MEM05 Metal and Engineering

Training Package

MEM05008C

M
PL

Perform advanced manual

thermal cutting, gouging and
shaping

Learner guide

SA

Version 1

Training and Education Support

Industry Skills Unit
Meadowbank

Product Code: 5207

MEM05008C Peform advanced manual thermal cutting, gouging and shaping

Acknowledgments

The TAFE NSW Training and Education Support Industry Skills Unit, Meadowbank
would like to acknowledge the support and assistance of the following people in the
production of this learner resource guide:
Air Liquide
BOC
Lincoln Electric Company
Linde gas

Writer:

Ed Harkness

Reviewers:

Stephen Davies
Education Programs Manager
TAFE NSW

Enquiries

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Project Manager:

John Anderson (Hunter Institute)

John Myers (North Coast Institute)
Neil Smith (Illawara Institute)
Ted Armstrong (Western Sydney Institute)
Vince Aranda (South Western Sydney Institute)

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Enquiries about this and other publications can be made to:

Training and Education Support Industry Skills Unit, Meadowbank

Meadowbank TAFE
Level 3, Building J,
See Street,
MEADOWBANK NSW 2114
Tel: 02-9942 3200

Fax: 02-9942 3257

The State of New South Wales, Department of Education and Training,

TAFE NSW, Training and Education Support Industry Skills Unit,
Meadowbank, 2010.
Copyright of this material is reserved to TAFE NSW Training and Education
Support Industry Skills Unit, Meadowbank. Reproduction or transmittal in whole
or in part, other than for the purposes of private study or research, and subject to
the provisions of the Copyright Act, is prohibited without the written authority of,
TAFE NSW Training and Education Support Industry Skills Unit, Meadowbank

ISBN 978-1-74236-203-8

Developed by Training & Education Support Industry Skills Unit, Meadowbank

TAFE NSW 2010

MEM05008C Peform advanced manual thermal cutting, gouging and shaping

Table of Contents
Introduction ................................................................................... 7
1. General introduction ............................................................................. 7
2. Using this learner guide ......................................................................... 7
3. Prior knowledge and experience ............................................................. 9
4. Unit of competency overview ................................................................. 9
5. Assessment ....................................................................................... 12

Topic 1: Oxy-fuel gas cutting ........................................................ 21

Equipment ............................................................................................ 22

Care of equipment.................................................................................. 31
Personal safety ...................................................................................... 32

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Manual flame cutting techniques and accessories........................................ 35

Cutting faults and corrective measures ...................................................... 41
Review questions ................................................................................... 44

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Topic 2: Flame gouging ................................................................ 49

Care of equipment.................................................................................. 51
Operating techniques .............................................................................. 52
Review questions ................................................................................... 55

Topic 3: Plasma arc cutting and gouging ...................................... 57

Basic plasma arc cutting equipment .......................................................... 59
Review questions ................................................................................... 67

Topic 4: Carbon arc gouging ......................................................... 71

Principles and applications ....................................................................... 71
Equipment and accessories ...................................................................... 71
Operating techniques .............................................................................. 73
Carbon arc safety ................................................................................... 74
Review questions ................................................................................... 79

Practical exercises ....................................................................... 81

JOB 1 - Flame cutting using cutting guides - circles and holes ...................... 85

Developed by Training & Education Support Industry Skills Unit, Meadowbank

TAFE NSW 2010

MEM05008C Perform advanced manual thermal cutting, gouging and shaping

JOB 2 - Flame cutting using cutting guides - slots ....................................... 87

JOB 3 - Flame bevelling plate and equal angle sections................................ 89
JOB 4 - Flame cut and bevel shapes using cutting guides ............................. 91
JOB 5 - Flame cut and bevel channel sections ............................................ 93
JOB 6 - Flame cut thick plate ................................................................... 95
JOB 7 - Flame gouge fillet welds ............................................................... 97
JOB 8 - Flame gouge butt welds ............................................................... 99
JOB 9 - Flame gouge butt weld preparations .............................................101
JOB 10 - Plasma arc cut stainless steel and aluminium sheet.......................103
JOB 11 - Plasma arc bevel steel and aluminium plate .................................105

JOB 12 - Plasma arc cut non-ferrous metal shapes.....................................107

JOB 13 - Plasma gouge fillet welds ..........................................................109

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JOB 14 - Carbon arc gouge fillet welds .....................................................111

JOB 15 - Carbon arc gouge butt welds .....................................................113
JOB 16 - Carbon arc gouge weld preparations ...........................................115

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Resource Evaluation Form .......................................................... 117

Developed by Training & Education Support Industry Skills Unit, Meadowbank

TAFE NSW 2010

MEM05008C Perform advanced manual thermal cutting, gouging and shaping

Topic 1: Oxy-fuel gas cutting

Principles and applications
Flame cutting, or oxy-fuel gas cutting as it is sometimes termed, is the most widely
used thermal cutting process in metal fabrication industries for cutting steel sections
to size and shape. The operational principles of flame cutting were described in
MEM05007C Perform manual heating and thermal cutting and stated that the
process is reliant upon a chemical reaction taking place between heated iron and
oxygen to form iron oxide; the iron oxide formed is then melted by the heat of the
reaction and blown away by the oxygen jet.
The flame cutting process uses a carefully controlled high-velocity oxygen stream
to sever heated steel sections (cutting); or as in flame gouging, large volumes of
oxygen at low velocity to remove defective welds or unwanted material.

