New Oxy-Ace rig

[biblefreak]

Pretty stoked, I picked up an oxy ace kit today. It is Praxair branded, but the documentation is Victor/Thermadyne. Played around a little today and really enjoyed it. Didn't do much cutting, what little I did had a ton of soot left, to much ace I think? Welding with it was fun, definitely going to take some practice but was able to at least stick a couple pieces of scrap together.

Stay tuned, questions are sure to follow!

[Hotfoot]

Yes, too much acetylene. read some instructions about starting the torch to get a Neutral Flame. Yoiu may be wasting gas, and it won't work worth ahoot until you get the flame right, both for cutting and welding. You'll be able to weld almost anything with that rig, and cut steel as smooth as a Plama cutter (with the right tip and practice). Play Safe!!

[Zrexxer]

Didn't do much cutting, what little I did had a ton of soot left, to much ace I think?

No offense, but if you're asking that question you're already on dangerous ground. Oxy-fuel has a greater-than-even chance of something horrible going wrong in uninformed hands.

Post where you're located and see if there's someone that knows what they're doing can give you some pointers, or at the very least head to the library or the bookstore and pick up a text that shows you how to safely operate that equipment. There are just too many opportunities for bad things to happen with high pressure flammable gases to try to learn by trial and error.

Buddy of mine had been using oxy-acetylene torches for ten years somewhat successfully without any actual instruction, and thought he knew what he was doing. He was working a demolition job at a school with both cylinders laid flat in the back of his truck. When the acetylene cylinder went off, it incinerated everything around it, including burning the truck to the axles. His first reaction was "I didn't know you weren't supposed to do that!" Luckily he was unhurt.

[biblefreak]

I have done a fair amount of reading and have reviewed safe practices on the equipment to include not only how to operate safely, but what to do in an emergency etc. I have a bit of instruction from a couple of local hands, just need to work on dialing it in. I can actually achieve a very nice neutral flame when welding, just can't run a decent bead worth a darn. I appreciate the concern and I assure every step has been slow, paranoid and double checked against the manual.

According to the manual my cutting size 0 tip (0-3-101) should be running 3-5psi for the acetylene and 25-30 for the oxygen. I was welding at 5psi ace and 5 psi oxy and left the ace at 5 when I changed over to the cutting attatchment and kicked the oxy to 25 after purging the lines/torch. My thinking is that A. The 2psi of ace made a bigger difference than I thought and B. I need a small tip, 000 for pieces less than 1/8" such as the square tubing I was cutting/welding on.

My main goal in getting the oxy ace outfit was cutting, but I sure had a heck of a good time messing with the welding aspect of it! I am sure open to suggestions/tips for making clean cuts if anybody has some they would like to pass along.

[Northweldor]

I have done a fair amount of reading and have reviewed safe practices on the equipment to include not only how to operate safely, but what to do in an emergency etc. I have a bit of instruction from a couple of local hands, just need to work on dialing it in. I can actually achieve a very nice neutral flame when welding, just can't run a decent bead worth a darn. I appreciate the concern and I assure every step has been slow, paranoid and double checked against the manual.

According to the manual my cutting size 0 tip (0-3-101) should be running 3-5psi for the acetylene and 25-30 for the oxygen. I was welding at 5psi ace and 5 psi oxy and left the ace at 5 when I changed over to the cutting attatchment and kicked the oxy to 25 after purging the lines/torch. My thinking is that A. The 2psi of ace made a bigger difference than I thought and B. I need a small tip, 000 for pieces less than 1/8" such as the square tubing I was cutting/welding on.

My main goal in getting the oxy ace outfit was cutting, but I sure had a heck of a good time messing with the welding aspect of it! I am sure open to suggestions/tips for making clean cuts if anybody has some they would like to pass along.

Biblefreak:
Your manual may not have this kind of cutting chart, but a proper chart should first show metal thickness, then tip size for that thickness, then best settings for acetylene and oxygen. The 0 tip included in your set is too large for cutting 1/8" material and you are wasting oxygen using it. If you plan to do a great deal of work with light material, you might consider a sheet metal tip, or other methods of cutting.
With respect to welding, you also likely need a smaller tip, and learning to balance your torch will take away your reliance on charts for pressures. (see directions here
http://www.hobartwelders.com/weldtal...alancing+Torch

[biblefreak]

Its funny you would mention fuel balancing. I was just reading through a bunch of threads and came acrooss this and printed it out. I am on call this weekend so may not get the chance to try it, but I will report back when I do. I also picked up a smaller cuttiing tip to try as well.

I also have read through the safety guidline ebook at ESABS site as well as weldingtipsandtricks.com. There is a wealth of information out there.

Thanks for all the advice folks, keep it coming!!

