Welder
My father decided he simply must have an arc welder. Not entirely unreasonable, as we lived on a farm. So he picked a nice one up at Montgomery-Wards (did I mention this was in the 60's?)
What he didn't reckon on was the power requirement - 220vac, 3-phase. Not having the appropriate service, the welder sat in the garage, in all it's glory, until we had a new power pole, transformer, and meter installed - 16 years later. Fucking Montgomery-Wards was out of business before we ever powered up the welder! On the plus side, it is a fine welder. My father and I both learned to weld with it.
(danalan Pretty good, for an amateur., Wed 27 May 2009, 15:30, Reply)