PM 45 Gouging Tips

[truebluelew]

I've owned my PM 45 for a little less than a year now, and have used it for cutting all that time. I do trailer repair and have built several trailers over the past 10 years. I had always used oxy/acetylene to cut out welds, or for example, to cleanly remove a welded-in tongue jack. My PM came with a gouging tip set-up, but until the other day, I never had tried it.
I'm here to tell you that I will never use oxl/acetylene again for blowing out welds. I was extremely impressed with the way the gouging tips melt away a smooth path a whole lot faster and cleaner. I could kick myself for waiting this long to start using the gouging tips. I just had to share my positive experience with a great Hypertherm product. Thanks for the great ideas and info everyone here provides too. :)

[jimcolt]

Wait till someone reports on the 65 and 85 gouging nozzles! I use my 85 on my cnc machine most of the time.....but I had to dismantle a damaged piece of agricultural equipment last weekend made from 3/8" steel ....had to remove a few welds with minimal damage to the base material. Plugged in the hand torch with the gouging nozzle and shield installed....and literally in less than a minute I had about 60 inches of weld removed......would have taken an hour with a grinder. Very nice!

Jim

[Mattamd_xp]

I opted for the 45 over the 30 just because of the gouging capability. I've been extremely impressed with it. I mostly have cut stock brackets off Jeep frames that I customize. Used to take hours with a cutoff wheel or torch and then clean up with a grinder. Now it takes minutes and minimal cleanup to have a bare frame ready for custom brackets. Love my Hypertherm!

[zidaro]

OK, so i have a new PM45, love it for cutting tabs and whatnot, but are there any tricks for gouging? About to cut into IFS suspension removal and would love to have a simple process or a trick or two

[gordon stephenson]

I'm of the same mind as the previous poster, I have never done any gouging with my new powermax 45 or any other plasma cutter, would love to be pointed in the right direction by some of our more experienced members, Any hints and tips along with do's and don'ts would be very welcome and hopefully help with the learning curve,
Best regards Gordon.

[jimcolt]

Here is a link to a gouging video.....from the www.hypertherm.com site. It is easy, requires a small amount of practice...and is very effective. Get the gouging consumables and have at it!

Link: http://www.hypertherm.com/en/Training_and_Education/Videos/

Tke this link...then look at the videos...you will see at least one that is for gouging.

Jim Colt Hypertherm

[gordon stephenson]

Thanks Jim, as usual, you are a star, Already have the gouging tip/nozzle etc, supplied by vendor when I bought the machine, I always used to think wood workers had it easy because of the speed they could cut their material, NOT ANY MORE.The powermax 45 makes cutting a pleasure with speed and accuracy I never thought possible with metal,

[Mattamd_xp]

Really doesn't take much practice to get pretty good at gouging out welds. I've only done it a dozen times or so and am already at the point I barely need to clean up the base metal with a flap disc. Probably more the machine than operator, but still awesome!

[truebluelew]

I'm no expert yet with the gouging tips. It will take some practice to improve. All I know is that it's a lot easier and not as messy and much cheaper to use my PM45 gouging than it ever was with oxy/acetylene when blowing out welds removing stuff. It's almost like having a metal melting wand in your hand... or something like that...

[jmtebbens]

I have a gouging tip for my new PM65 and will be trying it out on Monday. I have about 200' of 2 1/2 x 1/4 angle to remove.

Jim,

How many consumable parts do you recommend I have on hand for this?

[jimcolt]

Assuming your air is clean and dry....no more than 2 nozzles and maybe 2 electrodes should do the job.

Jim Colt

[brock20]

Are gouging tips available for the PM 30 and PM 600?

Thanks,

Brock

[jimcolt]

There are gouging consumables for the 600, but not for the 30. Our process engineers consider 30 amps as not quite enough power for productive gouging....although I have gouged out some welds with my 30 using the standard cutting consumables. Gouging nozzles are designed to produce a softer, fatter arc.....with less velocity. This is so they can melt and blow away surface material such as welds....without cutting through the material. To gouge productively...the plasma power supply has to be able to produce relatively high voltage at its rated output current as well.....this allows for a rather long gouging arc, which makes it easier for the operator to control the depth and position of the gouge. The Powermax 30, designed to be small and to operate on 120 volt input power....just cannot produce the Killowatt output to do this efficiently.

If you ever have questions about consumable parts used on a Hypertherm system....even systems that we don't produce any more.....go to the website ( www,hypertherm.com ) and choose products, then consumables, then consumables by system....for older products then choose "discontinued systems".

Here is a link that will show consumables available for the Powermax600: http://www.hypertherm.com/en/Products/Consumables/Hypertherm_Plasma_Consumables/Torch_and_Consumable_parts_list.jsp

Jim Colt



Are gouging tips available for the PM 30 and PM 600?

Thanks,

Brock

[killdozerd11]

While i don't have an HT plasma cutter i have been plasma gouging for a while and it is the only way to fly

No more carbon arc.. No more O/A Gouging for me