Plasma: Why gouge?

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I have been reviewing plasma systems, but I am confused..... what is the purpose of gouging something?  Someone have some examples?  I can't imagine why I would want to gouge anything.....Just seems like you are going to make a big mess.
Reply:I gouge to remove a limited amount of material without damaging surrounding parts. Here is an example:  http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=20366
Reply:It's one way of removing "miracle rod" welds that won't cut with O/A and grinding would take forever. As said usually you do this to repair a bad weld where you want to save the original pieces as much as possible.I've used it a few times to save the tooth shanks on buckets where we had to replace the cutting edge. Cut out the old welds but save the metal on the shanks..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:For full-pen welds on thick plate I'd rather do the prep work by gouging than grinding any day of the week.
Reply:Thanks everybody... makes sense to me now.  In fact, I already have a "gouging" project in mind (not that I was planning it, but it does resolve an issue for me I had been thinking about for a while).
Reply:Gouging with AR/H2 works great especially on stainless. One of the finest boilermaker (I had the pleasure to know) would back gouge a girth seam in a 10-15ft diameter stainless tank, he would do about 5-10 minutes of touch up with a sand pad not a grinding disc, and it was ready for inspection. I never saw his groove failed the pre-weld inspection. He was a very talented welder who copuld gouge with carbon arc also as weld as a great stick, mig and flux cored welder.
Reply:In addition to removing bad welds to redo, or old welds to take something apart, I've used air-carbon arc gouging for:1. Removing odd bits of metal for jobs where plasma or oxygen cutting isn't appropriate.2. if you hold the rod at a 90 degree angle, you can make really fast and quick bolt holes.3. I've used it to cut non-ferrous metals when plasma is not available.  Depending on thickness you may have to make several passes, and you gotta leave a bit of material to grind down so you have an accurate cut, but it works if you need it.3. While working on railcars, I've had to remove steel jacketing material from a car, that was insulated with a foam that burns like mad.  In that case, instead of using an oxygen torch we would run nitrogen instead of air through the gouging torch.  That would remove the metal easily and quickly without burning up the foam because of the inert gas.  It was still nasty to be around, and I wore a respirator while doing that.4. Shocking the hell out of myself with 400 amps on a very hot, sweaty day! A little history lesson:Air-carbon arc cutting and gouging was invented during WWII when while building a warship, a very long stainless steel weld was done incorrectly and had to be removed.  The labor costs of grinding and chipping were cost prohibitive, not to mention the time it would have set the job back.  At the time, they didn't have gouging torches, so the operator held a carbon electrode in a stinger, and an assistant followed the arc with a compressed air nozzle.  The gentleman who came up with the idea invented the first air-carbon arc torch, patented it, and started the "Arcair" company that Thermadyne now owns.Last edited by moya034; 02-23-2010 at 07:52 PM.Lincoln Idealarc 250Lincoln Weldanpower CC/CV engine driveLincoln LN-25 wire feederMiller Syncrowave 180 SDVarious oxy-fuel setups featuring Victor, Harris, and Prest-o-lite products