Anyone Ever Use A Scarfing Tip?

[SE18]

OxyAcy setup I have, considering scarfing off some rivets on some kiln cars. Once the heads are off, I can either drill out the rivet or possibly use the scarfing tip to remove the innards of the rivet?

I need to remove the pedestals to these 2' gauge rail cars so I can unfreeze the roller bearings, which are rust-locked. I bought some Kroil to do it.

Bonus question is where can I get large nuts and bolts to replace the rivets?

 

[carlquib]

A scarfing tip does a good job of removing the heads from rivets. Practice a little before you begin because it is easy to get into the material under the rivet head if you aren't careful. Use a light touch on the oxygen. I would think almost any commercial fastener supplier would have the bolts you need. Here in southern Idaho I use Tacoma screw, Fastenal, and a couple small local suppliers.

Hello, my name is Brian and I'm a toolaholic

 

[12bolts]

If you wanted to maintain the appearance of old rivets, (and depending on the size of the hole) you could use wheel studs instead of bolts.

Cheers Phil

 

[SE18]

thanks

 

[Ulma Doctor]

A325 structural bolts come in many large sizes
fastenal has them

 

[Tony Wells]

Scarfing will wash off the head of the rivet, then you will still have to knock it on through. If it is a countersunk rivet that won't work. Scarfing tips are made to burn close to flush without all the risk of putting enough heat into the salvage piece to get it to burn when you hit the O2. They work well. Used them many times.

As far as bolts, unless you think you need the higher strength of the A325 structural (about equal to a grade 5, but with a larger head) just go grade 2, aka low carbon hex cap screw. You can easily turn the hex into a round button for appearances. In larger sizes, you will save a ton of money using the softer bolts.

 

[Uglydog]

Practice a little before you begin because it is easy to get into the material under the rivet head if you aren't careful. Use a light touch on the oxygen.

I've found that my Smith scarfing tips are fun to use. I haven't done enough to offer any suggestion other than carlquib has offered.
1. control the Oxygen.
2. heat only what you want to cut.
3. practice.....

Daryl
MN

 

[Firestopper]

We used to do a ton of scarf cutting on dry docked submarines back in the early 80's. The brass didn't like it when the pressure hull got scarfed . Replacing anodes was a ****ty job, so the new arrivals had this task. The problem is most new arrivals where green horns and could create havoc with a torch.

A great tip to use to save time, but requires a little practice. You can also scarf/gouge with a conventional tip with practice. We would burn out broken bolts leaving the threads mostly untouched. One tip (advise) I can offer on scarfing, once the cutting begins and you rotate your tip closer to the parent metal, pull back the tip distance until you have full control of the area to be removed. A good pair of #5 cutting glasses is helpful.

Not knowing the bolt size other than "large", many options in grade 2 can be found for a fair price as Tony mentioned.

 

[Falcody]

Grind the heads of the rivets flush and then drive them out with an air hammer.