Oxy/Acetylene welding kit

Great thread, a lot of good info since I am considering the same purchase as Pen. Thanks for the information.

Rick
 
Hi,
What about the Henrob/Dillon torch outfit. Are they really as good as I hear?
Thanks, Ken
 
Unless you are very good at cutting you will leave a lot of slag along the edge which is very hard to grind through when profiling your blade.Thanks to Blade Forums I finally learned how. You still would have to grind at least 1/4 inch away to get rid of the burned steel.
I use the cheap angle grinder and a thin 4 1/2 inch disk.I am going to waste a blade on my portable band saw and try that.
Take Care
TJ
 
Great thread. Now that I have the shop mostly up and running, a welding set up has been on my mind. I've been tossed up between one of those small single phase wire welders or a good old fashioned O/A set up. It sounds like for general fabrication work a wire welder might be more efficient, but a gas rig will give more overall flexability with it's cutting, general heating and brazing options.

Am I right on this?

John

PS: That little Victor set looks sweet.
 
Dan
with me, I have a contract with my supply out fit.
that runs like 3 years for about $130.00 for the bottles (the big ones)
it covers the rental for two bottles, one of each, if I should stock more bottles for back up
which I never have to.
they run $5.00 per month each. I just have to pay for the Gases..
they worry about certifying of the bottles.
and the gas last a long long time. the up side of this set up is you can cart
them anywhere you want on a O/A cart with ease..

one up side of acetylene is you'll see when you need a refill and have time to do so with your gauges.
with propane being low press, you won't have this luxury it's filled by weight
(unless you have the big big tank with a level gauge.)
and it can freeze up on you. just the pros and cons..
 
My take on this whole thing, like I told Pen, is that welding equipment is sort of like diving equipment... don't trust your health and safety to import junk. That said, I think that if you have to cut any hardened steel, the best overall way I have found (shy of a plasma) is to use a chop saw. I have a big 16" DeWalt that will blast through these D2 shear blaades I been getting. I even made a special clamp on it to hold smaller pieces.

But we do need an O/A setup in this profession also! Heating, drawing, etc... all can be done with propane, mapp, whatever, but the rig of choice IMO still has to be the O/A. If you are into fabricating your own stuff, ie benchs, bbq grills, etc, nothing beats a MIG. Ever since I got my welding certification years ago, I've had both and I could'nt live without them now.

Hey Dan K... TAKE SOME VITAMIN C, and drink lots of fluids, heehee!!!!!

<he's got a cold>

:D :D
 
Coupla my blacksmith buddies bought a henrob, last year, I haven't heard any comments from them.

Here's some more stuff to think about. :)

TINMAN
Not endorsing just for your info.

Henrob's and the the little smith torch come up on ebay once in awhile.
As always when looking for a used torch, look out for blued spots just below the head. And signs of cleaning to remove these spots. The blued spot is an indication of of burnback in the torch. It means the tip does not seat well.

Jeff I like that analogy. Bob's discount diveing equipment. LOL :eek:
 
Sweany said:
Jeff I like that analogy. Bob's discount diving equipment. LOL :eek:
Click to expand...

Thanks, Mike. I have to give some credit to Dan K. for helping that idea come into my head. He was asking me if compressed gas was safe just sitting around, and that he has a couple boys that might get into it. When he said "compressed gas" I immediately thought of diving tanks and diving regulators and the similarities between that gear and welding gear.

I scratched my head a little, and suggested that he speak with the welding supply and see if they had a lock-out kit for gas bottles. I'll bet they do. OSHA has there hands into EVERYTHING!
 
thanks for the excellent info, guys.

Jeff - today's worse than yesterday. Same cold but zero energy and muscle aches everywhere. Sucks being sick....
 
Dan, Is that welding outfit the one from Harbor Freight? If it is I have the sameone and have had it for at least 3 years. Granted it isn't a Victor but I'm more than happy with it, think mine run me 99 bucks on sale if I remember correctly.
 
The picture shows a regulator that will screw on to an acetylene, propane, and propylene tank they are all fuel gasses. (Some of the newer 20 or so pound propane tanks have a different valve [OSHA stuff] for the back yard BBQ setup and it won't fit them) The normal regulator will fit any to the three aforementioned bottles unless there is some new safety thing in your area I'm not aware of.
By the way, I would use Victor if at all possible. Meco and Uniweld are Victor compatible and are good torches. But the others are not as universally supplied as Victor from my experience. Also from the picture, the torch looks like a Victor knockoff and would probably do a good job except it is small. You could get a larger tip for it (for Propane) to heat and cut with. I have made around 1/4 of my knives (80 +) with just a propane torch with a #4 cutting tip.
I wouldn't suggest propylene over propane. (I’m not sure about the spelling of propylene gas)
 
Boy....you guys have me all turned around now....are we saying "Get the ebay one" or "Don't get it - get a namebrand"....?


Riley - which pic are you referring to?


(must be the head cold....can't get anything right this morning)
 
PROPALYENE NASTY!!!

Thanks, Mike. I have to give some credit to Dan K. for helping that idea come into my head. He was asking me if compressed gas was safe just sitting around
Click to expand...

THE reason for the big Airgas explosions and fire here in Tulsa, was,they turned off the sprinklers, that kept the bottles cool dureing the summer heat.

Not a bigge really until you have a 1000 bottles sitting in the sun. :eek: :eek:
 
Oh by the way I don't do the oxy acetylene in thepop can trick anymore either.
DON'T ask.
 
Sweany said:
Oh by the way I don't do the oxy acetylene in thepop can trick anymore either.
DON'T ask.
Click to expand...

Ever do the O/A in the garbage bag trick? BIG BA-DA-BOOM!

Oh yeah btw all this talk about compressed gas reminds me of all that Mexican food we ate last night in celebration of Cinco De Mayo... Kinda reminds me of that old ZZ Top song, "The Squank". :footinmou
 
Jeff - you remember me talking about welding in school? The reason I only did arc welding and never O/A =


My best friend and I were both welding during class. Me = at the arc welder. Him = at the O/A outfit.

I finish my weld and go to show it off and can't find him. Come to find out, he's at the nurse's room. Turns out that while he was welding, his nose was really itching so he went to scratch it and....well, the torch was still in his hand! Kid tried to burn his daggum nose off!

That story has seen some serious mileage around my family/friends....:D :p
 
milk jugs.

Friend of mine watched a guy scratch his forehead with a rod in the stinger. They were burning 1/4" rod, had two 350 amp machines hooked together.
He was leaning against a bulkhead, all hot and sweaty. When the juice hit him his muscles contracted and broke the ground.

He was out cold for three days. :eek: :eek: :eek:
oi what a headache
 
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