Oxy/acetylene rig

DavidR8 said:
Thanks for the additional insight Erik.
Who are you buying from online?


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I bought the Victor medium duty torch on Amazon for only $99, and I shopped around for the best price on the Victor heavy duty kit. I bought from the place with the cheapest price.

I will post some representative links.
 
Note that a medium duty combination torch will require different welding and cutting attachments than an HD (i.e. large) combination torch.

I do not own a cutting attachment for my medium torch.
 
This is the torch kit that I bought:

https://www.weldingsuppliesfromioc.com/victor-journeyman-welding-and-cutting-outfit-0384-2100

You will also find that Victor is owned by ESAB. You can go on the ESAB website and look at the selection of kits available.

I know it is a lot of money, but those flashback arrestors have some important safety upgrades, and the hose is high quality. All of this is much cheaper than burning your house down.

Also, I guarantee that you will get your money’s worth of fun with any O/A setup.

I spent hours and hours researching torch kits, and I concluded that I wanted a Victor Edge 2.0. The regulators have some good safety upgrades with regard to preventing regulator blow out.
 
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Also, time spent gas welding will improve your TIG skills.

I enjoy gas welding more than TIG because gas welding moves along more slowly. The flipside of this is that the project will take longer if you gas weld it. Personally, I am one to enjoy the ride (as opposed to emphasizing productivity).

There are numerous videos on Victor Edge 2.0 products on YouTube. I watched most of them many times before I made my purchase.

I have posted on this forum my favorite processes. Lathe work is easily in first place, gas welding & brazing is second, stick welding is third, and then much further down is TIG, MIG and (sorry) mill work in last place.
 
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David,

You have a lot of good information here. For what you're planning on doing either one of the rigs you posted will work, since there are two you can work the sellers against each other provided they both will let you test them out.

Your LWS will do their best to make you scared to buy used tanks or gear but will they really send you away when you show up with that stuff? You're already a customer from your MIG/TIG setups so IMHO the risk with used tanks is minimal, and the savings is worth the risk. You're gonna end up with their tanks eventually and they know you'll keep coming back as long as they don't pi$$ you off.

Ask the sellers when the last time they got a refill was and where they got it. If they say that they own the tanks and can remember when the last time they were filled I wouldn't be afraid, worst case is you have to buy new ones which you're already talking about. I could have easily spent $600 more for my rig if I bought new and the flame wouldn't have been any hotter.

Oxy is nostalgia for me since my dad built his airplane with the setup I learned on. He used to wax poetic about the guy he knew who could weld beer cans... I know my next purchase for gas welding will be a very small, very high quality torch so I can start practicing with beer cans through a blue lens.

This really isn't something to overthink, oxygen + acetylene = hot a$$ flame, don't touch it ;)

John
 
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While visiting the scrap yard, I found some forklift forks that needed to be cut out of an overturned forklift machine.
They let me use their portable gas cutting torch to do the job and I was surprised how well it cut off some solid 1.5 inch
rods using propane and oxygen. I plan to get a tank of propane to use for cutting, brazing and general heating and
save on my acetylene for welding steel. The LH threads on the propane tank are the same as on the acetylene tank
so easy to change back and forth when needed.
 
If you are looking for an alternative to (small to medium size) Victor, Smith, Harris torch, you could consider a MECO (or Meco Midget) torch, I have not read a bad review on this brand ,it is a good choice for medium size projects:
www.tinmantech.com

Meco Torch and Accessories by TM Technologies

TM Technologies: Tools, Sheet Metal Shaping Machines, Gas Welding Supplies, Articles & lWorkshops for Better Metalworking
www.tinmantech.com
 
Ken from ontario said:
If you are looking for an alternative to (small to medium size) Victor, Smith, Harris torch, you could consider a MECO (or Meco Midget) torch, I have not read a bad review on this brand ,it is a good choice for medium size projects:
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Thanks Ken, that is an interesting option. It's too bad there's no cutting torch.
 
DavidR8 said:
Yes, I have MIG, TIG and arc available to glue metal together. The oxy setup is really for heating and bending and maybe cutting.
Perhaps a dumb question: for propane do you just use 'regular' propane tanks?
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Yes. I use the commonly available BBQ tanks. The problem is that they are too expensive to hydrotest, so they just get thrown away.

Somebody said acetylene has more heat than propane. This factoid suggests an Internet check. Spoiler alert: they are about the same. It often appears that acetylene is hotter when starting a cut, but that is caused in a large part by using the cooler part of the propane flame due to lack of training. Youtube videos are a lot of help here. I do very little cutting with my torch. I do most of my cutting with a striker and a set of top tools.
 
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