General welding questions that dont fit in TIG, MIG, Stick, or Certification etc.
Shastri11
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How to select Gouging rods ?
What are the specifications used for selecting gouging rods ?
Is there any material restriction for rods to use?
Please guide!
Shastri11
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Shastri11 wrote:How to select Gouging rods ?
What are the specifications used for selecting gouging rods ?
Is there any material restriction for rods to use?
Please guide!
Expecting answers!
Can anybody guide
Poland308
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http://victortechnologies.com/index.php ... uging.html

Been a while since I used one but here are some tips from victor about air arc. There is one point in there about choosing the rod size based on how wide of an area you want to cut out.
I have more questions than answers

Josh
plain ol Bill
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General rule is the lighter the material the smaller the rod. I have gouged 16 ga with small rod and 3" plate with big. A gouge is capable of really delicate work or really heavy duty back gouging. It is fun to gouge heavy plate if you have ventilation, ear plugs, and can stay out of the stream of fire.
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Shastri11 wrote:
Shastri11 wrote:How to select Gouging rods ?
What are the specifications used for selecting gouging rods ?
Is there any material restriction for rods to use?
Please guide!
Expecting answers!
Can anybody guide
Don't expect this group to operate at the frantic pace of facebook.

We all have jobs/careers, families, and/or other commitments. We contribute here in part for our own relaxation.

Answers will come in time.

Steve S
Artie F. Emm
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Did I read that gouging is hard on the welding machine, or somehow causes excessive wear?
Dave
aka "RTFM"
plain ol Bill
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Gouging uses heavy amperage a lot of the time (with bigger rod) so you need to match your machine to the amperage you use. I have used Y's and hooked two or even three machines in parallel for really heavy gouging. Used a BIG Lincoln generator machine once that literally jumped off the floor when you touched off using 5/8 half round carbon.
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Bill, is correct. use a horse and have a good air compressor. I have gouged with 1/4" on up. Really depends on what you are doing.....If you are just cracking a fillet weld 1/4" is fine. If you are gouging out deep/wide, bigger, etc. You could do it with a quarter inch rod, but why? just take a lot longer. Anyone can gouge, few are efficient. The nice thing with carbon arc is you just take out what you need, both sides can be saved and it can be surgical precision......if you know what you are doing. When I was young I used to practice making small anvil's from chunks of railroad track drops.

Many times I have also used gouging tips on torches i.e. back gouging CJP's etc.

Ear plugs and watch where you are spraying, if not set the place on fire, or be in a fight with a co-worker.

Material restrictions? If you can weld it you can gouge it.

PS If you hear a lot of successive loud pops.....you are doing it wrong, one continuous roar if you know what you are doing.
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Just to add to this aged post, aside from the task at hand e.i. removing 1/4" corner fillets or 1 1/2" monster welds dictates how aggressive you need to be. Where you will find your most trouble is selecting a rod to large for your machine.. I use an old school Lincoln SA-250 diesel DC machine and comfortably run 5/16" Arc rod all day long with no damage to my machine. The newer Lincoln Vantage machines are a little different animal They are a AC Generator running a DC weld machine. I've burned up a couple of (Rental) Vantage 400's running 3/8" - 1/2" Arc rod. so they sent me a Vantage 500 and I was able to continue with 1/2" and 5/8" rod but that was the limit of that machine. I like the post from one of the brothers that said " With Surgical Precision" I'm often asked "Can you Arc Gouge" I just say I can knock the wart off a witches chin without drawing blood.. I find 5/16" to 3/8" a good all around size for a machine 400 amps or below
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