I didn't know that you still had the lathe 'winding rod' attached to the core.
This would increase eddy currents and losses in the core due to the welding of the rod shorting out the laminations, which are insulated from one another.
This might be clutching at straws, but maybe remove that winding rod, and clean away any weld material from the core, maybe even grinding, to try to restore to insulation between the leaves of the laminated core, and give it a whirl again.