Microwave oven transformer spot welder builds are about as common as Nixie tube clocks around here. But this spot welder is anything but common, and it has some great lessons about manufacturing techniques and how to achieve a next level look.
Far warning that [Mark Presling] has devoted no fewer than five videos to this build. You can find a playlist on his YouTube channel, and every one of them is well worth the time. The videos covering the meat of what went into this thing of beauty are below. The guts are pretty much what you expect from a spot welder — rewound MOT and a pulse timer — but the real treat is the metalwork. All the very robust parts for the jaws of the welder were sand cast in aluminum using 3D-printed patterns, machined to final dimensions, and powder coated. [Mark] gives an excellent primer on creating patterns in CAD, including how to compensate for shrinkage and make allowance for draft. There are tons of tips to glean from these videos, and plenty of inspiration for anyone looking to achieve a professional fit and finish.
In the category of Best Appearing Spot Welder, we’ll give this one the nod. Runners-up from recent years include this plastic case model and this free-standing semi-lethal unit.
Thanks to [Alvarez] for the tip.
It looks better than the Horror Fright spot welders!
(But, of course!)
Is that really difficult to do though? This one actually looks well fabricated.
The powder-coat may find the lack of washers disturbing.
Washers smarshers. They all end up on the floor across the room anyway, why bother with ’em?
Along with the circlips!
B^)
is this thing working? as far as i see the whole aluminium block should short-circuit the current that is supposed to go to welding tips. is it about 1st april joke?
Did you even took a look at the video? the bottom jaw is isolated…