Don Foreman wrote:

Spot welding like that takes well north of 1000 amps.

Several guys have made spot welders out of microwave oven
transformers. I haven't done that so I'll defer to someone who has.

I would be one of those who have:
http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/...rPrintable.pdf

'Cause I just had to know if it would do Steve's job, I tested it. I
used 3/16 rod, because I think 1/4 is just too big for spice racks and
that sort of stuff:
http://home.comcast.net/~bobengelhardt/SmRodWeld.jpg

It took 3 or 4 tries to get the timing right ('bout 3 seconds, I'd say).
The joint shown held while the rod bent.

As described in the DropBox writeup, my welder draws 17A at 240v, or
4kVA. 2000A output if one divides the 4kVA by the 2v OCV.

Iggy's 5kVA, $70, welder was a great deal, but it's gone. And it takes
floor space - a serious limitation for some of us G.

Bob