soaking electrodes with water

Soaking in water allows the rod to burn a little longer before it turns white hot. What you want can be done, but there will be better ways. The cut is anything but neat!

Any advice I have missed for Tater?

Richard S.

"RJ" writes:

If i wanted pretty I'd buy new :)

anyway, as I said, 'tis a thinking project, and i might do it, just to see how it is done. learning skills and all that........

I cut a chunk of railroad track with a rod and an air nozzle. Fired it up hot, and as the metal melted, followed it with a chunk of copper tubing on the end of spray nozzle. Messy, but cut pretty quickly. I angled both AWAY from me..and wore all my leathers. Surprising how well it worked. Made me kinda want a carbon arc gizmo for the thick stuff

Gunner

"A prudent man foresees the difficulties ahead and prepares for them; the simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences."

- Proverbs 22:3

How do these carbon arc torches work, do they pass air through copper clad carbon electrodes? Would they work with a 200 A CC/DC power supply?

Almost a plasma torch - heat with the stick rod and blowing away the melt with an air blast.

Good idea on the copper air tube - won't weld shut with splatter...

Oxy-gas is much the same - pouring on the oxy is both blowing and burning.

Hum - a thick a real thick rod - more rod than for the welder size - so it won't melt much and maybe a hard type. They even make cutting rods IIRC.

Martin

Martin H. Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH & Endowment Member NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder IHMSA and NRA Metallic Silhouette maker & member

Gunner wrote:

No and no. They blow air axially down the carbon electrodes, whether copper clad or not (I buy the unclad kind and use 'em for electrodes for electrolytic derustin, at a dime apiece they're a bargain) and you'd typically set them to

GWE

That's not true, there is a ton of gouging done at well below 450 amps. I've been around many welders who air arc regularly with 200 amp machines, they use smaller carbons and run at about the same amperage that they run 3/16"

JTMcC.

Agreed!

I typically set my machine to 200-250 amps with a 1/4 copperclad (TM) for backgouging on 1" plate or heavy Wideflange to do a C.P. (complete penetration) weld. Some of the welders like to crank the 600amp machines up to max for gouging but I find that at that high an amperage it just uses up the gouging rods too quickly. 450 amps or higher should be used on large carbonarc rods.

With the proper technique high amperages are not necessary to do the job and only serve to waste the gouging rods!