied the welder to it as a permanent feature. Makes it a lot easier to move around and provides better cord storage too. It will definitely outlive me. Nice job.
I learned how to weld on my first real job. Worked at a shipyard for ocean going ships. Our welding machines were from WW11 looked just like yours but navy grey they were still in use in 2000
It looks and works Great! And a stick welder works in the wind.
We were welding deck 3 stories up while it was blizzarding out, and in my best Bob Seger voice, started singing "Against the wind. We're just welding, we're welding against the wind."
I just refurbished one of these. It was more rust than paint and was bolted to a chunk of plywood with one caster still left on it. I replaced the spring in the selector/ pointer with a lighter tension one so that won't break off in my hand. The rest of it is bulletproof. It is bolted to our PTO generator and ready for action.
Also slight differences between the older ones and newer models are the leads coming out the front.. over / under vs side by side configuration..most only need the contacts cleaned in the amperage adjustment mechanism and maybe the fan replaced if it doesn't run when the machine is plugged in..seen alot of people add a Chinesium bridge rectifier the brick style 1600a to get both AC/ DC and add a scratch start tig torch as well..probably the best DIY beginners welder ever made to date as they last generations..
You're right. I've seen the modifications and really don't know if they're worth it
@@sixtyfiveford having an AC / DC stick welder has merits as the DIY modification gets you all the amps vs the half amps from a factory unit..and if someone didn't have a tig welder a scratch tig would be well worth it if shielding gas was available..of course dinse connectors would simplify the modifications greatly not needing switches just different sockets / connectors on the front panel for the leads etc..there's great deal of intrest in such mods and current videos are rather poor at explaining the process..they usually use a grossly over rated bridge rectifier such as a 1600a unit about $27 or whatever is readily available around $20ish that's over rated etc..there a few limited videos here on YT but there is a really good website showing pics of such mods..yeah it could turn into a $40 to $50 project plus a chinesium tig torch etc..but your the channel to really do it well for others to learn..as so many people have a Lincoln 225ac in a garage, shed , barn collecting dust as its limited with only AC stick welding available..
I bought the same welder about 15-20 years ago an I still have it today. Great welder. I think I paid 75 bucks for it
Can't beat $75.
Very nicely organized garage.
That's alot of work
After watching this I finally pulled the trigger on a Craigslist Lincoln Electric tombstone. Picking it up tonight!
Awesome.
@@sixtyfiveford got it in the garage and all cleaned up. They really are built like tanks!
Looks really nice! Haven't used one of these since high school. You got me checking Craigslist for one. That's the one thing I hate about Rustoleum. It takes FOREVER to dry.
And bugs really like Rustoleum! If you're painting outside they dive in and swim around until they die!
This is Jim Man guy again very nice job on that machine very nice job and I didn’t know that about the aluminum windings anyway this is a German guy again thank you very good tutorial
Have one of these. $100 at a yard sale. From the looks of the electrode holder and ground, it had never been used. I use it all the time.
Very nice! I’ve never seen the inside of a Lincoln stick welder. I don’t use mine much any more but it will always be in the garage just in case!
I am getting my dad’s tombstone Lincoln and his linde mig plus his victor torch. I want to get the Lincoln up and going and convert the mig to a spool gun since we cannot find the replacement feed parts. My son has taken a huge interest in welding and all I currently have is a clarke mig set up for flux core. He is learning a lot in his high school ag class too. Your welder looks great
Amazing. The day you posted this I was taking the panel off of a Marquette 240 spot welder. It plugs in, power passes all the way to the transformer and circuit board...but then something is a miss. I'm stuck.
I don't want it to go to scrap..that would be a waste. Leads are in good condition..someone will need this thing.
My dad has a tombstone that hes had for probably closer to 40 years and its a beast. It has never not worked for him.
They seam to never die
It never ceases to amaze me that so many people use 6013.
My goodness, the things you see. I enjoyed the education about this type of welder. My dad always had his close by and your right. He had his for well over 30 years. They don't die...as long as you don't screw it up.
Excellent repair/restoration! Glad you didn't get bit. Hindsight is always easier... But it would make sense to continuity test between the plug leads and the frame of any machine that there is any question of how it was wired, in the future.
I currently use a multiprocess (TIG/Stick/Spool) and a dedicated MIG machine; but I originally learned on a Lincoln tombstone welder. They're still a tremendous amount that can be done and repaired with a machine like that.
Thanks. There's something about how smooth the transformer welders weld vs all the modern inverter stuff.
My Dad has this exact model Lincoln in his shop! Never a minutes trouble.
