antique welder question

[armyjeep43055]

[B] I bought a big,old arc welder today.previous owner states it is from 1939.it must weigh 300 pounds,it is a 2 piece unit,tag on lower unit says "mid state welders" tag on top unit says "missing link".previous owner states upper unit is a amp booster,niether unit has a cooling fan.got it home and hooked it up on full power(300 amps),tried a test piece of 1/2 plate with 7014 rod,the welder literally melted my test piece like butta.does anyone have any idea about the mid-state welding company? i paid 200 bux for it,will be a good deal until it breaks down.the upper unit doubles the output,there is a giant "M" shape on the front of the unit that has several holes to select diff amps.if anyone has any info about this welder or the company please email me,thank you!
tony
[email protected]

[Winger Ed.]

Way cool.........
Sounds like you got a old machine that was made/built/used specifically---
to build "Liberty Ships", or Sherman Tanks for use in WWII.
Most of both were made with 1" plate for the hulls.

The (stick) machine was pre-adjusted at the factory.
No knobs, no 'tweaking' the circut board, or computer..
Just connect it to Power, have a Supervisor plug in the 'Stinger',,,,,, & go...

For war production--- they worked well,,,,,,,,
Ya taught somebody how to use it, on the setting they needed to use for what they were building.....
And let them make ships & tanks faster than the Military could teach people how to drive 'em.
When they ran out of rods,,, somebody on a forklift would bring them another ton or so.....
The opperators didn't have to adjust it, or have any great understaning of Metalurgey,,,,,,
They just needed to get to get to work, suit up,, and make as many good welds as they could in a day.

If you see a verticle row of holes, or 'plug ins' for the 'stinger'.......
The different holes you see take the place of adjustment knobs we're used to seeing on new machines.
They'grab onto' or engage different numbers of loops, or coils on the machine's transformer.

Usually,,, the higher the hole, the more-or higher the Amperage setting is.

[moabicon]

I found one of these Missing Links at a garage sale yesterday. It came with a 2nd head that has a 110 plug. ?? It seems to be in great shape although I haven't tried it yet.
Here's some pics for your enjoyment....

[shovelon]

That's pretty cool. Nice looking too. I like the formed expanded metal vents.

Hope you get it running.

[WelderDave]

I found one of these Missing Links at a garage sale yesterday. It came with a 2nd head that has a 110 plug. ?? It seems to be in great shape although I haven't tried it yet.
Here's some pics for your enjoyment....

[ATTACH]25206[/ATTACH][ATTACH]25207[/ATTACH][ATTACH]25208[/ATTACH][ATTACH]25209[/ATTACH][ATTACH]25210[/ATTACH]

The "missing link" is a High Frequency unit for Tig welding

[12345]

Remember when they used to make welders out of wood?