Funniest thing I've heard all week

[stuckmotor]

I understand these contraptions are pretty common in parts of the world with little money and few resources. They look to me like a good way to get killed. Some people are also said to weld without eye protection and go blind.

 

[4get gto]

I understand these contraptions are pretty common in the third world. They look to me like a good way to get dead.

LoL... And in parts of the world it's an honor to be dead too!

 

[stuckmotor]

LoL... And in the third world it's an honor to be dead too!

Ahhhh! You quoted me before I reworded my message. I thought 'third world' might offend someone who's ingenuity I admire. There used to be a guy in one of the groups who told how people in his part of the world can't buy electrodes so they make their own.

 

[4get gto]

∆∆∆

 

[Sebculb]

No transformer so you have 20 amps available with variable voltage? Sounds like a tinfoil or beer can welder. Spot welders need 5 volts and a few hundred amps and more. Mig needs 19 volts and 70 amps or more. Stick needs 40 volts and 110 amps or more.

I think Gilligan and the Professor did this with coconuts. McGyver did it with potatos or lemons and dissimiliar metals.

Yeah I googled house current amperage and found its lower than welding amperage. But different sources told me it definitely works. This is why it's a good topic for my daughter's school science project... formulate a hypothesis etc and so on

 

[Argonne]

Perhaps only "safe" welding requires low voltage and high amperage.

 

[cqaigy2]

Ahhhh! You quoted me before I reworded my message. I thought 'third world' might offend someone who's ingenuity I admire. There used to be a guy in one of the groups who told how people in his part of the world can't buy electrodes so they make their own.

Third world actually is a reference to non-aligned nations back in the good old days of the "cold war"
I too admire ingenuity, where ever, if ever it shows up.

Back in the day, a buddy and i rigged up a similar setup and used surplus carbon arcs from those big arc lights. We built it to melt brass cartridges to use in some "lost wax" setup. I can't remember now, what the cast was of, but i do remember how upset his parents were, when they found us in the back yard, bathed in an evil glow with a loud humming sound and cloud of smoke boiling up. Then again when they saw their electric bill, it took more then a few mowed lawns to make up for that little mishap. One bright spot, so to speak, is the neighbors lawns, up and down the road, were well taken care of that summer.

 

[k0ua]

Hola everyone,

So we're working building this house with thin gauge galvanised and some of the other welders told me about this homemade welding contraption called a tamale pot ("tamalera", this was in Spanish). It's a plastic five gallon bucket filled halfway with water, and a couple bags of salt added. They stick a hot 110 wire in there with another wire leading out that goes to the electrode holder. That regulates the amperage, if you want higher amps move the two wires closer together and move them apart for lower amps. I haven't seen it yet but was assured that they most definitely exist and work.

Anyone ever heard of this? I'm sure some will say it's too dangerous but it seems like it could work, especially if you made some kind of scissors jig to hold the wires apart out of wood or PVC.

Was thinking this would be a great topic for my daughter's third grade science project next year!

My dad told me about them 40 years ago. Only it was a ceramic crock. Plastic buckets were not common then. He said they were kinda dangerous, and sometimes the water got so hot so quick they cracked and burst. I think they were fairly commmon in the poor men have poor ways department.

 

[k0ua]

I understand these contraptions are pretty common in parts of the world with little money and few resources. They look to me like a good way to get killed. Some people are also said to weld without eye protection and go blind.

I have seen that too in the Phillipines on a video. They kinda look away, but they still get flashed. Not smart. I saw one Phillipino just using house current. I suppose the resistance of the distribution wiring acted as a current limiter of sorts, and he tapped in ahead of the two fuses the house had. All bad ideas. His welds look worse than my lousy gorrilla welds too. Just total bird poop.

 

[MossRoad]

I think they're using the current to heat the water to cook their lunch.