So I'm helping a friends daughter clean out a few storage lockers.
So far just looking and moving things around.
BUT.........................
I got an old craftsman arc welder.
Looks to be in clean good condition.
Missing the leads.
Haven't tried to plug it in.
Anyone here know where I might find some leads for it????
Also have two bags of molds to try and sort out.
Ebay?
A welding shop could make them for you. That’s a little guy, but it will probably work for hobby projects.
I did check evil bay, but nothing.
Did a web search, but nothing to.
Looked on the Sears web site, but again nothing too.
Probably standard lead connections... take it to a welding shop and have them test fit some leads... if the connector fits they can make whatever length you want
Those old machines are really pretty good. You just have to use good ac rods with it.
If you don't want to go to a welding shop, take it to a community college that has a welding program. The folks working in the welding department have probably worked with something similar in the past or collect them. They would know what to do.
Really awesome find though! These old welders are indestructible; I have an old Lincoln Tombstone AC/DC welder that still lays great beads.
Ahhhhh..The old Crackerbox.
“You should tell someone what you know. There should be a history, so that men can learn from it.
He smiled. “Men do not learn from history. Each generation believes itself brighter than the last, each believes it can survive the mistakes of the older ones. Each discovers each old thing and they throw up their hands and say ‘See! Look what I have found! Look upon what I know!’ And each believes it is something new.
Louis L’Amour
The Californios
We had a Craftsman machine come through here 20'ish? years ago....
The cable end wasn't anything I'd ever seen before as it seemed *proprietary. The machine worked fine,and sent it down the road.
*Thinking back.... and not like those ends couldn't be turned on a lathe rather quickly. Or,the whole thing be converted to a more conventional setup.
Good luck with your machine.
I used to work for Sears, back when you had to look up parts on microfiche. Sears didn't actually build anything, they had it built and put their name on it. With the model number you can search online and find out just who built that welder, then find out what kind of fitting you need for the leads.
It will probably work better than any homeowner grade welder made now.
Robert
Sears had a lot of special fittings on their tools so you'd have to buy their branded consumable parts.
I saw it on sanders & grinders a lot.
But it's easy enough to work around them on most tools.
It shouldn't be much of a problem for your welder.
In school: We learn lessons, and are given tests.
In life: We are given tests, and learn lessons.
OK People. Enough of this idle chit-chat.
This ain't your Grandma's sewing circle.
EVERYONE!
Back to your oars. The Captain wants to waterski.
Before you get too involved, check the diodes to see if they are good. By the looks of the outer housing, the welding unit hasn't seen a hard life, but I would check it out before spending the coin on new leads.
Can't speak for the Islands Region, but in my area the local hardware stores and farm supply's generally have welding machine components. If not, your local Air Gas will have what you need.
Slick machine you have there!
Rights, and Privileges, are not synonymous. We have the Right to Bear Arms. As soon as the Government mandates firearm registration, and permiting, then that Right becomes a Privilege, and may be taken away at our Master's discretion.
If all else fails and you cannot find the plugs; you might carefully measure the inside diameter of the sockets and take a connector that is available and turn down the brass end to fit the socket. You might split the finished end to allow the plug to be inserted and removed easily. You can find welding wire. My buddy owns a scrap yard. Often people bring him copper welding cables for scrap. You might check your local scrap/ metals recycling yard for welding cables you can purchase for way less than new cables. Good luck! That's an AC machine. You will need 6018 coated welding rods.
A small cracker box like that will have short light leads because of the low amperage.
The little Craftsman welder has left gut leads like the whip on a conventional welder and a her are attached to the machine.
I have not measured them but I am guessing that they are about 4 gauge and 6 feet long.
My machine was built in the late 80s or early 90s so it is a little newer than yours.
Just another project I'll have to find time to work on.
Going to open it up and see if everything looks good inside.
Then i can see what the leads look like.
I have done a web search, but didn't come up with anything.
Sears parts web site didn't have much about it.
I wonder how old it is?????
Looks like it is a straight AC machine, should be fine.
You can make cords for it, I have faith in you.
Have fun!
There is not much to these AC buzz boxes. Mainly just a switch and a transformer with several taps on it. As others have said you should be able to find the plugs for the front at a welding shop and even some local hardware stores will carry them. If not you should be able to make them from brass if you still have your lathe. It is hard to see what plugs it uses from your pictures. The welding leads themselves are generic and with the lower amperage and shorter leads you should be able to use smaller wire gauge. That is good as welding leads are heavy copper and expensive. Here is a link to a chart and it looks like you can go as small as 8 gauge. https://www.electronicshub.org/weldi...le-size-chart/ With its lower amperage you should be able to use 3/32 and smaller rod to do a lot of welding with it.
Here is some 6ga 10' leads. https://www.amazon.com/Shirbly-Batte...ZfbmV4dA&psc=1
And a stinger https://www.amazon.com/KSEIBI-331215...A1MMMNOF8LHVZ9
And a couple of ground clamps .
https://www.amazon.com/Luckyweld-Wel...zcF9hdGY&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/Vaphy-300-Amp...zcF9hdGY&psc=1
That top wire is going to be way to stiff to use as a welding lead... You can form it into a spiral and it will stand up on its own! Stuff is STIFF.Originally Posted by rgsumpter
the stinger/wellding lead and ground leads are nothing special. just heavy gauge wire like good jumper cables with fine threads of wire inside. the ends attach seperately with set screws. those old craftsman machines mostly used a plug with like a round, might be 3/8", straight copper shaft about 1 1/4" long that plugs into machine and on the end of the ground you use a clamp rated for however many amps the machine is although 200 amp spring clamp is very common. and on the end of the welding or stinger lead you want an insulated welding rod holder there are a few types but a spring type hand lever type is very common. your ground lead wire does is usually a smaller gauge wire so for example #2 wire for thew ground lead and #1 wire for the welding rod holder. these things are available at many stores like Menards, rural king, tractor supply, Northern hydraulics, farmers coop, and of course at all welding and gas supply stores like Airgas.
you could use a heavy duty set of jumper cables just to test machine if you have a little round copper or brass. bolts or rod to put in the receptacles on front of machine
on closer look of your pictures I'm not sure what kind of receptacles are on that machine so disregard what I wrote about the use of 3/8" round plugs. but once you find the right plugs for the machine putting together leads is easy and with only 90 amps you can use smaller wire than #2 and #1
Last edited by farmbif; 04-05-2024 at 12:01 PM.
Posting Permissions
| BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
| BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
| BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
| C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
| HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
| PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
| LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
| GC | Gas Check |
Reply With Quote