Vintage welder?

Hi

I have an old Forney welder. I have never used it. It was my uncle's, which he left to me when I was 10....It holds no sentimental value to me, once so ever....Questions:

Does something like this hold a value? I would like a welder myself, but something smaller and a bit more portable. Anyone have an idea of value?It has a bunch of hook ups for the different amps.... I will try to get a pic or two this evening.

Also, where would I be able to sell this, that would get some attention?

Thanks in advance!


Tim

Don`t know if this will help or not but I just got home from an auction that had an old Forney welder that went for around $80 with leads. it was the type that has a series of holes going down in two lines on the front & you would plug in the hole for the amps that you needed either AC or Dc. They were good machines, never used one myself but have seen a lot of them, built a lot heavier than most these days.

samhill wrote:Don`t know if this will help or not but I just got home from an auction that had an old Forney welder that went for around $80 with leads. it was the type that has a series of holes going down in two lines on the front & you would plug in the hole for the amps that you needed either AC or Dc. They were good machines, never used one myself but have seen a lot of them, built a lot heavier than most these days.

That does help!

It sounds like the one I have.....

If I remember right a guy told me that they somehow draw less amps & thats why they were favored in the rural areas where the power lines for the most part still leave a lot to be desired.

That's pretty interesting....

I don't know, maybe I'll keep it????

Then again, if someone wanted it, I"d sell it....lol



Thanks for the info!

Hunlock wrote:Hi

I have an old Forney welder.
Questions:

Does something like this hold a value? I would like a welder myself, but something smaller and a bit more portable. Anyone have an idea of value?It has a bunch of hook ups for the different amps.... I will try to get a pic or two this evening.

Also, where would I be able to sell this, that would get some attention?

You would be amazed at what people collect. As far as selling it, you can't beat craigslist, I am amazed at what you can get rid of with that site.

I have a Century, I guess it's kind of old I must have bought it from Northern 15 years ago. does the welder look like this:

Buddy at work just gave me a Marquette 180 amp welder - very similar with the multiple plug taps. It's a newer version (70's vintage I'm guessing), but same idea.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any plugs/leads with it, and there is NOTHING available off the shelf that will fit. The closest (largest) plug is about .375 dia. and I needed .435. It is a taper plug, 1" long. Best I can tell, mine is .030" taper over the inch length. Anyway, the solution was to get a foot of .50 OD x .375 ID copper tube from McMaster, press a piece on, and turn it down to fit. I had to make an offset mandrel to be able to turn the plug on-center, but it was quite simple. I'm not sure what size Forney used.

Regardless, these old welders will work just as well (if not better) than a modern AC buzzbox. They were made with good steel and COPPER windings. I wonder also if the older ones have higher (pre-lawyer, pre-OSHA) open circuit voltages than the current stuff.

I just finished up some fix-it-up on the welder last night and made up leads with the "new" plugs, wired a new plug on the AC cord, and wired the outlet in the shop. I should be making some sparks today! I've never stick welded before, only some basic MIG hot-glue work, so it should be interesting.

Chris

Dann757 wrote:I have a Century, I guess it's kind of old I must have bought it from Northern 15 years ago. does the welder look like this:

Yes! But...it is all red!