Welding ??

Is there a scenario where the old time Lincoln buzz box stick welder is "superior" in a welding situation over a Mig welder ?

Stick Weld will Schedule Fracture Test(material is folded at weld) good where a MIG will fail if Fold Stressed.  Is due to penetration value.

Edited by DMiller - 10 Nov 2021 at 6:21pm

BUZZ BOX normally refers to the old Lincoln red - AC welder..

Edited by steve(ill) - 10 Nov 2021 at 7:17pm

First of all, the term "Buzz Box" pre-dates what most think of as a Lincoln "Tombstone" ,  most people referring to tombstones are thinking of the 225 amp AC or later AC/DC  welders which were derived from the old 180 amp AC version designed for farm and home use, before these were the first Lincoln transformer welders known as the Idealarc 250 for industrial use, built in AC and AC/DC versions, which are a fine welder and still in production and heavily used. These welders originally had a rounded top and really did resemble a tombstone.  Previous to this, most serious welders employed a generator, either driven electrically or with an engine.  I've been welding for over fifty years and still maintain that if I could have only one welder, it would be an AC/DC stick welder, especially for doing repair work on anything rusty, dirty, or out of position.  No doubt, running .093 flux cored wire at 400 amps is faster, but you're not going to be doing that in many home shops, so speed really becomes a moot point with anything being done at 250 amps or less if you have the skills. My experience is that if a person can't stick weld, they aren't much of a welder with a MIG welder either, for a while there was a fantasy that anyone would weld with a wire welder, almost true if someone else sets it up....maybe? Take a look at low end  trailers and there is a lot of this kind of welding on display. 

Likewise. But I needed it for a remote fix and ran it off my generator to get by. I will continue to use it for small stuff but others will get much more use.

Since buying my Pow Con welder which runs stick, wire or can scratch start TIG I do all my welding mostly with S 70s .035 wire using Argon/CO2 shield gas .
 Being a inverter welder the frequency is changed and then upped and then changed to DC for output . Can revers polarity or straight , spray arc or ?
 Now that I have the Miller 304 machine that also has all those uses + water cooled TIG high frequency start , it has become main welder .
 On stick - it's the choice of rod one uses that make the weld so 6010 P for root pass and 7018 as cover weld most material can be welded with a strong outcome . 
 On straight AC a 6011 rod and 7018 AC rod still works but seldom use it now .

Trained to weld high pressure pipe by Standard oil of Ohio in 1962. Later traind in tig to weld injection molds. At 83 I have the AC/DC  stick and tig in the tool shop and at home have the wire welder and the Ac buz box stick welders. Welding depends on the the base metal, thickness, type of stick or wire and skill.  

Edited by Dick L - 12 Nov 2021 at 7:03am

I spent 30+ years in several sawmills in the Pacific northwest, 27 years as a sawfiler. These were big, high-speed operations with big bandmills and also lots of smaller circular saws.

Due to the constant flexing, high speeds and high strains, bandsaws tend to develop cracks which must be welded.

When I was a beginning sawfiler this welding was all done with an oxy-acetylene torch, later on we gradually switched to either MIG or TIG. This changeover took quite a while as sawfilers tend to be reluctant to move away from things that are familiar and known to work well.

When I was Head Filer I experimented with both methods and found TIG to be more versatile, but the main drawback was that it requires a higher skill level and more training to master.

We settled on using the little Hobart wire-feed 120 Volt machines because they worked well and were easy to get set up. I could train a new filer to make good welds in about an hour.

Keep in mind, this welding machine would be set up for welding the very same steel every time and never needed to be changed once properly adjusted.

Post-treatment of the weld required a bit more training though.

A typical bandsaw would be 16 gauge (0.065") thick and 9 or maybe 10 inches wide when new and 35-40 feet in length. We usually ran them at 10,000-11,000 feet per minute of rim speed and strained up to 20,000 lbs (the force pulling the saw tight on the wheels). Bandmill wheels were 5' to 6' in diameter 10" wide with a minimum of 250 horsepower per saw. Most of these were twin band or quad band setups. Saws were usually changed at 2-hour intervals.

Yup, wire feeds are wonderful tools, but they do tend to make rank beginners believe that they are now "real welders". NOT!

For my personal use around the homestead I have a Lincoln AC-only 225 Amp Buzz Box. My needs are simple and it gets the job done. I still have my oxy-acetylene torch for fine work such as sheet metal, brazing, cutting, etc.

Hey there Dave, sounds as my own experiences, handed a gas axe in trade school told to gas weld a flex pipe to a flange, knew enough to do it but TERRIBLE looking, shop teacher and I reviewed the process and I got better.  Next up first real job outside of Military, working mechanic in a fleet shop, had to replace frame rail of a freightliner COE, they come Full Length No rear suspension holes, mastered that with Bridge Reamers(SWEET Drilling mechanisms), then had to gas axe the frame end and taper requiring a welded drop for a rear crossmember, done with a Lincoln Tombstone.