The Home-Brew Spot Welder

A spot welder is a necessity for the production of a homemade gas

turbine, unless you can accurately and easily TIG weld a LOT of very
fine stainless steel, on the order of 0.5 mm. Commercially produced spot
welders have several things wrong with them... first, they are rather expensive, typically
$250-$500 U.S. Secondly, the welding tips, where the actual fusion occurs, are relatively
thick, and difficult to squeak into tight crevices like the bottom of a combustion chamber.
They are also mostly hand-held devices, which would make the spot-welding of small
parts challenging. So I guess if I was welding up a bed frame, a commercial welder
would suit, but not a 2" dia. combustion chamber.
Thus, the need for a custom spot welder. Desireable attributes are a high quality,
repeatable weld, ease of use, and low cost.
All of the parts for this welder (except the transformer) are available from MSC. The
transformer must be scrounged from an electronics/industrial surplus outlet. Look for a
BIG 115VAC transformer (700 Va or better) with the secondary windings on the
OUTSIDE. Listed below are MSC parts numbers, and current prices.
An overall view of the completed welder. Plans were "created" on the spot, using
knowledge gleaned from the internet on such a project. The basic concept is to find a big
115VAC transformer which has the secondary windings as the outer layer. The secondary
is carefully (but tediously) removed, and replaced with enough coils of #4 copper cable to
create a secondary voltage of ~4 VAC. a DeStaco clamp is adapted for the upper arm,
while the lower arm is fixed, but insulated.

A closer view of the modified transformer. After the secondary was removed, there was
enough room for 5 turns of #4 copper, insulated cable. You can use welding cable, or you
can cannibalize the cable from a set of automobile battery jumpers. Be sure it is heavy #4,
and flexible enough to wrap around the transformer.

I got very lucky... the same surplus store I found the transformer at (Bill Williams Tool,
Ft. Worth), had a supply of extra-deluxe surplus aerospace copper cable. This stuff was
made for aircraft wiring, and cost me all of $1/foot.

The small black box on top is a fuse box for a 20 amp prmary fuse.
The arms are pinching a little SS test sandwich prior to applying current. I originally got
cute and tried a tungsten electrode in the top arm rather than the brass (laton / alloy
which consists of zinc and copper ) one shown... not a good idea. The tungsten sputtered
and welded itself to the steel. The arms are 1/2" dia brass, and the tip is turned to a 90
degree cone from 5/16" brass.

In use, the clamp arms and the cable heat up, but not frighteningly so. This does limit the
duty cycle... after roughly 10 to 15 welds, I found it was best to allow the unit to cool for
a couple of minutes.

The weld quality is excellent. Destructive testing pulls a nugget off of one sheet, and
requires a surprising force even with .010 stainless. The entire cycle takes only one
second. Neat stuff!