[Fritz] built this 600 joule capacitive discharge spot welder in a case scavenged from a Lincoln plasma cutter. All of the circuitry was designed by [Fritz] and the schematics are available on his website. He has a few other welding related project also documented on his site that are worth checking out. While this isn’t the first homemade spot welder we have seen, it is definitely the first one with a case mod. If you are not up to the challenge of building one quite as complex as [Fritz]’s example, a microwave can be used as the donor appliance in simpler designs.
Hack
DIY Lincoln welder conversion
Hack
DIY coffee table scale
[Guus] screwed together this coffee table which doubles as a scale. No welding was required to put it together - just some bolts, pulleys, miscellaneous fittings, and an original design. The weight is indicated through the (unlabeled) position of the counterweight arm. Currently it is limited to measuring 10kg (22 pounds), but can easily be boosted by adding a heavier counterweight. It looks pretty robust, maintenance-free, and fitting for any living room workshop’s weighing needs. [Guus] is also the proud inventor of the rock radio, and he is working on creating Man-Y-Man: a modular play system allowing children to create up to 1520 unique…
Hack
Zelo, the Improbable Wooden Trike
The earliest bicycles were made from wood. Nearly two centuries later, some garage tinkerers still turn to this most traditional of materials for their own creations, since welding one requires experience and tools beyond the reach of many. Resembling Gilligan’s Island props, the resulting bikes are both artistic and great fun, but not very practical for real use; often heavy, ill-fitting or lacking durability.
[Boris Beaulant’s] birch laminate Zelo, on the other hand, has cleaner lines than anything you’d see in an IKEA showroom. Not content with an ordinary two-wheeler, he’s tackled a three-wheeled recumbent trike, which requires even finer tolerances. Two months and…
Hack
Capacitive discharge cutting
Capacitive discharge cutting provides more control than linear transformer versions. A very large capacitor is charged to a precise voltage and then discharged through the material to produce a controlled cut. The same device can also be used for spot and tab welding. A video of copper roof flashing being cut is embedded below. An example of a linear transformer can be found in our our How-to: build your own spot welder.
Automotive
Fisker, Valmet Ink Historic Production Agreement
Fisker Automotive, Inc. and Valmet Automotive have reached an agreement whereby the latter company will produce the former company’s newest car on its assembly line in Finland. The Fisker Karma is an all-electric sports sedan that will become available for sale in late , a car that will be sold throughout Europe and North America.A new body welding line will be built at Valmet Automotive exclusively for the Fisker Karma. A painting and assembly process will also be adaptable for the production of electric and hybrid cars."The agreement is very significant for us and our employment situation in the years…
Hack
Steampunk vibrator
[Ani Niow] built this steam powered vibrator. It has a milled stainless steel shell with a brass motor structure. The motor is a Tesla turbine made from a stack of Dremel diamond cutoff wheels. This drives an off-center weight to create the vibration. She tested it using a pressure cooker as the steam source. It worked, but became so hot it had to be held using welding gloves. It works just as well with compressed air though. You can see the device at the Femina Potens Art Gallery in San Francisco or later this month at Maker Faire.
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