ReplyThere's a lost art. I just cut and heat with my Victor journeyman. I think acetylene is kinda pricey for welding. I saw an acetylene generator for sale locally and would like to investigate.
WeldingWeb Craftsman
Glad to hear it!!Originally Posted by David R
If I ever get a new boss, I am going to ask for a separate forum for 0xy fuel.
This is good stuff, yet we have many oxy fuel threads below this one.
David
WeldingWeb Journeyman
There's a lost art. I just cut and heat with my Victor journeyman. I think acetylene is kinda pricey for welding. I saw an acetylene generator for sale locally and would like to investigate.
WeldingWeb Craftsman
Not lost, just not mainstream. Good luck on the generator, and finding a source of calcium carbide. I use propane for heating and brazing, and acetylene for welding to save on the expensive fuels
WeldingWeb Journeyman
Hey Makoman. Does propane make a clean cut? and will it work with my torch and rosebud heater? I've seen scrappers use propane and LOX but it looked like more like a rough lop then a clean cut. maybe they just didn't care. Also, will my regulator work with propane? I'm all about cheap. I even tried CO2 on steel but didn't like the results. Too much splatter and too much penetration. Very unstable arc no matter what the settings or wire speed.:
WeldingWeb Craftsman
gosh we really need a separate forum.
I'm making a utility cart from 1"x1" square tubing 16 gauge/ .060inch thick and having a heck of a time making fillet joints. once i heat up both the horizontal and vertical, right at the joint, it seems the puddle is either on vertical piece or on the horizontal piece. the more i heat them up, the further apart they become. but if i dip the rod (.060 rod or 1/16) i end up with too big of a blob and can't make that nice reverse "C" shape puddle that suppose to happen on fillet joints.... arrgg. i'm pretty frustrated.
i want to do at least ONE project all done with oxy/acet, i hate to cheat and use mig (its ok, mig people don't read this tread.... hehe, just kidding).
any pointers will be highly appreciated. if you're local, i'll owe you a beer, or 6.
WeldingWeb Journeyman
Try a smaller tip and put the heat on the through piece and draw the puddle over to the butt end. this will minimize the butt end from scarfing. Also lay the butt end flat and the through piece vertical and take advantage of gravity to form your puddle. I used to gas weld a lot but until I ran into this thread I had forgotten. Still, you can take my MIG gun when you pry it out of my cold dead stiff gloves. I use the MM 212 any time there's no breeze or I'm indoors. Have fun with it bro.and put up some pics of the cart.
WeldingWeb Craftsman
When you say they are "moving appart" when heated, are you saying they are forming a puddle and melting back, or warping back? If its forming a puddle and pulling back, thats what you want. Tee joints are the hardest, practice on butt welds until you can control the puddle and then work on the Tee. On the butt weld the metal will actually "ball up" on both parts and your gap gets bigger, this is where the filler goes. Once you get moving its less of a "melt and fill" and becomes a constant movement. Dont be affrad of making holes when you practice. 90% of the problems weldors have with OA is not getting penetration. You should end up with a bead on BOTH sides of a butt weld in that thickness material, and on a TEE as well. Oh and you are starting with about a 1/16" gap right?? If not, start!
WeldingWeb Craftsman
I get butt welds. I'm not tooting my own horn or anything.. my butt welds aren't pretty but they're pretty strong.
tee's are just a completely different animal.
WeldingWeb Craftsman
Yes, yes they are.
Use a gap between the parts, direct the flame to go between them at a 45 degree angle, the edge of the part you are welding should melt and pull back as you add filler. Also remember Tee joints require a tip size typically 2 sizes larger then butt welding. If your using a small tip your not helping yourself. Also using a larger tip gets you further away from the metal in a tee joint and out of the reflected heat to avoid the dreaded "pop".
WeldingWeb Craftsman
A-HA!!! LARGER TIP!!!!
I just spent 4 hours making two revtangles, not include cutting. welded everything except the inner T joints. will try using a larger tip tomorrow
WeldingWeb Craftsman
makoman, I owe a case of beer!!
using larger tip & staying further away helped A LOT!!!! I'm so jazzed. i'll post the pics when I can.
WeldingWeb Craftsman
Glad it worked for ya! Its all in those simple forgotten details.
Solderer
Hi I got a few questions about oxweld torches. I inherited a few and I'm trying to find out a little history. Its an oxweld C-57-R. I would like to know anything anyone knows about them. Thanks Brian
WeldingWeb Craftsman
Brian,
Post WW2 cutting torch. What are the others you have?
http://12.6.24.36/literature/Archive...TING_TORCH.pdf
-Aaron
WeldingWeb Apprentice
So I've been wanting to enter the oxy/fuel world and have been watching ebay.... I ended up buying this large LOT of stuff I don't really know what to do with! I also (in another auction) scored a GREAT deal on another Harris torch and two NEW regulators along with some other stuff. The lot in the picture has some the Harris model 85 torch handle, an Airco 980 torch handle, two more Harris cutting heads, a couple tips, and then about 20 welding tips that are Smith, Purox, and Harris. I want to get rid of some of the welding tips I think.... should I sell them individually or as lots of the same brand? There are 10 Harris branded tips that look like various styles... how can I know what torch would be needed for the different types of tips? Then there are 3 Smith tips and 4 Purox. Does it make sense to keep it all and hopefully get torches to fit the various tips?
