Dirtbag Crosswire welding

[Charley White]

Pardon the feebleness of my search. AM internet budget spent; impulses not. Here's a long shot.

Is there an easy and cheap (Harbor Freight level) way to do "cross wire welding"? My google search started with spot welding, but found "crosswire" for what I want. Welding two pieces of small gauge (say 18-22) SS wire together. Am moving past beta stage on some stove things. McMaster's buy-the-screen-remove-unneeded is sub-O. Would be super if such a jeweler's-level welder could spot weld sheet also. Right now, extent of my tinkering tools is a Unibit.

TIA

[Jon Fong / Flat Cat Gear]

It's not dirt cheap, but I am looking into a dental spot welder (~300 and change). I have been running test on one that we have at work and it seems to work really well. I have been welding.003" to .005" stainless and titanium. Best wishes – Jon

[Dustin Short]

Look at turning microwave transformers into welders. It's doable and relatively cheap if you've got the tools. At the same time it's a quick way to see whether Darwin's theories apply to you. Good luck, but you're better off spending the money on something purpose built.

[Dan Yeruski]

Dustin, there is a capacitor amongst the components of the microwave parts that needs to be discharged before any dis-assembly is begun. Just sayin. Be careful.

[Charley White]

Yeah, I think I'll stay purpose built. Youtubes I've found show you can do cool stuff with one. I must admit once I decided this electric welding looked like a very short, precise, hi discharge, I started imagining the ridiculous darwin machine I could build to make onlookers stand way back. Bunch of ganged Lionel train transformers old color tv cathode ray tubes wired together. Brief stint as outside-service tv-repairman taught me the kilovolts one of those can deliver. Don't even have a dremel yet. Will leave the multimeter in it's box. Thx Jon.

[Roger Caffin]

IF you are trying to spot weld very thin wires together (think thermocouple wires for instance), then a capacitor-discharge welder is the trick. That's your 'very short, precise, hi discharge' version. Since there is limited energy in the cap, you get fairly uniform results.

Jon's dental welder is probably one of these. The high voltage cap which Dan mentioned might be the very thing you need.

Cheers

[Charley White]

Dustin wrote: "Look at turning microwave transformers into welders….darwin…better spent on purpose built"

Yeruski wrote: "…capacitor amongst the components of the microwave parts that needs to be discharged before any dis-assembly is begun. Just sayin. Be careful."

I pirouetted, essentially: oh no, I'll be careful, prob start with mini micro volt jewelry thingie and wear an asbestos suit.

Then I watched the King of Random youtubes on metal-melters out of microwaves & now say: Oh my, have mercy. If you wonder what ever became of me, check the darwin awards annually…or any local Maker Faire. :-)

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