Minimum Amps for Air Arc Gouging

[yomax4]

Plasma is very nice for removing old welds, Races off of shafts etc. you actually turn it down and yes it can be surgical. Don't have to get it red hot 1st and can go over it several times before it get too hot. Very nice. Plus you have the Aluminum, SIB, Cast and Stainless option as well. Try it.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I just haven't found the need for spending the money for a plasma. So far I haven't found anything that I couldn't remove with my oxy/fuel torch or grinder. If I did a lot of fabrication and repairing, it would be worth the $1000+ dollars for one, but today I just fix what breaks around the farm and no alloys here, just low grade carbon steel to deal with. 4.5 thru 9" Grinders take off most everything I need and the torch gets the rest.
By the way, I can take nuts off bolts, races off shafts with my torch and not worry about nicking the shaft with my oxy-acetylene torch.

 

[Shield Arc]

I just haven't found the need for spending the money for a plasma.

I agree, for the majority of us here a plasma is just a luxury! In a fab shop, sure. I bought mine to go along with my CNC table. I retired early because of health reasons, I thought I wanted to get into metal art to pass the time, about a year after I bought the table steel prices went through the roof. I couldn't sell the metal art for what the steel cost me. So now everything sets and collects dust.

 

[yomax4]

No question about it. Plasma is a luxury. Much like an air Impact compared to a crescent wrench. I've burned up a lot of cutoff wheels and oxy fuel as well..Still do.

 

[drizler]

Just get a cheap oxy propane cutting rig from HF. I don't weld with mine but when something big comes along I break out the torch. Comes in real handy when you have rusty nuts n bolts to deal with as well.

 

[woodlandfarms]

I have a nice victor setup but I do not have a gouging tip. Then again, I don't have much experience or skill with it either

 

[chriswheeler]

I somewhat agree with all here. I have the smaller ArcAir K2000 that I use every once and awhile with my small welder at home My welder is a Lincoln Square wave 175 tig. The K2000 uses much less air than the standard K4000 and can be used on a smaller compressor, 2 air ports in the K2000 where there are 4 in the K4000. Think it runs on 6 cfm @50 lbs. That said, you still need the amps or smaller electrodes. I run 5/32" and can get about 3-4" of cut before I'll stop and let both rigs cool off for half hour or more. Air arc can be hard on a welder this small, and I'll only resort to this for some reason like restricted access stops me from using a grinder. This is the only reason I'd like to have a older engine driven welder sitting around here. ArcAir starts working better @250 amps+, and much better the more amps you can pour into it with larger electrodes.
Chris

 

[Shield Arc]

My days of hogging out iron are long gone! I plugged two of the holes up in my carbon arc torch.

 

[chriswheeler]

Think the K4000 has larger dia. holes as well. If I had a K4000 I'd plug off a couple as well. Being retired, never in a hurry, not enough amps to run one to it's full potential, a K2000 is plenty. Smaller ones are sure harder to come by than the larger ones. One thing that should have been mentioned above is the " duty cycle " on any small welder that runs a arcair should be cut in half. Example, if you have a 20% duty cycle at full amps, cut that in half to
10%. Arcair on a small welder will toast it fast if you exceed that, it just isn't made for that type of a load. Still have the burn scars from running the big ones.
Chris

 

[Shield Arc]

One time I got elected to arc out some spacer bars in an 18-inch x 18-inch x 16-inch deep steel box. Only one side open. Talk about eating sparks for a couple hours.

The box looked just like this one in the picture.