Carbon Arc Gouging / Carbon Arc Torches / Cutting rods

a_kelley

a_kelley

mechanical fixer
Joined
Jan 26, 2010
Location
Rutherfordton
I know carbon arc is probably gone like a 57 chevy, but.. has anyone got any experience with Carbon Arc Gouging, Carbon Arc Torch, cutting rods to either cut, gouge welds, heat metal to bend it, etc? I looked into plasma cutting but it seems that plasma cutting torches are high voltage (200-300 OCV) and I want something I can run off the OBW and OBA to cut metal/bolts/etc in the middle of a field.. ArcAir seems to be the modern version of carbon arc technology.. I've never used cutting rods, carbon arc gouging, or plasma so thats why I'm asking if its worth investing in the extra setup to be able to add cutting to the list of stuff on board. I've also read you can soak a rod in water prior to use and use it to cut?
 
Is it for going to the pull a part or for "trail fixes"? Buy a cordless lithium batteried angle grinder and/or reciprocating saw. I don't think your setup will have the power or air to run a gouging rod and they are very far from clean cutting. You would be better off with a small oxy/acetylene setup.
That being said, I've carried a readywelder around for years and only used it a couple times--and whenever anything needed cutting just crank it all the way up and melt the metal that way...I think you might be getting carried away.
 
It is neither for PAP or trail fixes.. I fix farm equipment in the field sometimes and would like to get away from cutting/grinding wheels; although the grinder has its place, I can't always get it in where I need to. What you are suggesting is to use a cutting rod, right? the OBW I am planning should put out 190A at 12V which should translate to 57A @ 40V, ~80-90 OCV. I've used gas torches and they work great, but I really don't want to have to haul them around with me, but I could leave them at home unless I anticipate needing them.. (thanks for reminding me, a buddy has a pony set that'd probably work well for as much as I need it)
 
Here we go.
A carbon arc rig is the shit for cutting out old track loader pivot bushings.
Kinda brutal, but effective.
Yeah, my inner old school just kicked in.
 
arc gouging is not very good for field work where fires are easily started. If you don't have good (I mean great) PPE and leathers, you are going to burn your ass, guaranteed!
If it was my equipment and I had someone come in and arc gouge it, they better put plenty of fire blankets down to protect the equipment from the sparks.

In addition, you must have a high CFM air compressor or you are doing nothing but welding.


Oh, do you have high quality ear muffs? If you don't, guaranteed you'll be deaf in less than 30 seconds.

Beyond that, it works great! :D
 
well.. if thats the case, what about the cutting rods?

protecting the equipment?? what about the nice tinder dry grass under/near the equipment? I've already nearly set the place on fire once... and that was with my cheap 110 FCAW on a generator. I think I should buy a few weld blankets anyway.
 
Like Rockcity said. Arc gouging is very loud and it throws sparks everywhere. Yes fire/welding blankets is a must. When we have outages in the power plant they bring in contractors to cut welds on equipment etc. It's a sight to see when there are 10 guys in a room all arc gouging.
 
It's great for removing large welds, if you're good you can do it with minimal grinding afterwards.

However if you have no skill or knowledge, (Like said) you will burn yourself, everything around you, go deaf & screw up what your trying to do. Not to mention the money you need to invest in a welder capable of this action.

No, typically you do not soak a carbon rod in water.

Your better off with a set of torches really, get a gouge/scarf tip & go at it. With that you can cut & scarf out a weld.
 
Get a good torch set up and learn to use it and you'll be much better off. If you know what you are doing, you can easily remove a weld without damaging the base metal with minimal grinding. For heavy welds or heavy slag, pick up a 7" grinder, fire it up, and hold on! You'll be good to go in no time.
 
I use to run an amada laser punch press in a fab shop. Right next to my station was about 6 robot welders that put together arms for excavators. Idiots were always messing up the arms and they would had to be arc gouged and fixed. After a few hours of them doing that crap I was ready to shoot them. Very very loud.
 
Air arcing requires lots of amps and lots of air. Smallest carbon rod I would use would be 3/16, which require a minimum of 300 amps to work well(I've used a Ranger 8 before, 250 amps just wasn't enough and the compressor couldn't keep up). Also, air arcing is VERY hard on a welder, especially since when you hook up a gouging lead, you also reach for the amp knob and crank it like Paradise City just came in the radio. 3/8" and 1/2" rods and 1400 amps is absolutely badass though ad downright ROWDY. had a booth all by itself at the end of the stick booths in school for that getup, you could hear that thing across campus, with the doors shut. You could clean a LOT of metal out in one shot, real fast, just watch where that shits flying! Which has also been mentioned, it throws a lot of molten metal, which most of the time, is not exactly where it's pointed. It'll ruin rubber, glass, wood, plastic and brand new CAT paint in a heartbeat. You definitely would want a fairly large engine driven welder and a GOOD compressor if you plan to do this in the field.

Now plasma gouging isn't as tricky as you may think, ya, you'll need a power source and air, but no where near the volume as air arcing requires. If you want to have to move/transport as little equipment as possible, oxy acetylene is your answer. Pick up a curved kurfing tip while you're at it, makes a world of difference.

As for soaking a rod in water, and using reverse polarity to cut, very crude, but when you're in BFE and you're "full" oxygen cylinder has a broken regulator, you become very proficient at it(until you run out of water and gaterade).
 
I think definitely carbon arc gouging will not work based on what's been said.. I was under the impression probably 1/8" rods at 190A would be able to gouge welds on 1/4" or so or cut 3/4" nuts but wild molten metal kinda kills it for me.. considering fields tend to have plenty of flammables around. The twin carbon torches, do they require about as much power as a gouge? again, Ox/Ac setup would do heating.. the appeal of the carbon would be cheap consumables/equipment.. Plasma would do the trick I'm sure, but I don't see a way to power that short of dragging a generator along.. (In the OBA/OBW thread I'm starting to acquire what I need to run stick or FCAW.. staying away from MIG for now because usually don't need it)
 
I have a carbon arc torch, I have used it once since I purchased it 18+ years ago. I always reach for the torches...
 
I have very little operational experience with an Arc gouge, but we use them extensivly where I work at, for fabrication of large items.

I had one of ourfabricators cut the old home made rock rings out of my H1 wheels so I could install Trail Ready fab rings. When he got done, all I had to do was use a clean up disk on a 4" grinder to knock a little slag off. The old ring was gone and he never got into the original wheel surface. Granted, this was a trained individual, so your milage may vary.
 
I used to run air-arc at the Philly Navy yard. It's not a super hard process to master.

For me, it helped to think of it like an ice cream scoop in terms of how it is used.

It works much faster than just grinding, but sometime still needs some grinding to prep the area for welding again. The best thing about it is that you can cut any metal with it. If you have thick steel plate that was welded with stainless steel wire, air-arc can cut that weld out like it was nothing.

There are some drawbacks. The air has to be dry, moisture in the compressed air can make it into a mess real quick.

The process requires a lot of amperage, and that is a problem if you have wet leather gloves on. I was running 1/2" carbon rods at about 800 amps when I was thrown 30 feet from where I was standing. I had unknowingly walked into a puddle on the deck of a ship which is the ground for the circuit that I completed with my body. I was out cold for 10 minutes and wasn't right for at least a week. Lucky I was only 18 and somehow lived through it.

Air-arc can be great in certain situations, and can be an awesome tool as long as you respect that extra amperage.
 
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