CARBON ARC WELDING AND BRAZING

[Volp]

I have just acquired an old carbon arc attachment to my AC stick welder.
Is anyone still using this for welding and brazing?:ashamed:

Have you any advise on how to use it and the pros and cons!
I know it is old technology but it seems to work.
Looking forward to answers from one old-timer to another! :teacher:

 

[Baby Grand]

A good video here:
Demonstration of The Carbon Arc Torch - YouTube
Looks like it's useful for metal forming & general heating.
I used carbon arc gouging equipment at a welding job many years ago.
It use a single electrode and had a jet that hooked up to a compressed air supply.
The electrode heated the metal and the air jet blew a hole through the puddle.
It worked great on metals that didn't cut well with oxy-acetylene.

 

[rankrank1]

I have just acquired an old carbon arc attachment to my AC stick welder.
Is anyone still using this for welding and brazing?:ashamed:

Have you any advise on how to use it and the pros and cons!
I know it is old technology but it seems to work.
Looking forward to answers from one old-timer to another! :teacher:

First and foremost a Twin Carbon arc torch is a totally different process than a carbon gouge so do not confuse the two as they are apples and oranges.

A twin Carbon arc torch can do everything a oxy/acetylene torch can do except cut metal -and it does it for pennies where ocxy/acet is expensive. Twin carbon arc has even more btu potential than oxy/acetylene. Twin carbon arc can heat metal for bending, free rusted nuts with or without flame (no flame mode useful around sensitive paint), brazing, silver soldering, and even improvised flame fill weld kinda tig style if you are really skilled. AGAIN TWIN CARBON ARC WILL NOT CUT METAL. (Carbon Gouging or ArcAir will cut metal but that is a different process and you need a big welder to do it).

PROS: Really Really Really Cheap to use. (No expensive gas to buy or store no expensive bottles to buy or lease)

CONS: None. Except having to cover all exposed skin or you will get severe sunburn (I cover my skin when welding anyway) and having to wear your welding helmet. It does take some skill to achieve the flame shape that you want, but even a total hack like me can easily produce a flame similar to oxy/acet with a rosebud tip which is what I use most. While twin carbon arc can do most of what oxy/acet can do it will be cruder and harder to use, but again it operates for nearly free.

Here is link to another site where I (and others) also talk about Twin Carbon Arc.

Weld Talk Message Board and Online Forum - Hobart Welders

 

[Volp]

Thanks rankrank1, your welding link was full of interesting and useful information!:thumbsup:
As you say oxy/acetylene is quite expensive but useful for cutting, especially heavy material. I intend to use the carbon arc at our place in Mallorca there I only have a AC transformer welder.:earth:

 

[Arc weld]

I think having to wear a welding helmet with a dark lens would be a con. You wouldn't be able to see as well.

 

[Willl]

I used carbon arc gouging equipment at a welding job many years ago.

Me too. Way to many hours of it. Nasty stuff.

 

[Volp]

I think having to wear a welding helmet with a dark lens would be a con. You wouldn't be able to see as well.

No problem if you use a Auto-darkening Welding Helmet which is cheap on Ebay:thumbsup:

 

[R W]

The main problem your going to have with a carbon arc set up is the non availability of the correct carbon rods.

 

[Ed of all trades]

My dad had one many moons ago, wish I had it now.

 

[Volp]

My dad had one many moons ago, wish I had it now.

You can build one yourself.
In the link given by rankrank1 http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtalk/showthread.php?42262-Carbon-Arc-Torch there are two sets of plans, the first Make a carbon arc torch for your 220 volt stick welder is simpler :construction: and the second Popular Science - Google Books more advanced.:blacksmith:

 

[Volp]

The main problem your going to have with a carbon arc set up is the non availability of the correct carbon rods.

Are the type or size of the carbon rod significant for a Twin Carbon arc torch as long as it has copper coating?

 

[Danno1]

Are the type or size of the carbon rod significant for a Twin Carbon arc torch as long as it has copper coating?

I'm working on the one described in the instructable link.


I bought the 1/4 inch version of these:

McMaster-Carr



Similar, only they come in a 50 pack:

Arc Welding Rods & Electrodes - Arc Welders | MSCDirect.com


.

 

[rankrank1]

Are the type or size of the carbon rod significant for a Twin Carbon arc torch as long as it has copper coating?

The common copper cladded carbons that you find at most LWS for like $8 - $11 or so for a box of 50 are not the ideal carbons to use in a Twin Carbon Arc torch. That said it is what I use because they are dirt cheap and readily available anywhere. These commonly available gouging carbons are hollow for use in an ArcAire type gouging cutting torch which makes them less than ideal for a Twin Carbon Arc torch. But again they will still work just expect much less than optimum performance.

If you want to try some of the best suited carbons for a twin carbon arc torch then keep your eye on ebay for when some "movie projector carbons" are auctioned. Early cinemas and even drive in theaters powered their projectors for years this way. Most WWII anti-aircraft lighting also used this principle. Another option is to even salvage carbon rods from the bigger box type alkaline batterys (NOTE: You are risking your health with alkaline poisoning if you go the salvaging route from batteries - I personally would not resort to salvaging from batteries and the carbons will be short).

If I was a frequent user of my torch I might opt to purchase some better carbons. Really the Twin Carbon Arc torch is the perfect tool for me because I need extreme heat very infrequently. Having the capability if I need it though has allowed me to return my oxy/acet lease bottles and mothball my old oxy/acetylene torch.

 

[the old grind]

I've been using a 40A carbon arc torch/mini-welder for 30 yrs to braze small stuff with. It's a Sears model that runs on 110v, and I can still buy the rods from Sears. Saw a similar 90A welder at a friends place last week & he didn't know what the salad-tong handle configuration was for, just like mine, chintzy-looking but easy to control the flame with. Gotta see if my rods work at the higher amperage before I get to wheelin' & dealin'.

It's the cats meow for, say bending threaded rod into quick & dirty squared u-bolts. Little to no fixturing/tweaking is needed, as such a small portion of the workpiece gets red-hot (right away) and it keeps the bend radius near to nothing. Great for straightening/bending tool handles when a lot of heat is needed in a small area too, but I'd like to snatch Joe's 90A for bigger jobs.

btw: An arc flame needs an arc hood/lens lest your eyes get UV burned like anything exposed would. Heh, you should have seen me that one time I brazed up a job that took an hour or so. I was still learning with it & working shirtless on a hot afternoon. By dinner time I was beet red from the waist up with a totally white face. :laughing: Just when I'm old enough to know better I find myself getting senile. It could happen again. :confused2:

 

[Volp]

This thread has certainly produced a lot of information on the use of the Twin Carbon Arc torch.:thumbsup:
I think that it is vital to document this type of information before it is lost in the mist of time.:reading:
Thank you all for sharing your experience. This forum have been a gold mine to me for more than a decade.:miner:

 

[Willl]

It could happen again. :confused2:

That's funny.

Had an old friend that used a carbon lamp to burn an image into silk screen for printing T-shirts.

Sounds like that movie lamp rankrank was talking about. Boy that sucker would light up the room.