Oxy/Acetylene applications(are there any left?)

I'm sure it is filled with water in case of fires. Safety first.

 

Well, if you want to have a chuckle, take a sealed beam headlite out of a buddy's car.....On the back are 3 centering tits.....Take a pick hammer and knock one of those off.....Now turn on your acetelene torch {don't light it} and proceed to pump some into the headlite.....Tape over the hole and plug the headlite back in and try and be present next time it gets dark....If you've had a bad day this will sure to put a smile on your face

 

that can was actually never used before then, was brand new so no worries. he had it in the trunk in case we ran out of gas.

 

I use my O/A to weld cast iron, and prefere it over MIG for exhaust work, becasue everything happens slower so I can control it better. With the Henrob torch on it, the flame can be made very small, I choped a top and it made welds that were very small, 100% penetration, and easy to hammer. The only trick is practice.

 

It's the thing I recommend a beginner get, if he can only afford one major welding-type tool. Cuts, welds, solders, heats to bend. Plus if you master gas welding, then the other types are easy to learn!

 

If you do use an O/A setup, look around at swap meets and see if you can find an aircraft torch. They are generally smaller than the regular torches, operate at lower pressures, and can really do nice stuff on thin sheet metal. The experimental aircraft guys do a lot of O/A on Chromoly, if it's done correctly it actually helps to stress relieve the weld zone. There's lots of aircraft welding info available from the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA).

 

No electricity

 

I love welding steel with Ox AC. No big gob of filler hiding a joint but a perfectly heated and fused joint requiring almost no filler rod even. A good OX Ac weld looks like a good tig weld. I would encourage the learning of this . It will be a lost art in a generation of not. A much better understanding of how to weld comes from learning this old craft. The butt weld in the grill of my HeeP was done with a set of torches in about 5 minutes.
Don

 

Just did some old school welding on my old school Dodge truck I'm putting together, using coat hangers, thats the way we did it back in the day.

 

I use mine with the rose bud for heat treating small stuff. Some welding, bending, cutting and shrink fitting.
Its one of the tools you got to have.

 

Every week we have this same discussion about welding. Mig and Tig are used more because that is what the younger guys think is the latest and therefore the best. Gas welding was used on the bulk of the early customs and rods and still is just as viable. It is the most authentic "traditional" type of welding. Hammer welding is still best with gas and TIG.