Cutting means the oxygen cutting jet is used on the part at 90 to produce a
straight cut. Whereas for bevelling, the cutting jet is used at an angle other than
90 to produce a chamfered or slanted face on the edge of the part. This is done to
create a groove for a weld preparation or to remove a defective weld.

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Parts for a steel structure can be cut from plates, structural sections and pipes
depending on the type of work required.
Manual cutting is done where; a small number of parts are required; when the
accuracy of the cut part does not have to meet restrictive tolerances or when
flame cutting is performed on site

Skilled operators can manually cut parts to a high level of accuracy, by freehand
or guided cutting, if strict flame cutting skills are learned and attention is paid to
detail

when the accuracy of the cut point does not have to meet restrictive tolerance

Where flame cutting is performed on site.

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Cutting steel plate manually

Page 21 of 120

MEM05008C Perform advanced manual thermal cutting, gouging and shaping

Fuel gases
It is common practice to use either acetylene or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP
Gas) as the fuel gas.
Oxygen is the supporting gas, and as well as increasing the flame temperature it
provides the cutting stream necessary to rapidly oxidise the surface of the heated
metal.
Natural gas can be easily used in existing equipment designed for LPG and some
industries will use high pressure natural gas piped from a reticulated supply.
However, for the purposes of manual thermal cutting, gouging and shaping in
workshops and construction sites, acetylene or LPG are the fuel gases most used.
When fuel gas is burned with commercially pure oxygen, flame temperatures
measure:

Oxy-acetylene 3100C
Oxy-LP Gas
2700C

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Equipment

Most manual flame cutting performed in metal fabrication industries use a compact,
portable plant such as the one shown below. In general, a portable oxy-cutting plant
will consist of:
a pair of cylinders secured in a trolley;

gas regulators attached to the neck of

cylinders;

flashback arrestors

hoses and blowpipe

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The complete plant is easily moved around

the workshop or site location as required, and
importantly the cylinders are secured safely.
Flashback arrestors are an essential piece
of safety equipment that must be used on
all (fixed and portable) oxy-fuel gas cutting
plants.

A portable oxyacetylene set

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MEM05008C Perform advanced manual thermal cutting, gouging and shaping

Cutting and gouging torches

A selection of cutting and gouging torches are commonly available for fuel gas
cutting and gouging applications.

For general workshop and construction site operations, the cutting torch assembly
pictured below, is the most commonly used. It consist of a flame cutting attachment
with a cutting nozzle which is connected to the blowpipe handle. This light duty
torch is quite safe for use where large quantities of parts are not being cut.
Intermittent cutting allows the blowpipe to cool down and not ignite the gases.

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Cutting torch assembly

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As illustrated below, these torches mix flame gases in the handpiece inside a mixing
chamber and take the mixed gases to the torch head and nozzle.

Heavy-duty torches used for continuous flame cutting are designed to mix the fuel
gas and flame oxygen in the torch head. By mixing the flame gases very close to
the nozzle, the mixture has very little time to overheat and catch fire inside the
blowpipe. This makes continuous flame cutting and gouging operations safer for the
operator.

Heavy duty flame cutting torch

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MEM05008C Perform advanced manual thermal cutting, gouging and shaping

Cutting nozzles
A number of manufacturers supply flame
cutting equipment, which includes a range of
cutting nozzles for different metal thicknesses.
The most common nozzle used in todays steel
construction industry is the "taper seat" type,
pictured opposite. The name "taper seat"
refers to the method of sealing the nozzle to
the blowpipe, creating a simple but effective
method of attaching the cutting nozzle to the
blowpipe.

Taper seat nozzle

An industry-wide designation for nozzle sizes is the numerical system which

specifies the cutting jet size in tenths of a millimetre. For instance, Number 15
cutting nozzle has a cutting orifice 1.5 mm in diameter; likewise a Number 8
cutting nozzle has a cutting orifice of 0.8 mm.

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Although this system is not universally used, it has become commonly acceptable
amongst people working in metal fabrication industries.
Cutting nozzles are made differently to accommodate the type of fuel gas used.
Nozzles are numerically stamped with a number to designate the fuel gas used.
They are not interchangeable and the correct nozzle must be fitted to the cutting
torch for the type of fuel used. For example:
Taper seat nozzles for use with acetylene fuel gas are stamped TYPE 41

Taper seat nozzles constructed for use with LPG are stamped TYPE 44

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Cutting nozzles should be carefully stored to avoid taper seats being damaged by
other tools.

Acetylene nozzles

Acetylene nozzles can be made from either brass or copper and are machined from
a solid piece of material. Brass nozzles are normally used for low volume manual
cutting; whereas copper nozzles are used for
high production applications. Copper nozzles
normally don't require cleaning as frequently as
the brass type.
These nozzles have a number of holes (preheat
ports) to allow the preheat flame to surround
the central cutting orifice or jet. Small nozzles
may have only five pre-heat holes, whereas
larger nozzles have six holes.

Page 24 of 120

Acetylene nozzle (Type 41)