Bought mine brand new year's ago for $99.00. It looks like brand new today as I keep it covered in my garage. It came with no wheels and has no wheels. It is heavy and I always assumed that the transformer was copper wire. Thanks for the great video.
They cost $400 aC welder. Lowe's south Texas
It's funny, about 10 years ago my neighbor was moving out and he left one of these I grabbed it and it's been sitting in the corner of my garage ever since I've never plugged it in after seeing the inside of this, it's super simple I thought it was complicated now I want to pull mine out of the garage and do the same treatment to it
Good for it
My dad had one of those in his shop, it is capable of really good work. I am NOT a welder but I could make his Lincoln work (sort of, just glad no photos exist of any of MY welds). He had a guy that was a welding wizard. Ernie could build anything with a torch and a welder.
I dont suppose Ernie was in southern NH?
Great video! I'm past 80 yo and would like to learn to weld, but I'm retired on little income and can't afford to spend a lot. Next $50 'dead' tombstone I run across, I'm gonna buy it. Thanks!!!!!!!
You just have to keep looking. I've picked several up for around $75 with 100' of cord, helmet, gloves, electrodes etc. Everything you need to start. If the cords are excess to your needs you can sell them off and make money off the deal while keeping the welder
At 120 volts it’s just a battery charger. At 220 volts it definitely acts like a welder! Nice find Moe!
That original power wiring was shocking! I assume you put a strain relief and grommet on the new power wiring. Nice save!
Interesting video. That cord! Never underestimate the power of human stupidity! Never had a Lincoln. Learned 50+ years ago on Dad’s Forney C6 buzz box (unfortunately, the Forney was too far gone when he died in 2014). Always appreciated that the 180 amp Forney was designed with Rural Electrification Areas in mind, and needed only a 30 amp circuit. The 250 amp AC/DC machine I bought from Monkey Ward in 1980 calls for a 60 amp circuit, but works on a 50 with a range cord. I’ll keep my eyes open for a steal deal on a tombstone.👍
Great recovery! So glad we actually got to see this video, as the alternative would have been devastating.
Thanks.
I bought one for $25 a few years ago! Your welder looks beautiful after painting!
I love these old death machines that people have done a hack job on the power cord. One of them I had was so bad sparks shot out of the kluged connection when I powered it up. I have owned 15 vintage welders and they all ran fine when the power cord issues and bad output grounds were fixed. Good video.
It's just good ol fun plugging these unknown beasts in.
I have one that got left in the shed, mice got in now it needs to be rehired. When I saw the the thumbnail, that’s what
I’m looking for. Thank you
These welding Machines are timeless and they love 6011 that’s all I run in mine I learned to weld at 10 years old with same Machine self taught 45 years old now
Awesome.
Glad you did not scrap it. I have the same one from a machine shop that went out of business. It was given to me and I bet it still works. LOL!😃
The household drier plug is 30 amp, whereas this requires a full 50 amps. You can definitely use it, but any longer welds or higher amp welds with 7018 will trip the breaker a lot.
New life for an excellent machine. Thanks for showing us!
I have the same welder I bought from a guy several years ago. And even though I have a bigger shop welder I still use the little Lincoln for some projects.
Grew up with one of those in our pole barn/shop and it's the only kind of welder I've ever used. It still works just fine, but we never used it heavily like a professional would. Not sure when my Pappy bought it but I'm sure it was before I was born in '68.
Love those old dog house welders. This was my first welder and that was over 60 years ago.
☼ It never made the trip to Montana where I retired, but I had a neighbor give me a NOS still in the box from around 1970, he said.
☼ I'll add a 1/2 wave rectifier on the outputs for some really nice welding and a couple of posts for the AC and the DC sides.
Oh jeez, good reminder to check the junk we find before plugging it in... I would not have thought it would be that bad in there
Nice job …great tips…love your no frills …no comical gibberish approach….🖖🏻
Hey thanks
I have one of these from about the same time. Leads were shot, so I replaced them with new. And CORRECTLY wired in a new power cord. The one I have sat outside in a field for 20 years. Fan motor takes a minute or two to get up to full speed, but welds just fine.
Another saved .. i remember those in body school in 1970. They were a beast but very good you could weld a frame stronger than factory ..next time you paint something like that try automotive engine paint it's really durable and lasts for a long time .. i use it all the time the colors are limited so you have to choose what's right for your project..i really come here to see Ginger..lol..
A Lincoln tombstone welder was my first welder and I plan to keep for as long as I am around. I have fancier welders, but if those go down for some reason I know I can count on my buzz box to keep working.
So true
You are doing what I wanted to do.... LOVE YOUR VIDEOS and REPAIRS ~~~~~