Oldest welder you guys are still using???

[BBchevy396]

I've got an old, early 50's ??? Lincoln "weldandpower" 200amp ac welder, with a hand-crank 2cyl. wisconson eng.
Still works good, I start it every once and a while,
He he he, When someone wants to borrow my portable welder, I load it up for them, he he he.

[TxRedneck]

lol those are nifty lil welders. I dont care for the ac, but heck there still nifty. a friend of mine his dad used to or maybe still does have one. He said he hated that thing cause dad pulled the knob off so the boys would have to learn to weld without adjusting the amps every other rod lmao

[Steelwill]

I have a Miller Roughneck 1e which I think it was built around late 60s early 70s and it works like a charm

[Steelwill]

Heres A picture I had it in my chevy astro for a while to practice stick welding because all I have ever used was a mig.

[TxRedneck]

Will you ran it in the back of the van? or you just transport it back there???

[Steelwill]

I ran it right in the van the exhaust comes out the front you can see in the pictures the person I got it from rerouted the exhaust. I opened the vent windows and the back door and fired it up.

[TxRedneck]

oh awesome good to know i thought ive seen it but done but one never knows

[Steelwill]

I have since pulled it out for the winter and am thinking about building a cart to move it around because that thing is heavy.

[B2N3 Welder]

Originally Posted by TxRedneck

b2n3, youre torpedo is the sa 200 gen powered by an ac elec motor right?

Yes it sure is TxRedneck you have used them be then? sure is one heck of a machine

[TxRedneck]

no a friend of mine has Ive only used sa 200 and i think the torpedos are pretty good

[bruland]

I have Smith's from the 40's ? It's a big round unit that tops out at 250 amps

SMITH'S WELDING EQUIP CORP
MINNEAPOLIS MINN.
25-18
SER 25-18154

It's a gess at the age of the great welder. Any body know anything about it?

bruland

[mgv8news]

I have a Miller SRTA-2SP TIG machine in the shop now. According to Miller it was manufactured in 1956. It works great except for a problem with the hi-frequency which I am working on now.

[Snidley]

I currently am using a 1973 Miller big 40 unit. Runs great and still cranks up to 400 amps - 100% duty up to 300 so I can get the job done when times an issue.

[oldebrush]

Will,

That machine brings back memories. I had one too, but someone thought they needed it more than me and stole it out of my garage. Had it hanging up on my electric hoist too. Ahh, that was long ago and another someone thought I was a good guy and nearly gave me a Roughneck 2e for doing some work for him. He even through in a Lincoln LN-25 suitcase feeder too. Hell of a nice guy, don't ya think?

Tony

[oldebrush]

Will,

The nice guy actually did give me the welder, (not just "nearly") I was a happy camper.

Tony

[Steelwill]

Hey Oldebrush glad to be able to bring back some good memories. I had never stick welded before and wanted to learn so I picked it up from a friend
who had it laying in his garage. After cleaning the carb a new battery and fresh gas that thing was running. For a old machine it works well.

[awright]

I'm very happy with my WWII era Air Force surplus "P&H AC ARC WELDER MODEL TSP-350-HF-GW," transformer-type stick/TIG welder. It's equipped with HF and Gas/Water valves, but I'm embarrassed to say I have never set it up for TIG. But I have intended to and have everything I need except initiative! I'm only slightly motivated to set up for aluminum welding, anyway.

I'm not sure of the vintage, but the instruction plate has a part number 232F52, which makes me think it was built around 1952. I used to have an instruction manual that gave a similar vintage, but lost track of it during an office move.

Had to rewire my home for 200 amp service and my garage for 90 amps to the welder (even though I have never used full 450 amp output). What a revelation it was to get that welder at a military surplus auction about 40 years ago and find out that I really could weld (to my satisfaction, at least) and that all my problems striking and holding an arc were due to the even older, second-hand CRAFTSMAN buzz box with three pluggable current settings that I was trying to learn on. (Still have that too. I can't ever throw anything away.)

