locator mechanism 142 is hydraulically activated and has a hose 147 extending from a second end 148 the hose 146 is operatively attached to a source of fluid pressure 150 the source of fluid pressure 150 is operatively connected and controlled by the control station 66 the positioning portion 144 is expandable between a retracted position 152 and an expanded position 154 the welding station 42 includes a welding head 160 having a lead 162 connected thereto the welding head 160 and the lead 162 are of conventional construction the welding head 160 in this application has the ability of be manually controlled by an operator and to be automatically controlled the welding head 160 produces a weld 164 in operation the recuperator assembly line 50 is used to manufacture the recuperator 10 the partially manufactured core 12 is available to the recuperator assembly line 50 at the input end 52 in this application the operator removes the core 12 from the flat 54 or as an alternative an automated process such as a robot could perform the operator functions with the inner chucking portion 76 in the upper position 80 and the upper stacking portion 84 in the loading position 90 the core 12 is positioned therein the upper stacking portion 84 has the first side 86 up and the core 12 has the first side 18 up the upper chucking.