ARC Gouging Tip

[shaley]

I was all set to build a new 6' material bucket with a bolt on edge. The design was done all the bends were checked I had purchesed the bolt on edge and I was ready to get a quote from a fab shop. I stopped by my dealer on a lark and saw this bucket way in the back lot. He said it didn't fit anything they have ever sold and it was shipped to them by mistake and he couldn't return it. When he said he'd take $300 it was hard to keep a straight face because I'm sure it would cost $500 to build my design and $1000 to buy a new one. I'm modifing this bucket to fit on my Woods loader. I burned off the outside bracket but the brackets are connected by two 2" solid rods with alot of weld. I want to keep the inside bracket for stiffness so I decieded to air arc the welds away so the holes would be in good shape. Any stick type welder power source will work but DC rev will make a deeper narrow groove. You can purchase 5/32" or 1/4" carbon gouging electrodes at the welding store and use a standard compressed air blow gun to blow the puddle away. I ran this at about 70 amps DC Rev. Touch the carbon to the weld area and when an arc forms pull it back slightly to stabilize the arc. The fillet directly under the arc will melt. Hit it with a shot air while the arc is still going in order to blow the puddle away. The whole sequence should take about 2 sec. and then repeat. A copper tube inserted into the blow gun will give your hand some distance from the heat and help direct the air. The whole operation took about 30 min. and two carbon rods per side. Do this outside as there is hot metal flying. That is a 7" grinder in the backgroud for size reference.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Neat! That looks like you just de-soldered it.

 

[sandman2234]

They work great for cutting up Stainless Steel also!
David from jax

 

[thingy]

Well,you did know they made a holder/airblow thing all in one ,,didn't you??read what I told john bud concerning this in his fixing backhoe crack topic,,a few weeks back,,its called carbon arc air gouging,,been around for 50 plus years,,,thingy

 

[HomeBrew2]

Well,you did know they made a holder/airblow thing all in one ,,didn't you??read what I told john bud concerning this in his fixing backhoe crack topic,,a few weeks back,,its called carbon arc air gouging,,been around for 50 plus years,,,thingy

Do you happen to know an approximate current price?

 

[HomeBrew2]

...

Cool man, thanks for the help again! (I'm with your method)

 

[thingy]

Don't know how much it costs,not all that much,,cause they ain't much there,,100 dollars sounds right,I think the smallest carbon rod they sell is 5/32,,which means you need maybe 150-160 amps,,dcep,,in other words that carbon arc holder will take the 5/32 rod to,at least one made for 5/32,,,,,air,,, probably about 80 to 90 psi,,and a 1 hp compressor should be enough,guess it would depend on how much air it stored,may need to take breaks every couple min,,but not many of us would be gouging all that much,,but think you can get by with less than a 5 h.p. compressor,they work pretty slick once you get used to it a little,,
But nothing wrong with reinventing it I guess,,,thingy

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I've looked around a little for these carbon gouging rods. I found one place that will only sell them in 25 pound boxes.

Does anyone have brand names and part numbers for these electrodes? That would help me.

 

[California]

Try this:

Ebay - search on 'electrodes'

That brought up an auction of 50 pcs of 3/16 for about $20 including shipping. Arcair brand.

I've seen other sizes from time to time.

I have 'plasma' and some other things excluded in that canned search, so you might want to modify the search terms a little.

 

[thingy]

3/16 good buy I'd say,,but you'd need a pretty big welder to use them,,,180-190 amps worth? dcep,,,,plus you need a bigger air compressor,,3-4 h.p?,,,the 5/32 you can get by with maybe 160 amps and a 1 1/2 -2 hp air compressor,,using dcep,,also you got to remember that duty cycle thing for you welder,,,thingy

 

[sandman2234]

I cut up a stainless steel flat/box shaped tank just for the s/s that was in it. Quarter inch stainless cut fine with it, using a 3hp compressor mounted on a 100 gallon tank. Compressor never shut off during the entire operation, except when I took a break. Neighbors said it looked like the fourth of July over at my house.
Not a job for someone sensitive to splatter burns, or working without leathers on.
I actually have two of these things, and haven't used them in years. They just don't cost enough to go thru the hassle of selling them used.

David from jax

 

[HomeBrew2]

... using dcep ... thingy

I may not have paying enough attention ... is this a DC only thing, or can one do the same on AC?

 

[thingy]

The only times I have used carbon arc gouging is with dc,,,ep,,,,now,,,suposidly they make a carbon arc rod made for ac,?,,,call to a good welding supply place can solve a lot of problems/questions,,,[no, I don't work with one],,bet one made for dc would work,,maybe not as good,,if you had enough amps and air pressure,,,but thats just a guess,,,thingy

 

[HomeBrew2]

Cool, thanks, I'll check it out.