Air-Carbon Arc Gouging

[Kent]

very few occasions you cant make do with grinders or other things you have to hand. If you have a real need you perhaps already have the required

 

[Richard.]

Totally depends on what your doing. I stripped an entire digger bucket of wear plate with a gouging set. With a grinder I'd still be there now.

 

[pedrobedro]

We used to cut the heads off steel castings, up to 12" thick with oxy-propane then level it off with arcair for the machine shop to finish them off. There were 2 of us and we had to stop when the crane driver was working overhead because he could not see what was happening through the smoke and light. We were issued pure wool suits as they don't burn and what keeps heat in will also keep it out. I was on it for nearly 3 years till British Steel bought the firm and shut it down which happened at two foundries I worked in. It was serious business not like the ones in the videos they are just playing at it.

 

[Richard.]

Your totally right They are playing at it the gouging equip used in the vids looks like kids toys in comparison to what we used to use also. We used to push 800 amps out of miller dimension 1250 power sources
In a 12 hour shift 2 of us could remove 200kg of metal.
It's a horrible job but there was no other process that could match it's speed. The noise would be defening. You can't really get a feel for just how brutal it is from those vids.

 

[pedrobedro]

Your totally right They are playing at it the gouging equip used in the vids looks like kids toys in comparison to what we used to use also. We used to push 800 amps out of miller dimension 1250 power sources
In a 12 hour shift 2 of us could remove 200kg of metal.
It's a horrible job but there was no other process that could match it's speed. The noise would be defening. You can't really get a feel for just how brutal it is from those vids.

My ears are still ringing now and it was nearly 40 years ago I can't remember what make the machines were but they were like a wardrobe and 1200 amp and they were flat out for most of an 8 or 12 hour shift.. I could get through a pair of gloves a day as the leather went solid with the heat. One of the office staff stuck his head in the bay once to see how the job was going as it was an urgent order and he was of for three days with the flash. When he came back his eyes were like something from a horror film. I cracked a few shields with the heat from the puddle as well.

 

[Richard.]

My ears are still ringing now and it was nearly 40 years ago I can't remember what make the machines were but they were like a wardrobe and 1200 amp and they were flat out for most of an 8 or 12 hour shift.. I could get through a pair of gloves a day as the leather went solid with the heat. One of the office staff stuck his head in the bay once to see how the job was going as it was an urgent order and he was of for three days with the flash. When he came back his eyes were like something from a horror film. I cracked a few shields with the heat from the puddle as well.

Have you seen those carbons that are joined together and fed automatically ? I've never seen them used but that has got to be hard core using carbons like welding wire.

 

[pedrobedro]

Have you seen those carbons that are joined together and fed automatically ? I've never seen them used but that has got to be hard core using carbons like welding wire.

The 1" rods had a screw thread in the end so you could join the next one in and push it through but it didn't happen very often. The joints used to arc and the small part used to fly off.

 

[Richard.]

The ones I've seen don't have a thread they just push together. I would assume they would be used on a column and boom type automated machine, possibly for removing hard facing off large crushing or grinding rollers.
I would guess the component would rotate as the carbon was fed in along with air (perhaps).