How to Cut Cast Iron with 6010 Electrode

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When scrapping machinery, often times it happens that the machine that we want to take out, does not fit through any door in the room. Usually machines like this were assembled in-place, or some walls were added after they were put in. Whatever the reason, they need to be quickly dismantled if you have any hope of making money. Putzing around unscrewing every bolt, is just not economical.

Cast iron does not easily cut with a torch. The best way to cut cast iron that we found, is with 6010 electrodes. The process is as follows:

• Use 3/16 6010 Electrodes
• 300 amps DCEN (DCEN is better for cutting, as it gets the workpiece hotter).
• Wet the rods with water, including the electrode holder end, at least twice during cutting
• Use a sawing motion, blowing molten metal out of the cut
• Wear all welding safety clothes, hat etc. This is not a particularly nasty process, but the arc is strong and takes a long time, so do not skip proper clothing and do not leave any skin exposed.

Using the above technique, we cut the ribs of the machine body, and then hit the machine sides with a forklift counterweight, and everything fell apart quite easily.

Welding Rig:On the pictures below, you can see the welding rig that I put together for the purpose of taking to jobsites. The welder is welded to the cart. The toolbox is held on two studs. The cart is very heavy duty with big soft casters, it would roll around on bad floors and even on dirt. The rig can be lifted using the shackle on top. I made it so that it will be abused on jobsites with minimal disruption.

You can see the machine as it originally was, then the parts that we knocked off, then the machine bases fully stripped of everything.