Welding Tips and Tricks

So I am stuck waiting for the college to talk to my high school to figure out about changing classes which is over complicated. In the mean time I am hammering out thermal cutting. Plasma,OFC, and carbon arc gouging. I am pretty solid on my abilities with PAC and OFC but I have never done carbon arc gouging. I read the materials they had and would like a little advice going in. Any advice from you guys. Safety, techniques, etc.

It's like a cross between a oxy/acy cutting torch and stick welding. The spatter flies everywhere and really likes to go down your shirt collar or up your sleeve.

Carbon arc gouging is a really cool process when set up and used right.
A lot of sparks generated and noisy too so PPE is a must. Long pants & sleeves in cotton, gloves, boots, ear protection, cap, full face shield. Maybe even a leather apron.
Alot of sparks generated in line of travel that get thrown far by the compressed air, you need to make sure the area in front of you for at least 20ft is clear of people and flammables. Make sure you gouge away from you so you don't cook the wedding vegetables.
Technique - put a chalk line down and practice gouging in a straight line. The temptation is to gouge too deep in a single pass, this results in a wavy uneven surface that will require grinding to dress. Resist this and use gentle multiple shallow cuts to achieve the desired depth of gouge. Dry run first so you are sure you can move your arm the full length of gouge travel while keeping constant angle and arc length. You will end up with a consistent gouge in terms of width and depth ready for welding.
Have fun.

Ear protection, ear protection, and some more ear protection. Foam plugs beneath ear cans if you wish to still hear in your 40's.

And of course, head-to-toe protection as was mentioned.

Done a bit myself - apart from the safety aspect I think most people that struggle to get started either don't have sufficient air volume available or too large a carbon for the power source - maybe someone here can find a link for recommended parameters for the OP - I tend to make do with what I have available ! I generally use a 400 > 500 amp power source with 5/16" carbons & 45CFM compressor - I believe Lanse / Pete have done a video showing it quite well running off his Trailblazer.

noddybrian wrote:Done a bit myself - apart from the safety aspect I think most people that struggle to get started either don't have sufficient air volume available or too large a carbon for the power source - maybe someone here can find a link for recommended parameters for the OP - I tend to make do with what I have available ! I generally use a 400 > 500 amp power source with 5/16" carbons & 45CFM compressor - I believe Lanse / Pete have done a video showing it quite well running off his Trailblazer.

I have a chart of reccomend settings they have gave us in the information/reading.

Apparently, you swipe the metal, don't try and use it in the same manner as a welder. That will lead to carbon inclusions.

As long as you always push & never drag it should be OK - I like a fairly shallow angle and use small stabbing motions - actually push the carbon into the metal then back off just slightly - allow the air to send stuff flying - repeat till carbon needs moving in holder or there is a strange pork cooking smell & / or your overalls seem to getting hotter !

Honestly in my opinion, and keep in mind I really dont have too much experience with it, I feel like carbon arc is a dieing technology. With O/A and even plasma cutters with their own air supply being so prevalent these days, I just see it as not an efficient process at all.

In a shop I agree - it's very wasteful in energy required - dirty / noisy / fire hazard / needs a lot of safety space if working with others - a modern plasma is a much better choice - even O/A with suitable nozzle is better - there are times though when it has a place ( so a skill worth having ) - I worked coastal piling a bit when younger & we used it quite a bit then - outside running a diesel compressor & large engine drive that were always on site it made sense - most epic job I only assisted on was to get a decent size jackup barge to stand on only 3 out of 4 legs 1 at a time in turn on the shore & use carbon arc to remove the welds holding the leg pads on as the water was too shallow for access with them on & apart from a little beach / silt they were bed so not needed - they sit in a shallow machined register & the weld only holds them on - both leg & pad needed as little collateral as possible as they would be re-fitting when the barge finished - gouging was the best way & getting a plasma there powering it & using standing in shallow sea water was not viable - plus they were in they're infancy then - not that powerful & never saw one gouge - we could get the compressor & engine drive on a pile trailer & back it up in the sea next to it with the D8 - I have to say I was fairly young then & it's a bit unnerving being under a good few hundred tons of steel balanced on 3legs ! but back then safety was not a big concern - only getting production.

