Handheld stick welder

By Curt Swarm

The advertisement on Facebook was irresistible, like one of Ginnie’s strawberry-rhubarb pies. The advertisement was for a handheld, 110 volt, stick welder. It was about the size of a handheld electric drill. The video showed it welding everything from sheet metal to horseshoes. And the price was amazingly low, under $50. Ah, just what I needed, something small that I could take with me for miscellaneous welding jobs. I might even use it in the barn instead of my 220V MIG welder.

I did hesitate, wondering if this low price miracle welder was a scam. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. But I went ahead and bit, and used my credit card.

Almost immediately I was notified that my hand-held stick welder was being shipped. I was impressed, thinking I’d have the welder the next day. What the shipping notification failed to mention was that it was being shipped from China. When I finally realized it, the tariff war was in full battle. I figured I’d be lucky if I ever got it.

But I did, about month after I ordered it. I was excited, like a kid with a new toy. I had been mostly unproductive all winter because of illness. This handheld welder would motivate me to build something. I wanted to build a Sundial Birdbath. Yes. It was my own creation and I might be able to use the handheld welder to make the Roman Numeral hours.

I opened the box the welder came in. It was in a nice carrying case, ideal for taking with me to a job site. I could really impress someone. But one of the first things I noticed was that the hand held welder had an amperage adjustment, starting with 20 amps and progressing to 80 amps. Really? Out of a 110V outlet? I checked the breaker box in the barn. All of the breakers for the 110V outlets were rated at 20 amps.

Just as I surmised, at 20 amps, the welder could weld thin sheet metal. When I cranked up the amperage for heavier material, it blew a breaker. So much for the usefulness of the handheld welder. I’m not about to replace the 20 amp breakers with larger breakers and risk burning down the barn. If it sounds to good to be true...

So I proceeded to build my Sundial Birdbath, or Birdbath Sundial, whichever you prefer. I used a farm disk blade for the sundial-birdbath, and a RR spike for the hour indicator. Welding the Roman Numeral hours onto the disk blade with the MIG welder was tricky. This is where I had hoped to use the hand held welder, but it failed me. I trashed one disk blade learning how to lay the bead with the MIG. I kept burning holes through the blade until I had the amperage set right. But I’m pleased with my first Sundial Birdbath. It even holds water.

Ginnie tells me that I have my 8 wrong. I have it as “IIX.” Ginne says it should be “VIII.” She’s right, of course. The birds could care less.

And it’s accurate time wise (CDT). This way the birds can tell what time it is when they get a drink, or take a bath! They don’t want to miss the Nightly News. They’re trying to keep track of the bird flu epidemic.

I didn’t do much welding or plasma cutting this winter due to illness. I did make one consignment piece, a heron. Well, two herons. One for consignment, the other for us. But it took me forever. I kept having trouble with the plasma cutter, like it was ill also.

I haven’t noticed the heron getting a drink from the Sundial Birdbath. Yet. Give it time. Get it?

Note: Ginnie likes the Sundial Birdbath and says we should keep it. If I can find bases, I can make a couple more. If I have time.

Contact Curt Swarm at curtswarm@yahoo.com