<TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR bgColor=#f0f0f0 height=20><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD> <TABLE width="90%"><TBODY><TR><TD>Here's a few basic tips to help you with your Oxygen/Acetylene torch.First, remove your big steel caps I KNOW you have on your tanks after transporting from the weld supply. This will save you on a big,expensive ticket from Highway Patrol.Next,attach your regulators to your bottles. The Acetylene is usually red in color, and has a line pressure gauge that goes fom o-15 psi and then goes into the red.It also can be tightened by going opposite than usual.(left hand threads marked by dashes on the nut.) The oxygen gauge is usually green in color and has a gauge that will go up over 2000 lbs. on the bottle. Now then, it would be safe to say that the Acetylene guage is low pressure and the Oxygen is a high pressure gauge. Next, BEFORE you attach the hose,crack the oxygen bottle valve to blow out any dirt that might have accumulated in your gauge. Next,take a look at your hoses. Without your torch attached, blow out any dirt with a compressed air hose in both your hoses, Acetylene and Oxygen. Lastly, attach your torch. With your torch valves shut off, crack open your Oxygen bottle and bring your line pressure to 25 psi. Crack open your acetylene and bring it to 5 psi. Take some dish soap in a bucket and a small paint brush and smear it around your fittings to check for leaks. Inspect your hose for cuts and holes also. This is important so you dont waste your gases. When finished, ALWAYS assume your hoses and fittings leak and close your gases off at the bottle.Do not close your line pressure guages.Leave them alone. DO NOT bleed your gases out of your hoses. I know you have been taught this in school for safety, but gas cost money. LEAVE THE GASES IN there,YOU PAID FOR THEM. Next, use safety glasses with at least a number 7 shade lense. Clean your torch tip with a tip cleaner. When lighting your torch,use a striker. DO NOT use a cigarette lighter.ALWAYS wear leather gloves when cutting metal. Wear a long sleeve shirt you care nothing about. I wear a leather apron also.DO NOT cut metal in your surfer thongs. Ask me to show you my slag burn scars on the tops of my feet! Wear leather construction type boots.Buy and wear levi type jeans that are two inches too long for you and split the seam about four inches from the end. Now these pants will go over your shoelaces and protect your laces from getting fried.No cuffs!Cuffs will hold hot slag and catch fire.Trust me, I've done that too! Next, make sure there are no flammble liquids around where you may be cutting metal. Carb cleaner, solvents,Acetone, paint thinners,brake fluid, all make for an "interesting" day when they go up! Remove all plastic tools from your area. E.G. skill saws,drill motors,jig saws, any tool with a plastic case will change shape rather quickly! Remove all jewelry from your wrist,around your neck or outta your nose,lips, eyebrows,as weld slag will ruin them. Use a triple 000 tip for cutting metal up to 1/4 inch double 00 for 1/4 to 3/8ths and a 0 for 3/8ths to a 1/2. A 1 is TOO BIG for anything you are going to cut on a hot rod. I seldom cut metal over a 1/2 inch. Very rare. Once in a while, but not real often. Have soap stone for marking lines on your material. Mark HOT on your project piece if you go to lunch to prevent idiots from touching it while you are gone. Also, out of consideration for others, if you can quinch your part in cool water to cool it when going to lunch or the bathroom. When cutting plate or pipe, make it as clean as possible by wire brushing it first. Refuse to cut badly rusted metal. You dont want to use badly rusted metal for your project anyways. Throw it away.Use new clean metal. For pipe, look inside the pipe. If it is rusted inside, throw it out. Use new material. Even if you are on a budget, buy scraps that are clean and relatively new. Avoid trying to cut rusty metal. IT will pop and the rust goes up your torches and fouls your o-rings, causing your torches to go into the shop for repair. I can overhaul my own torches, because I went to college to learn how to do this, but,why would I want to waste all that time? Just dont cut crappy rusted metal and you will avoid all that headache. Use the good stuff. I hate to sound like an anal retentive,but be kind of spoiled when it comes to welding. Insist on the best quality. In your tools,clothing and materials.Avoid Harbor Frieght "look a likes". They make torches that look like Victors,but theyre not. Theyre from China. Everything in that place is cheap crap from China.DONT USE IT IN WELDING. Use Victor,Smith,Lincoln,Miller,Hobart. Yes, they cost more, but we're trying to produce quality parts here and we want the best! Start out slowly. Make cuts on scrap until you got the hang of it. Over the years, my hands shake a little so I use cheaters whenever I can. What I mean by cheaters are if you are cutting a straight line, Clamp a piece of straight steel,about 2 inches wide,ruler type, about an 1/8th away from your linemark. Then you can rest the edge of your torch up against it making a really clean straight cut.If your cut is in the middle of a sheet, Tack the ends of your staight edge with your torch and a little filler rod. You might want to tack the middle too,just do it on the opposite side of your straight edge from your linemark.Zip it goes.. Now for circles I use another cheater. It is just a small piece of pipe.. You can make these in different sizes. Use your cut off saw for this. Cut them about two inches each. Make different sizes and keep them in your shop for other projects. These are called Templates or Patterns. There is no shame that we get a little older and do not have the steady hands of a 20 year old. With the advent of CNC plasma torches, it's no wonder any "by hand" work gets done at all these days. I enjoy it tho and its fun. If at first youre stuff is a little rough,clean it up with a "peanut" grinder. This is a small four inch grinder that is very light weight. I like De WALT the best. Dont buy harbor freight it wont last a week! O.K. Go MAKE IT HOT! Be safe and take care of yourself and your family. Mikey</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Alot of good info in there. I just got a projct finishd on my truck welding up to 3/8 thick steel with a torch. Had a better weld overall than I could do with my mig. jerry
What do the Highway Patrol fine you for? We don't really have those cap things over here. Also, crack the cylinder valve before fitting your regulators. I fix regs all day at work - dirt is their worst enemy.
Hey, That sounds just like my highschool shop teacher. His voice was even in my head while I read that! Good stuff to remember though. Especialy the advice on tool quality & were sparks go when they get out on thier own going were you don't want at the worst possible time!
Is there a secret to keep the metal from fusing back together as you cut? I try to go slow enough and back-track to blow out the melted steel, is that right?
Thanks Mikey. Where were you 20 years ago! I second the gas-welding primer too! I'd love to braze! By the way,I love your tag at the bottom.I get a kick out that... Good health and happiness to you and yours too!
thanks mikey ,, love your signature, what about oxy/propane, any experience? should be more economical ,no?
Nope, that's bad. if it's fusing back together, either you are going to slow, or you're to hot. the best cuts are with just enough heat to melt the material, and just fast enough you don't skip over the molten pool. and as far as Oxy/Propane, while the Propane is cheaper, you use a bunch more than Acetylene. keep in mind you should run the Acetylene at around only 5 psi on the regulator.
You gotta be shitting me, as strict as they are on how you build cars over there? I don't like a bottle standing in the shop unsecured without a cap, let alone in transport. I have heard stories of bottles being propped on sawhorses, knock the regulator off with a sledghammer, and watch 'em fly!
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