Last night I did my carbon arc gouging and found out just how easy and annoying it really is. Took a layer off a boat anchor and then he wanted a bunch of 3/8" plate cut from practice weld test to not waste material. Did a few with carbon arc gouging and the rest with the torch.Just glad it was that easy.

If it was loud, dangerous, annoying AND hard, no one would do it, Because it's so easy (in the hands of a trained and competent operator), that's why its still widely used.

Carbon arc is not a dying process. Outdoor maintenance work on heavy equipment is one place where it's still heavily used. Sure, you could use oxy fuel torch to remove all the wear plates from an excavator bucket, (you could also use a 5" angle grinder if you wanted) but arc air does it way faster with better control. The job is sped up and costs for the repair are reduced.
We've used arc lots on large structural steel jobs too.
Arc air is my preferred method for steel removal.

I bought an old gouge torch off fleabay some months back and today was the first time I've used it. Had to take some thick (1/2") busted up expanded metal off of a trailer to replace with a better platform. Couldn't see doing it with a grinder, especially having more grinding to do afterwards, and it was welded every 3 inches with 3 inch beads. Hooked the arcair torch up to the old airco bumblebee running at 225 amps with 5/16 carbons. After getting in the swing of things it went quick with minimal grinding and minimal metal taken from the stringers.
We got a spectrum 875 at work and I tried to gouge with that on a truck last year on a teardown, it did the job with some unintended gouging/cutting. Bottom line I wasn't happy with how it turned out.
As far as I'm concerned, carbon arc is the best way to cut welds when a grinder isn't ideal.

Slightly surprised that 225amps would get the job done - also it's pretty hard on a welder - I never used under a 400amp - mostly 500 - I'd watch how long at a time you use it on a small power source - some plasma cutters ( Hypertherm for sure ) can have a specific nozzle set up just for gouging where the orifice is larger & pressure is lower giving a broader less aggressive cut - these seem to gouge quite effectively with good control & a fraction of the power consumption of carbon arc - I do use carbon arc myself but usually only on large multi pass welds in corners where nothing else will work.

Oddly enough that old dinosaur machine did good with the 5/16 carbons, I tried 3/16 first being mindful that it's a small old machine but the carbon was going too quick with little weld removal. Even running it at 90% I'd give it a break every 10 minutes because she was singing. I realize that it is hard on a smaller machine but at least it's not mine. If it was to quit we might get a new one

Got to say the old machines were better built & likely underrated hence they last so well but I like your theory on trying to kill it so you get a new one ! - place I worked they used to do that with the tractors ! I've not tried arc gouging on AC so maybe it requires less power than DC ? got an old 330 so may give it a try sometime - if I could have moved it when I moved out of an old building I had a 550 oil cooled that would have been great for that kind of thing - never found a big enough welding rod to really test it in anger ! used to run some major size iron powder rods with it before getting a decent size mig.

Our saying at work when something breaks or is about to "they make new ones everyday"

That old bumblebee is just a different color miller dial arc.
(Begin rant)
The saying "they don't make em like they used to." goes both ways, I'd rather not need a new one because the old stuff has stood the test of time with everyone and their brother putting their hands on it, yet still works like the day it came off the truck. How long is the latest and greatest going to last? If they made everything like they used to, then a new transformer machine with 1965 technology in it would cost a million (theoretical) dollars...
Quality goes down, cost goes up.
(End rant)
That's how I've picked up what machines I got, people upgrading, go ahead because someone with a budget needs a good machine to get started.
Plug her in and let the meter spin

I was gouging last night with a Lincoln invertec v275 and 3/16" carbons. Had the invertec set at 250 amps. It did a good job.
While gouging, your amperage used on the power supply is directly related to the size of carbon your using for the job. Arc Air has a chart for this in any of the manuals for their gouging systems.