Recommendations on a carbon arc cutter

[LXCam]

Hey guys, I'd sure like to tap the brain trust here once again.

And in advance thank ya!

I'm bidding a project where I'll need to buy four machines and a couple compressors to maintain production. We'll be cutting out plug welds of an assembly that's 3/16" thick mild steel attached to 1/2" thick embeds plus seem and corner welds of adjacent assemblies.

What would you guys recommend for a robust unit with a high duty cycle?. The compressor aspect I can size once I know the details of the unit. BTW, I've got plenty of power, so that's not a consideration for the selection.

Thanks again, Cam

 

[dnschmidt]

Cam, Bob Moffet of Weld.com has a couple of videos on YouTube on carbon arc cutting. I found these interesting. Couldn't a big plasma cutter do this job too. Hypertherm to rescue has always been my motto.

 

[LXCam]

Thanks Dennis, I’ll take a look. Plasma has its place on this project but we’re talking thousands of plug welds to gouge out so it’s not the best fit.

 

[signcrafter]

I've never used it and don't know much about the process but my miller xmt 304 has a CAC mode on it.

 

[American Locomotive]

Most plasma systems have an arc gouge torch you can use. They're supposed to be a lot cleaner and faster than carbon arc gouging. I'm sure your local hypertherm or thermal arc rep would come out and let you demo an arc gouging torch rig if you tell them you plan to buy four.

 

[Lwel9226]

"ARCAIR", model no. K4000....

Lynn W