Hi Hillbillysmith. It's me. Search for "homemade microwave welder" and select the thread titled "copper bracelet".
As Awalker said, it is better to buy the arc welder used than to try to modify the microwave oven. In another post, I went over the difficulties of the modification. As for cost, this can be pretty cheap. And, the chance of getting zapped is small. The main hazard is loss of isolation on the secondary side. This is especially likely if you follow the plans available from the Internet which suggest that you use THHN house wire to wind the secondary. And, you will not get zapped, since the voltage is low, but you will smell that funny smell.
I would not recommend it unless you have a lot of time on your hands. I gave a presentation to a Make group and was invited to set up a booth at the Maker Faire, but I was busy that weekend. There is a pic in the post I referenced above.
Recently, I got an idea to make a new kind of homemade welder. Do you know what polarity to run SAW (submerged arc welding).  |