[Roger]

Torch tips are rated for metal thickness not just so you can get enough heat to weld or cut that thickness. You often can adjust flame down to weld or cut thinner metal than torch rating but gas velocity out of tip orifice can be slow enough to let flame burn into heated tip that isn't cold enough to quench flame. Flash back results can damage torch or much worse. Flash back arrestors and check valves now days help prevent flashbacks burning to tanks.

[biblefreak]

Tips are cheap enough that I don't have any interest in trying to make a one size fits all scenario. I like to think about most situations, and welding especially with o/a is a great example, what would you be willing to do or how much would you be willing to pay to go back and not make the choice to take a shortcut and do things the right way should the worst scenario play out? Besides that, my Grandfather used to tell me when I was a kid "There is a tool for every job, and a job for every tool, now quit using my socket wrench as a hammer!!"
How I miss that man!

[dieselBear]

I have done a fair amount of reading and have reviewed safe practices on the equipment to include not only how to operate safely, but what to do in an emergency etc. I have a bit of instruction from a couple of local hands, just need to work on dialing it in. I can actually achieve a very nice neutral flame when welding, just can't run a decent bead worth a darn. I appreciate the concern and I assure every step has been slow, paranoid and double checked against the manual.

According to the manual my cutting size 0 tip (0-3-101) should be running 3-5psi for the acetylene and 25-30 for the oxygen. I was welding at 5psi ace and 5 psi oxy and left the ace at 5 when I changed over to the cutting attatchment and kicked the oxy to 25 after purging the lines/torch. My thinking is that A. The 2psi of ace made a bigger difference than I thought and B. I need a small tip, 000 for pieces less than 1/8" such as the square tubing I was cutting/welding on.

My main goal in getting the oxy ace outfit was cutting, but I sure had a heck of a good time messing with the welding aspect of it! I am sure open to suggestions/tips for making clean cuts if anybody has some they would like to pass along.

I've been waiting for more updates.. Have you done any more cutting/welding with it? About what is the cost? Did you buy/rent the tanks?
Have you ever used one before this?

[biblefreak]

I've been waiting for more updates.. Have you done any more cutting/welding with it? About what is the cost? Did you buy/rent the tanks?
Have you ever used one before this?

Yeah, I have been pretty tied up at work. I haven't done much with it except the first day I pivked it up. I picked up the torch outfit for appx. $200 and I am renting the bottles at $49 a year per. I did get the bigger bottles, especially since the first fill was free, so I picked up a 230 oxygen and 130 acetylene. I have messed around with a couple of different friends' cutting torchs just practicing on scrap but have never tried welding with it until I picked up my own set. Cutting definetly takes practice and there is almost an art to the welding aspect of it. I actually bought the thing for cutting but I am very intrigued by the welding aspect of it and plan to pursue that avenue as much as I can. I will be messing with it more this week/weekend as I am not on call at my daytime gig! I will post more then, and may even get some pics up as well.

[Northweldor]

If you learn to O-A weld well, you will find the motor skills learned wil transfer to both TIG and stick welding.

[usmcpop]

My son took O/A as his first welding class and made very nice welds. TIG - no problem.

[biblefreak]

Well, had the chance to run the cutting torch a little today and things went well. I made some freehand saddle cuts on some 1 1/4 pipe and welded it at a 90 to another piece of 1 1/4 (after cleaning things up and final fitting with a grinder) to be a foot for a knock down gantry type hoist. I will post pics of the hoist when its done in the projects section, but as far as the cutting went, I had a buddy over giving me some pointers. I found it amazing how fine of a cut you can make when you get your speed/angle/height of the torch right! Hopefully I will get the chance to cut some more this weekend as I just came into a nice big FREE pile of scrap. I figure I will cut a bunch of coupons and then weld them back together.

[dieselBear]

Well, had the chance to run the cutting torch a little today and things went well. I made some freehand saddle cuts on some 1 1/4 pipe and welded it at a 90 to another piece of 1 1/4 (after cleaning things up and final fitting with a grinder) to be a foot for a knock down gantry type hoist. I will post pics of the hoist when its done in the projects section, but as far as the cutting went, I had a buddy over giving me some pointers. I found it amazing how fine of a cut you can make when you get your speed/angle/height of the torch right! Hopefully I will get the chance to cut some more this weekend as I just came into a nice big FREE pile of scrap. I figure I will cut a bunch of coupons and then weld them back together.

cool,,thanks for the update. I am anxious to see....now I want one....Pondering what I can ebay, to get some extra $$$$

[Hotfoot]

You haven't put your location in your profile, Dieselbear, but keep your eye on Craigslist. O/A rigs show up there fairly often, and no shipping or buying sight unseen.