Many of us learned to weld using a bulky, tombstone-shaped arc welder that lived in a corner of the shop. They were called buzz boxes because every time a novice welder “stuck” the welding rod to what ...

I learned to weld on my dad’s discount store 180-amp “buzz box” arc welder. In high school shop class, we used hulking, ancient war-surplus behemoths that taught me only how to burn ragged holes in ...