Kevin has been playing with the Everlast PowerPlasma 62i plasma cutter. One thing it has is a gouge function. Now that he has some consumables for it, he’s ready to give it a try.
First he removes the regular plasma cutting consumables. He removes the cap, the nozzle – which looks pretty used – and the electrode, showing the big crater in the end of the old nozzle that formed just from using it. He then shows the new nozzle to show the difference.
Kevin installs the new electrode and nozzle. He takes a moment to show the difference between a regular plasma cutting cap and a shielded cap for gouging. He then shows the little cuts in the end of the nozzle on the cap that help direct and disperse the sparks.
Then Kevin shows how to set up the machine. He shows the toggle selector where you choose from auto restart, tip saver or gouging, and how to make sure it’s set on gouging. Next he shows the amperage selector knob – he has it set at 20 amps, which is as low as the machine will go.
Now he’s ready to gouge!
Kevin has a piece of 308 stainless steel that has been practiced on. It has a weld he’s going to gouge.
BTW, the idea behind gouging is to remove metal but not necessarily blow all the way through it. You’re just removing some material off the top of the base metal.
Kevin puts on his safety equipment and fires up the plasma cutter.
After he gouges half of the weld, Kevin shows the result. He didn’t quite penetrate the base metal itself but instead removed the bead on top of it. Next he turns the Everlast PowerPlasma 62i up to 30 amps and gouges the other side of the weld.
Kevin shows the results. You can definitely see the 30 amp gouge is a bit deeper where he angled a little rather than gouging across the top, which caused him to dig in a bit.
Kevin gives a big thanks to George over at George’s Plasma Cutting Shop who sent the consumables for the plasma cutter’s IPT 60 torch.
So if you have a plasma cutter that you can gouge with but you’ve never tried it, Kevin hopes this free how-to video gives you a little little kick to try it. Make sure you have the right consumables, get your machine set up correctly, wear your safety gear, and what the heck! It’s better than using a grinder.
Before you go, see Kevin get thrown a curve – and toss it right back as he remembers his manners ….