On Wed, 22 Jun 2011 23:22:10 -0700, mike wrote:

I have an old Dayton 2Z543 hand held 115V spot welder.
The tips screw into the tongs, but the threads are stripped.
Been using it that way for a decade, but it's got to the point
that I'm burning holes when the tips tilt and the contact area
is small.

Any options to repair this without spending $91 on new tongs?

The copper is rather soft, so if I could just compress the
end a little and re-thread the tongs and replace the tips, I'd be good
to go.

If I squeeze it in a vise, I'll just make the hole oblong.
I have a substantial V-block and a press, maybe three sides
will be enough???
I don't know much about the dynamics of metal forming.
Would pounding on it with a hammer in the V-block work better
than trying to squeeze it?

Anybody got a trick for getting compressive force on multiple sides
to shrink it.

Or maybe a highly conductive heli-coil?

Thought I'd get some advice before I made a mess of it.

I rarely use it, so the "fix" doesn't have to be production quality.

Ideas?

Thanks, mike
You can squeeze the copper using the 3 jaw chuck on the lathe.
Squeeze, loosen, rotate a little, squeeze, rotate a little, etc.
Eric

On Jun 23, 9:48*am, wrote:
On Wed, 22 Jun 2011 23:22:10 -0700, mike wrote:
I have an old Dayton 2Z543 hand held 115V spot welder.
The tips screw into the tongs, but the threads are stripped.
Been using it that way for a decade, but it's got to the point
that I'm burning holes when the tips tilt and the contact area
is small.

Any options to repair this without spending $91 on new tongs?

The copper is rather soft, so if I could just compress the
end a little and re-thread the tongs and replace the tips, I'd be good
to go.

If I squeeze it in a vise, I'll just make the hole oblong.
I have a substantial V-block and a press, maybe three sides
will be enough???
I don't know much about the dynamics of metal forming.
Would pounding on it with a hammer in the V-block work better
than trying to squeeze it?

Anybody got a trick for getting compressive force on multiple sides
to shrink it.

Or maybe a highly conductive heli-coil?

Thought I'd get some advice before I made a mess of it.

I rarely use it, so the "fix" doesn't have to be production quality.

Ideas?

Thanks, mike

You can squeeze the copper using the 3 jaw chuck on the lathe.
Squeeze, loosen, rotate a little, squeeze, rotate a little, etc.
Eric- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

6-jaw would better. Maybe make up a roller to replace the cutter on a
pipe cutter and use that to squeeze things, Or you could braze the
holes shut, redrill and retap. Use high-silver content braze if
you're worried about conductivity. Dirll/ream the thread remnants out
to clean metal, pack the cavity full of braze and flux and get the O/A
torch out.

Stan