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Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Carb, came today, will tosser on tomorrow.

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Carb is pretty pooched, ordered an offshore replica

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

24 hours soaking in my special rust eater concoction, managed to get everything loose except the butterfly, giver another 24 hours. I wonder how many decades it’s been since this carburetor was apart?!

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Aha. I found this P&H that looks very similar to the Airco. It says Ford engine but the pics. say Continental. Not sure if the video is the same machine or not but could be.

Also found this that someone posted on a different forum:

The P&H Welding business, along with all the technical engineering drawings and documents supporting the line, was sold in 1968. The firm that bought the P&H Welding business later on discontinued this product line.

https://www.auctionsinternational.co...er-96199/basic



And another one.

https://smithauctions.hibid.com/lot/...q=&ref=catalog

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Originally Posted by Welder Dave

1500 RPM, similar to a Lincoln. I think the switch on the left could be a polarity switch and the switch for the motor would have been on the right where there is something different on your machine. Maybe be a power DC outlet for tools?

You're correct, the switch on the left is indeed polarity and the one on the right is a 110v DC outlet.

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

This video is the history of P&H. Very interesting story, they got into building welders because they were not satisfied with commercially available welding machines of the day. Their own engineers designed them and they built welders up until the 1960’s. They were almost custom built and I have not seen any that were exactly alike. I restored a 295 amp AC machine and while the case looks similar I’ve never seen another. They are extremely well built machines. Some of their old monster TIG machines were state of the art in the day. I’m sure the selenium button rectifiers would be hard to locate but I’m sure you could update to the new style if you wanted to spend the time.


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Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Yes, I saw that video and that was what mine looked like. Judging by the serial number of another Hornet Special you could be right about it being made by P&H. At the time Airco was still in business and the dealer told me it was made in May of 1959. Looking online it's interesting to note that some models had the range selector on the left and some had it on the right. Airco had machines made from a few different companies and were the first to introduce Mig in 1948. I had a brochure about and it said Mig was largely introduced with the introduction of 2 patents by Airco . There were several companies involved in developing Mig but Airco was the main sponsor. It would be interesting to know why Airco sold out. They were right up there with Lincoln, Miller, Hobart , Linde, etc. and were also a large gas distributor. They had the best cutting machines too. Several years ago someone on the forum pointed out the Airco bought the rights to the company that designed the cutting machines. The Radiagraphs were the best on the market for 65 years and then Koike discontinued them.

"The gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process was successfully developed at Battelle Memorial Institute in 1948 under the sponsorship of the Air Reduction Company. This development utilized the gas shielded arc similar to the gas tungsten arc but replaced the tungsten electrode with a continuously fed electrode wire. One of the basic changes that made the process more usable was the small-diameter electrode wires and the constant-voltage power source. This principle had been patented earlier by H.E. Kennedy. The initial introduction of GMAW was for welding nonferrous metals. The high deposition rate led users to try the process on steel. The cost of inert gas was relatively high, and the cost savings were not immediately available."

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Not sure about other companies Dave. I was really surprised about the Airco. I found this out from a YouTube channel digginok. Frank, the channel owner sent me a email about the Continental firing 180 degrees out of time. He bought it from a guy that tore it down for rebuild and never could get it to run. He got that fixed ( wrong timing marks used), and I assumed it was a rebadged Miller but it turned out to be a P&H. I'm sure it's a great machine as they made good stuff. I've messed with some of their transformer machines but no engine drives.


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Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

I've seen a bunch of newer Airco made by Miller but never saw another Hornet Special. It was pure DC and had 6 current ranges if I remember right. Had an F140 Continental and was shorter than an SA200. It was a good machine. I sold it when I got the TB 55D. Did P&H build for other companies?

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Dave,
I’m pretty sure that Airco Hornet from 1959 was made by P&H. Pure DC like an SA200.


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Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Originally Posted by 12V71

A lot of those motor/generators with the extended shaft were meant to power other equipment in the shop by way of a belt pulley and lineshafts. Sounds a bit wasteful, but that welder was probably the biggest electric motor most shops of the day could run.

