By Mat
Date 06-07-2010 04:58
Edited 06-07-2010 05:07
I always "loved" gouging with 5/8" rods at 800 amps (with the good ol' reliable SA 800.) You would start the machine up and step back 10 feet, because when they start up, they would sound like they are going to implode our planet! As I recall, the gouging rod would barely fit into the holder. Good times...to bad the vessel shop is deader than dead!
I've never actually thought about gouging amperages. With the current outfit I'm working for, we use at most 3/8" gouging rods. In the shop, 350 does the job, but in the field (because I love making the cables jump!) They work like a hot damn at 550 or so (welders in the sawmill off a landline)
I used to hate gouging, but the more you do it, the easier it gets. The biggest lesson for me to learn was in which direction to keep the air facing (which would be behind the direction in which you're gouging!)
If you're gouging crap off of good material, find the line, gouge into the crap and the gouger will become your b*tch!
Besides, the better you get with a gouger, the less you'll need to run a grinder!