Anyone with any expreience with carbon arc?I recently built one out of pipe fittings and wood . I've already used it to heat steelfor bending (faster than I thought) but was wondering if anyone has brazed with one.Seems like it would be hard to watch the puddle through an arc welding shield.I remember seeing ads in Pm or MI as a kid for a "four-Way" welder.I think it was$30."It welds,cuts,brazes and solders" or something like that.Buzz box,no currentcontrol, came with a carbon arc torch.Any advice(besides throw it away and buy an o/a set) on use?Miller a/c-d/c Thunderbolt XLMillermatic 180 Purox O/ASmith Littletorch O/AHobart Champion Elite
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ost a picture. This I gotta see!200amp Air Liquide MIG, Hypertherm Plasma, Harris torches, Optrel helmet, Makita angle grinders, Pre-China Delta chop saw and belt sander, Miller leathers, shop made jigs etc, North- welders backpack.
Reply:Hi jpump5 - there are prior posts on this subject - search "carbon arc".I changed a wood-screw clamp into a holder for 2 carbon rods and used the resulting torch for brazing. My power supply was a small (117 volt) Chinese made AC arc welder - that had too many turns wound on the secondary for decent welding but it drew a beautifully long arc for carbon arc brazing. Once I fixed the welder by removing secondary wire turns, it was good for welding with 3/32 inch rod but alas - I lost my brazing arc ability.The only hassle was that it was difficult to maintain the arc between the carbon rods for more than say 15 seconds as the rods burned back and the gap got too long for the arc to jump.Rick V 1 Airco Heliwelder 3A/DDR3 CTC 70/90 amp Stick/Tig Inverters in Parallel1 Lincoln MIG PAK 151 Oxy-Acet
Reply:I'm going to buy some brazing rod and try this thing for brazing.I know it won't be anythinglike brazing with an o/a flame.Here Bert are (I hope) some pictures of it without the cables.I'm trying to find some lugs to connect smaller cables to it.I had #4 cables and they made it difficult to use.I put pipe a plug in one end of the tee,drilled and tapped it for the thumbscrew.I drilled through the nipple and out the back of the tee to fit the electrode.A 6" pipe was tapped to fit the threaded rod that goes through the handles. Attached ImagesMiller a/c-d/c Thunderbolt XLMillermatic 180 Purox O/ASmith Littletorch O/AHobart Champion Elite
Reply:Jpump5 - That's ingenious!Nice job.I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the carbon's soft flame and brazing capability.Good Luck
Reply:Wow that's cool. I was thinking air-arc when you said brazing with a carbon arc and thought, oh yeah, that's going to be a big mess... haha.MM350P/Python/Q300MM175/Q300DialarcHFHTP MIG200PowCon300SMHypertherm380ThermalArc185Purox oaF350CrewCab4x4LoadNGo utilitybedBobcat250XMT304/Optima/SpoolmaticSuitcase12RC/Q300Suitcase8RC/Q400Passport/Q300Smith op
Reply:awesomelincoln weld pak 100 hdlincoln ranger 225gxt ac/dcoxy/acetylenepuroxcw202 victor fc100harris model 85harrismodel 16oxweld w24roxweld w17
Reply:Have to add my 2 bits worth Carbon arc has been around a long time. It's very hot,quick heat but not as precise as oxy brazing. The pics show incorrect carbons. Brazing carbons are shorter and last a reasonable time at low amps. I have a Forney torch which is easy to control and maintain the arc. Look up previous post for pics. Fred
Reply:Fred ,Thanks for the 2 bits-I asked the guy at the welding supply store for "carbon arc torch electrodes" he said he had never heard of such a thing.He did show me air arc gouging elctrodes.I decided to try them. They do wear("erode"?)noticably,but not so much as to make it impractical.I think the gouging electrodes are meant to be used with d.c.-straight .Brazing and heating is best done with a-c(I think)I've been using a-c 105 amps. It heats a 1 x 1/4 bar for bending in seconds.I found this pretty impressive, Would like to try brazing carbons.What diametersare common? Are they hard to find? How much current?Miller a/c-d/c Thunderbolt XLMillermatic 180 Purox O/ASmith Littletorch O/AHobart Champion Elite
Reply:Carbons came from 3/16 to 1/2 inch. I have some 5/16 that work from 35 to 75 amps on an ac buzzbox. These are still supplied by Forney as I saw some at a local farm supply store recently. They come 6 in long and says brazing carbons on the box. My old part no is 35212 for a box of 12, 5/16 dia. The old Forney welding manual deals with the subject in detail. If you can't find any, let me know on here, I can get some. They are quite brittle so must be handled carefully. Fred
Reply:Thanks Fred,I'm going to look around,maybe Tractor Supply.I never did check the welding section of the local hardware store.They sell Forney products.At least now I know what I'm looking for.Miller a/c-d/c Thunderbolt XLMillermatic 180 Purox O/ASmith Littletorch O/AHobart Champion Elite
Reply:Thanks for the pics! I'd never heard of carbon arc torches for brazing before. I've done air-arc gouging. So is the pos. and neg. attached to each electrode and brought together to product an arc? And that's used to heat the base metal to braze? Love the Industrial Revolution- look of the "torch". Very cool. Is it louder than hell like air-arc gouging? Is there an advantage using it over a torch for brazing?Thanks again,Bert200amp Air Liquide MIG, Hypertherm Plasma, Harris torches, Optrel helmet, Makita angle grinders, Pre-China Delta chop saw and belt sander, Miller leathers, shop made jigs etc, North- welders backpack.
Reply:Its not really pos. and neg. because I'm using a-c but yes one cable to each electrode.The base metal can also be connected to one side for more heat.I 'll try d-c again,experimenting with polarity.It doeshave a certain cool gizmo look to it. The sound is MUCH quieter than air arc cutting .To me it'ssort of a loud sci-fi/arc welding sound.As for an advantage over o/a ,maybe-If you own a buzz box ,have no torch set and need to heat or braze something,this is a cheaper way to go.I could be wrong but it seems to heat faster than even a rosebud on a torch,but I can't imagine it would be nearly as good for brazing.( I haven't tried it yet.)With an o/a torch you have much better control of the heat and you can use the force of the flame to push the filler material around.I no longer have a torch set at home, so I've already used it to heat and bend steel.Miller a/c-d/c Thunderbolt XLMillermatic 180 Purox O/ASmith Littletorch O/AHobart Champion Elite
