Practical uses of arc torch...???

[lynnl]

Are they still available (new)? I've always been intrigued by the idea, but have never actually seen one. No more than I use my oxy/acet rig that would take up a lot less room.

I assume the carbon rods are consumed by the process, do they burn up pretty quickly?

[garyhlucas]

My dad had one before we had oxyacetylene. We used it mostly for bending steel as it gets really hot.

[nickel-city-fab]

Are they still available (new)? I've always been intrigued by the idea, but have never actually seen one. No more than I use my oxy/acet rig that would take up a lot less room.

I assume the carbon rods are consumed by the process, do they burn up pretty quickly?

I don't think they are being made new any more, but still plenty on eBay and flea markets etc. Carbon rods are the same as always at welding suppliers. They shouldn't burn up too fast, its slower than arc-air.

[RMinMN]

Are they still available (new)? I've always been intrigued by the idea, but have never actually seen one. No more than I use my oxy/acet rig that would take up a lot less room.

I assume the carbon rods are consumed by the process, do they burn up pretty quickly?

Not nearly as quickly as one might think. I bought some new ones as the ones my father had when he got the torch finally were getting pretty short. The new ones were listed as "gouging rods" and are 12" in length.

[J Tiers]

I remember repairing one of these back in 1979 in South Africa

When I was a kid, all the theaters (not cinema) and circus venues had carbon arc spotlights. They were bright as the sun, and they always had a little trickle of smoke out of a chimney above the arc.

I'm not sure when they went away, probably about the time the powercos got tired of supplying DC to the theater districts. When I first went to St Louis, they were still around, but then DC service was cut off locally. (St Louis also had 25 cycle power for some areas, Wallace Pencil Co here down Hanley Road was all 25 cycle until maybe 45 years ago when Union Electric got tired of doing that also).

[754]

I had a carbon arc lamp about 40 years ago , aluminium housing you had to move a knob, I think til electrodes almost touched to start the arc then move the gap with the knob... 110 volt , plugged in a normal outlet. Are you guys saying it must have had a DC transformer in it ?
At the time I asked people what they were used for, someone suggested operating room , as it did not cast shadows ..they said..
YEAH I think always a wisp of smoke coming off it ..

[J Tiers]

There ain't no such anymule as a DC transformer......

There ARE now some things that act like one, but they do not overlap arc lamps time-wise in history.

Arc lamps cast fine shadows.... but the traditional OR lights are designed with a wide effective light source, so that they do not. Same with the dentist's worklight.

[dian]

so a "single carbon torch" is like tig without gas? never tried that.

[Noitoen]

I remember the arc lamp we repaired was automatic. The carbon rod holders were mounted on a rack and pinion gear and there was a motor controlled by the current of the arc. This compensated for the natural wear. I think it was AC powered as DC will only wear one of the electrodes.

I remember destroying some of those 0,5mm lead pencils by heat when we used the lab power supply to make miniature versions of arc lamps

[reggie_obe]

When I was a kid, all the theaters (not cinema) and circus venues had carbon arc spotlights. They were bright as the sun, and they always had a little trickle of smoke out of a chimney above the arc.

I'm not sure when they went away, probably about the time the powercos got tired of supplying DC to the theater districts. When I first went to St Louis, they were still around, but then DC service was cut off locally. (St Louis also had 25 cycle power for some areas, Wallace Pencil Co here down Hanley Road was all 25 cycle until maybe 45 years ago when Union Electric got tired of doing that also).

Studios lots and soundstages in Cali were typically wired with both AC and DC for the convenience of being able to use an arc lamp when desired.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d7bsCiRFLE