By chance, does anybody have any info on foot controls for this type of welder? The main front-panel current control is a saturable reactor controlled by a 6.8 ohm, 150 watt or so variable resistor, all three terminals of which are used. I think that type of variable resistor is what I would need in a foot control, which doesn't seem mechanically practical due to very high friction of that size pot. Anybody have experience with such an arrangement?

awright

[zapster]

we have a linclon idealarc 300 amp stick welder we use everyday

it was installed in april of 1955 or somewhere around there

and to this day it has never seen "maintenence"

lets see a new welder last this long

...zap!

[RobertDoubrava]

Most of y'all probably know about it and are tired of me talking about it but OH WELL........I have a 1947 Lincoln SAE300 DC arc welder, it's all original, except the air cleaner for the Hercules JXD engine is missing. Had to buy a used one from a guy in Idaho. I run it almost every day, it sure likes the taste of gas though!

[kd5inm]

Hi all,
I've read the messages on the oldest welder and I think I've got all of you beat. I have a Lincoln SA-200 with a Hercules IXB5 engine in it. The casting date on the engine is 11-27-1939, so that makes this welder about a 1939-1940 model. This welder is so old that there is NO CODE number on the machine. Getting parts for these is next to impossible. I did manage to get a IM-109 manual (copy) from Lincoln, they were great to send it to me. Everything is original except for the water pump which is a water pump from a mazda RX-7 that I grafted on it and drive it from a belt drive on the shaft that fed power to the other water pump and the magneto.
I rebuilt the engine some years ago, new fel-pro gasket set, rings and rod/main bearings and oil pump from a parts machine (I had three of these welders at one time, this one is the oldest).
I have some pictures which I will upload when I can figure out how to reduce their file size.
Last time I fired her up she ran great and welded even better, I had replaced the brushes in the generator and you wouldn't believe the improvement.
John

[TozziWelding]

I had a 1970 SA-200, sold that now I have a 75' as well as a 1980's vintage SA-250 I rescued from the scrap heap. My new Trailblazer is a tin toy next to the old iron.

[kd5inm]

Here's some pictures, I've got a few more I'll post
John

Originally Posted by kd5inm

Hi all,
I've read the messages on the oldest welder and I think I've got all of you beat. I have a Lincoln SA-200 with a Hercules IXB5 engine in it. The casting date on the engine is 11-27-1939, so that makes this welder about a 1939-1940 model. This welder is so old that there is NO CODE number on the machine. Getting parts for these is next to impossible. I did manage to get a IM-109 manual (copy) from Lincoln, they were great to send it to me. Everything is original except for the water pump which is a water pump from a mazda RX-7 that I grafted on it and drive it from a belt drive on the shaft that fed power to the other water pump and the magneto.
I rebuilt the engine some years ago, new fel-pro gasket set, rings and rod/main bearings and oil pump from a parts machine (I had three of these welders at one time, this one is the oldest).
I have some pictures which I will upload when I can figure out how to reduce their file size.
Last time I fired her up she ran great and welded even better, I had replaced the brushes in the generator and you wouldn't believe the improvement.
John

[kd5inm]

Here's some more pics of my antique Lincoln SA-200.
John

[kd5inm]

Here is a few more showing some details of the grafted on water pump and other parts. The oil filter is the original, I can still get the paper cartridge filters for it made by WIX. You can also see a picture of the date of casting of the engine block with it's number in one picture, it says 11-27-39 which I looked the info up trying to find info out about the welder and that number is the casting date of the engine block. You can also see the intake/exhaust manifold that says Hercules on it along with the firing order. In one picture you can see the radiator and the crank handle. This machine will crank start relatively easy. If you look the starter isn't even hooked up to a battery. I've never had problems crank starting this baby!
John

[shortarc]

This is an old one we have at a farm shop, have no idea how old it is, cant find online info by using the name off of the tag on the front. The name on the tag is "Holup" thing weighs about 300 lbs. and welds well.