Pretty compact for 15 HP (200 amp machine) motor too. It's funny in the old Hobart ads they mention the AC welder for users that only have single phase power.

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

1500 RPM, similar to a Lincoln. I think the switch on the left could be a polarity switch and the switch for the motor would have been on the right where there is something different on your machine. Maybe be a power DC outlet for tools? I wish I would have taken pictures of all the machines I've had over the years. Even better I wished I would have kept some of them. I had the old Hobart and a 1959 Airco Hornet Special that was similar to an SA200 and now I have a 1961 Canadian SA200. I do have pics. of the Miller Trailblazer 55D I put on a welding truck. Sadly I traded it for a trailer and some cash but the trailer shop took the engine out to put in a skid steer because the welder needed a new contactor. Some fly by night idiot said it would cost thousands to repair and a contactor wasn't available. It was an Allen Bradley contactor. I suggested taking it to a Miller service shop but it was too late. The shop is still using the S54 deluxe wire feeder off an electric machine though. Really wish I could have kept that machine. I could do Mig, flux-core and stick from about 40 amps to over 500.

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Originally Posted by Welder Dave

Here's an old ad showing a build your own model that has the shaft extended to couple to an engine. It has the welding generator on one end and the electric motor still on the other end. Back then it was probably not worth building a motor delete option.

https://books.google.ca/books?id=MuE...welder&f=false

A lot of those motor/generators with the extended shaft were meant to power other equipment in the shop by way of a belt pulley and lineshafts. Sounds a bit wasteful, but that welder was probably the biggest electric motor most shops of the day could run.

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

I had an old boat with twin 6 cylinder Hercules marine engines. They ran in opposite rotations. Sure sounded sweet at the exhaust when both were at the same RPMs.

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

When I got her home, weighed it at the grain terminal in town, 1350lbs

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Pics from when I saw it was still in the old farm yard.

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Here's an old ad showing a build your own model that has the shaft extended to couple to an engine. It has the welding generator on one end and the electric motor still on the other end. Back then it was probably not worth building a motor delete option.

https://books.google.ca/books?id=MuE...welder&f=false

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Originally Posted by Welder Dave

Does it also have a 3 phase electric motor to run it? I had an old Hobart like that hooked up to a Chrysler IND251 engine. Even some of the commercial made Hobarts also had the electric motor still intact. Theoretically you could unbolt the coupler and run it off the power in the shop. No complaints at all about how it welded.

No, just the gas engine.

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Does it also have a 3 phase electric motor to run it? I had an old Hobart like that hooked up to a Chrysler IND251 engine. Even some of the commercial made Hobarts also had the electric motor still intact. Theoretically you could unbolt the coupler and run it off the power in the shop. No complaints at all about how it welded.

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Lady said she was going to sell it to a cousin, drove by the old farm last year and it was still there! So I called her and bought it! It's a 1945 Hobart with a Hercules engine, not seized thank god! Got it to pop and fart, have a carb kit and plugs on the way.

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Originally Posted by MilitiaMetals

Finally own it!

Not bad, took almost nine years.

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Dos it have the jeep industrial engine, if so you can get parts, i have two of the motors, i scraped out the gen/welder part for the engines . put one on a bandmill and the other on a edger as power units ran them as much as 8 hrs straight in a day.

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Finally own it!

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

That is one cool old machine. I really hope it has a warm, dry, home by now.

Re: Old Hobart 4 cylinder portable welder

Originally Posted by tanman

hiya Stick-Man i have the same machine....my deal wasn't as good as yours...but..it worked at the time...i bought mine in 2009 for $500 ..it was designed for military use if you don't mind...would you please pass on any info you have to me concerning this machine....mine was marked by a company called America Cryogenics and i haven't found out any info about this company....thanx...Tanman

Sorry. I sold that machine to a buddy not too long after I bought it. I gave him the info, then he sold it. Look at my post above and that's how I got my info. Good luck!