[Strictly Gravy]

Hey all, I have the opportunity to pick up a Miller Thunderbolt 225 for a pretty good price and I am wondering what you guys think or if anyone owns/uses one. I am trying to get back into welding more and I think this would be a good machine to get the ball rolling with. I know it can stick weld and I have read that I can use it to cut steel. I am not looking for a do it all machine for the price I am getting it at, but is there anything else I need to be aware of? Thanks.

-Greg

[troy norrad]

Hi Greg Ya l have a Miller Thunderbolt,its a good machine, l like it and ya you can turn her up and it will cut metal, and you can buy the rods to cut with,but either way you'll make a mess cutting, but most 225 welders will cut with high heat, its easy to fix which will help in the long run! TROY

[NEW INTERIORS]

Do you mean you can use it for Arc Gouging?

Are do you mean you can turn it up and just melt the steel?

[troy norrad]

l know that l have used it in the the way, like a torch to burn round holes in pipe

[NEW INTERIORS]

Yes you can turn up a stick machine in melt a hole,But there are better way's of making a hole.But I guess sometime's it will get you out of a bind.

[troy norrad]

Yes your right but the post said that he had heard that you can cut metal, and so l said yes because l have, but it sound like this person is just starting out, so it is possible that the resources aren't there to buy torches, now this is not what l'm saying to cut metal with, l'm just saying that it is possible TROY

[oldred]

It would not make much difference what welder is used as long as it will turn up high enough but there are rods made just for cutting. These things are called "chamfering" rods and they look about the same as any other welding rod but work some what differently. They have a special flux that creates a lot of gas that is directed forward and tends to blow the molten metal away from the direction the rod is pointed. IMO these things are mostly worthless and make an extremely ragged cut, good only for quickly lopping off re-bar, blowing holes through thin plate or some other crude task where precision and appearance is of no concern. Don't know where they get the name "chamfering" rod I can not imagine using them for that purpose.

[NEW INTERIORS]

Oldred isn't that the same rod that is used for Arc Gouging? With air pressure? (carbon Gouging rods):

[oldred]

Originally Posted by NEW INTERIORS

Oldred isn't that the same rod that is used for Arc Gouging? With air pressure? (carbon Gouging rods):

No, These things are a metal rod (not sure if they are steel or some combo of other metals but they look like steel) with a flux coating just like any other welding rod. This flux produces a huge amount of gas and fume that is directed forward in the direction the rod is angled. Because the arc will burn up inside the flux a short distance the flux will form a kind of a tube that will make the gas produced act like a stream of low pressure air, sort of anyway. Now if you are thinking "I don't think that would work very well" then if you try them I think you will probably still think the same thing! It is not surprising that they are not very popular because IMO trying to use the darn things for much of anything is an exercise in futility.



www.esabna.com/EUWeb/AS_handbook/596as10_2.htm


This what they are talking about when they claim their welder can be used to cut metal, the things have been around for years and made by quite a few well known brands. Make them sound quite handy at that web site don't they? Maybe someone else has found a use for the darn things, I haven't!

[NEW INTERIORS]

Down here I have used alot of the carbon rods for Arc Gouging? This is the first time I every heard of that.LOL I guess you learn something everyday.Maybe I have heard of it but don't remember.

[oldred]

Basically they are meant for the same purpose the carbon arc gouge (Air Arc) is used for but the arc gouge works infinitely better in all respects, don't waste your time and money on trying those rods because you will almost certainly be disappointed! If someone here needs a method for light gouging I suppose they might work ok for removing spring hangers, etc especially through heavy rust/dirt and may be worth a try if arc gouging equipment or a torch with a gouging tip is not available. Personally I have little use for the arc gouge except for stainless steel or other metal that does not cut well with a torch because a torch with the proper size gouging tip is far better for use on steel. For auto work a good torch and one of the smaller gouging tips is just the trick for removing welds on frames, mounts, etc and properly done can remove the weld completely without removing any of the parent metal and with no carbon contamination like that which would be left by the the carbon arc rod. If a carbon arc gouge is used on a frame or maybe spring hangers then the area that comes in contact with that carbon rod must be ground clean and any trace of the scale removed because the thin layer of carbon contaminated metal can really cause problems with any welding that is done afterward. This really becomes important when doing a single pass weld which would be common on most anything related to welding on a car because that one pass would dilute the carbon very little causing a hard brittle weld from too much carbon.

[troy norrad]

Now l know that you can get the cutting rods here in Canada at Air Liquide they are made by Blue Sheild here in Canada, we always kept afew along for that just incase thing, the only difference that l see between them an just turning up a welder is that the slag just knocks off with the cutting rod, and the price is much higher, they come in small packages(10 l think) TROY

[NEW INTERIORS]

I have never used a arc gouge on a car, just the shipyards where I had to weld.Had to back gouge all butts,to get 100% weld.(x-ray) I use my little Friend called Victor on the cars.LOL

[oldred]

Originally Posted by NEW INTERIORS

Victor.LOL

Victor is a welder's (weldor? ) best friend! I use the big 'ole Victor 1600 one piece (the famous "junk yard" torch) for gouging because the Oxygen cutting lever on them is so much easier to control than on the two piece convertibles. A no. 2 gouging tip would be about right for use on auto work or anywhere up to about 1/4" and with some practice it amazing just how clean these things will remove a weld. On heavier metal I used no.10 and 12 gouging tips to grove and bevel steel many inches thick and it would cut much cleaner and faster than the air arc unless the air arc was used with 5/8" or larger rods and 800 AMPS or more, then the air arc would become faster but the torch was still cleaner. While that kind of industrial type cutting is of no concern here the fact is the torch was used instead of the air arc even to replace the larger and somewhat faster gouging rods to eliminate the carbon problem and that does apply here. It is very conceivable that carbon arc gouging could be used on car frames and such, probably is quite often, and since some of these welds can be quite critical I felt that the warning about the carbon contamination was relevant.

[NEW INTERIORS]