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Hi Jim, The carbon arc process uses a piece of copper clad carbon rod in a electrode holder using DCEN or straight polarity. The CU clad carbon electrode is prepareed buy pealing away about 3/4" of the copper jacket then you shapren the carbon on a bench grinder to a fine point then snap off the point "tip" of the carbon then the electrode is "stuck" on top of the filler rod then as the carbon just turns a dull red it's slightly lifted off the filler rod and the weld process begins. Another good use of carbon arc is to soften case harden steel for drilling holes. The carbon is again stuck on the place to be drilled and after the correct heat soak time, the machine (6v battery) is disconnected from the carbon "then" the carbon electrode is removed. The hole then can be drilled very easy with any common HS drill bit as the base metal has become soft. Here's a tip I used for making great looking welds. Clean the CU back about 3/4", sharpen the carbon to a fine point from the CU to the end, then snap off the point with your thumb, just the tit(y), then lay your filler rod where you want the weld then stick the carbon on top of the rod, then wait until the carbon turns red, then lift the carbon slightly until the filler rod starts to flow. Let the puddle flow to the width wanted, then move forward. The key to a even puddle look is to keep the carbon the same distance above the filler rod. It won't make a perfect straight edge weld but close as the toe of the weld will be alittle wobbled. As Buck stated, watch your duty cycle as it takes alot of dead short amps to start the weld process and it can ruin 20% duty cycle machine easy. T_Bone
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