Arc Welder for Ballast - a small one???

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <dhmccauley-at-spacecatlighting-dot-com>

I'm looking to purchase an arc welder to use as a current limiting ballast
for my newest tesla coil which will run anywhere up to about 5kW.

I know I've seen a lot of people using big ones (200-300A versions) for
their very large coils, but should I be able to get away with a 70-80A arc
welder for smaller pole transformer run coils.

Also, do I need a particular type of arc welder????

Any help appreciated!!!

Thanks
Dan