Here is a pic of all the parts:
Thanks Welding Gurus!
WeldingWeb Apprentice
You guys have really done it now.....I've got a bunch of old torches, tips, etc. that I've collected through the years and was wondering what I should do with them. Never dreamed they were worth or able to be put back in service. If you've got it in you to do some mentoring, I'll start going through my stash. I use the Harris set I got as a HS graduation gift ('72), not even sure what model it is, but I've taken good care of it and everything works well.
Solderer
I've only tried welding with my O/A once or twice but I braze a lot as a refrigeration tech. I made a time lapse video of replacing a solenoid valve.
WeldingWeb Apprentice
Picked the rest of my O/A set up parts last night! bartered with a friend and actually got a COMPLETE outfit with a cart, two meduim size tanks, a brand new hose set, a Purox torch with two cutting heads and about 7 welding tips, and a set of older Craftsman regulators. Once I can get the bottles filled I'll be ready to go! I also have a set of BRAND NEW Harris regulators and a Harris model 5 torch with cutting attachment and several welding tips. Other then only having two tanks, I have enough for two complete set-ups!
I'm really excited to get started! I only ever cut with O/A about 10 years ago when i went to school for welding. I haven't used a cutting torch since, and I've never tried welding with one. Should be interesting! I have done TIG though... so hopefully I can get the hang of it easy enough.
WeldingWeb Journeyman
I agree with Craig, Makoman's photo belongs ina museum. Beautiful work restoring those!
Millermatic 252
"Don't worry, he's got a welder, he can fix anything"
WeldingWeb Craftsman
Thanks Sparky!
My hope is to somehow preserve the engineering and technical nature of torch design, and maybe future generations will appreciate the fact that its not as simple as the modern textbooks would make it seem. I wish some of the modern torch companies would as well! And yes they are all working, and get used!
-Aaron
Solderer
Hey all...
I'm really new to the whole Oxy-Fuel thing but I've done a lot of reading. I'm going to go out and get one in a couple of weeks but I have no idea what to start with.
I want to use it to get some basic welding knowledge/technique down and if I can get good with it I would like to do some body work on my cars. I've so far read in this thread that Smith and Harris are the only manufaturers that still have torch engineers left so I would like to buy from one of these two companies. My budget is about $250 before tanks but of course if I don't need to spend that much I would like to not.
I've been searching the web quite a bit and I seem to keep finding kits that vary greatly in price but seem exactly the same, is this just the retailer or is there something really different. For example I've found a Harris Steelworker 510 Deluxe kit on ebay for 185 shipped and it's not a Harris "type" either. Then I find what apears to be the same kit on other web sites for 5-600 dollars... What gives?
I guess my question is what is a good welding/cutting/brazing kit for a starting point for a noob like me-self?
Also imho this is a huge topic that deserves its own child forum, I love what I've been able to learn so far but I wish it was expanded and more organized.
Whew...That was a lot to say for a first post, I look forward to learning much more from the many experienced people on this forum. Thanks
WeldingWeb Craftsman
Well the fact you want to do body work narrows it down quite a bit, and thats a good thing!
You have picked probably the 2 best companies, so here is what I would get to start:
If using Smith-
Aw1-A handle
AW-201 tip
AW-203 tip
AW-205 tip
Smith Medium duty regulators
3/16 hose 12.5 foot A fitting on one end, B on the other
If using Harris-
Model 15 handle
#0 tip
#1 tip
#2 tip
#3 tip
Harris regulators
Same hose as above
Both of these torches fall into the "aircraft style" category, meaning A size (small) fittings on the torch, and knobs that are forward, and not on the base of the handle. These are lighter and easier to manipulate when doing thin work, heavy torches get real annoying real quick, and can cause a lot of grief. Now of course you dont have to match regulator and torch brands, just be sure the regulators have the right connections for your particular cylinders.
Solderer
That makes it sooo much easier thanks Makoman! I will certainly let you all know when and what I get.
WeldingWeb Craftsman
I’ve been getting spam and pop-ups lately. I thought it was due to upgrading to Firefox 3.5. from 3.0.11. I backed off the 3.5 update without any change in the pop-ups. Now I see that this only happens when I have Welding.com displayed. I don’t have to be logged in, the home page is enough. The pup-ups are every 5-10 minutes, all the blockers are set. I have scanned other sites and only Welding.com shows any security issues from a link called feedsburner.com with attacks from Adware-coopen and swizzor Trojan, the total number detected is 1715.
Now I can’t post or reply, the post and reply tabs are gone, the rules say I can.
what’s going on?
Solderer
It seems that down here in Australia Victor and Harris equipment is rarely sold. I'm not entirely sure why but it may have something do do with our extremely stringent standards, the most common torch by far down here is the Comet 3 from Cigweld (who like Victor are owned by Thermadyne). I have been told that its design is one of the best in the world which wouldn't surprise me considering that I have seen torches that are 30 years old and have been abused every day for those 30 years.
I do have a set of Harris regulators and aside from the rust in the covers which was easily fixed they are by far the best regulator I have used. I believe the models sold here are not available in the US (most likely due to our unique strict standards).
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