Welding and Metalworking - Airco Stick Welder - keep it or upgrade?

Hello,

When i was in high school about 10 years ago, I loved to play around with metal, so when my mother saw a welder at an estate auction, she bought it for me.

It was an old Airco Stick Welder with Infinite Amperage adjustment.

I only used it a few times and it was since forgotten after I moved to college. It recently turned up and I am trying to decide what to do with it. All I remember is that when i used it, it was a pain in the butt to crank the handle to get the amperage I desired.

Is having this infinite adjustment worth it for a DIY'er or would I be equally equipped if I got a welder with fewer/eaiser adjustments?

Thanks

Not sure what model you have but we have an old Airco a/c welder at work that has a nice stable arc up to about 100 amps.

If you are looking at doing more welding in the future your money would be better spent on all the other gadgets you will need for welding.
Helmet, clamps, grinders, chop saw and maybe an auto-darkening helmet.
If you start to do enough welding that cranking is slowing you down or giving you carpal tunnel then maybe it could be time to shop.

One thing I just thought about though is that you may be needlessly cranking when you really should have the setting figured out in advance.
Until you become good you would do well to stick with one type and size of rod.
There is a fairly narrow amperage range for any rod you use so you really only have to adjust the setting a very small amount.

Ah yes, this welder is a: Airco 225 Amp MSM Stinger (10-225 amps) It has a high/low setting with low giving 10-150 amps and high 40-255 amps.

I am fairly skilled at welding, but switching between different sized jobs does require amperage changes (even for experienced welders), especially when switching between the high/low setting, which sometimes requires you to move the needle to the other side of the scale.

I was just wondering if the ability to adjust the amperage in minute increments was enough of a benefit to justify keeping this unit instead trading for a regular old Lincoln. i just don't have enough hours on this until to know how beneficial the adjustment is over the standard increments (60, 90, etc)

I would also consider "vintage" value into the equation, if there is any, but this welder definitely doesn't look very old.

I think the key is regardless of your difficulty in changing amperage settings is how well the thing welds.
In welders vintage often spells weight.
The more mass there is to the windings the more stable the arc.

Compare the weight of your machine to a Lincoln and see what the difference is.

Honestly though, if you have a hankering for a new welder just buy it.
If you buy a DC capable machine then maybe it would be a good reason to switch.

I have a similiar Airco arc welder and I like the adjustability. The low plug makes it similiar to the old 110 'buzz' box I taught myself to arc weld with and the high plug in allows it to weld thicker metals.

I'm not a pro welder so there's a whole lot I don't know but I've been well satisfied with my 220 welder [bought used] and if I had to replace it, I'd look for one that had similiar features..... although having AC/DC would be nice :D

Thanks for the replies guys.

Greg -

So more weight = better... this is very interesting. I definitely do remember almost hurting myself trying to carry this welder from my mother's trunk to her shed. And, now, as I am preparing to lift it onto it's new "stand", I am cringing cause the thing is unexpectedly heavy for such a small package. This weekend i will be near an old Lincoln Tombstone, so I will have the chance to lift one and compare. Thanks for the info.

Mark -

This is interesting as well, the fact that you are not a pro (like me) learned on an old Tombstone (like me) and now actually prefer the crank... well... that puts a strong vote in the "keep" column.

Thanks again guys. Very Helpful.