acetylene torch

[reynoldston]

My small repair shop I have been using a bernzomatic torch using mapp gas. I have been getting by with it, but there are times I just can't get enough heat from it. Also I would like to do some small brazing jobs at times. I know bernzomatic makes a set like that but uses mapp gas instead of acetylene. Has anybody ever used one of these bernzomatic sets and if so how do they work? Just how long dose the oxygen tank last on the bernzomatic set? My next choice is the local welding supply store has a small complete acetylene torch set including full tanks for only 319 dollars which I find is a very good price. I haven't decided which way to go because either set would get very little use.

 

[ILENGINE]

Mapp is a combination of propane and acetylene. I use the mapp/oxygen combo for small heating jobs, that are too big for a propane torch, but too small for the big acetylene torch. The small set works great for small jobs, but the oxygen tank doesn't last a long time since it is only like 1.5 oz of oxygen gas not liquid oxygen like in the big tanks.

Sometimes I am not sure if the oxygen tank doesn't leak. I have had tanks that didn't last more than 10 minutes of use. Even had a new tank that was empty when purchased. the tank I am using on now has probably went 30 minutes or more.

 

[reynoldston]

Mapp is a combination of propane and acetylene. I use the mapp/oxygen combo for small heating jobs, that are too big for a propane torch, but too small for the big acetylene torch. The small set works great for small jobs, but the oxygen tank doesn't last a long time since it is only like 1.5 oz of oxygen gas not liquid oxygen like in the big tanks.

Sometimes I am not sure if the oxygen tank doesn't leak. I have had tanks that didn't last more than 10 minutes of use. Even had a new tank that was empty when purchased. the tank I am using on now has probably went 30 minutes or more.

In my earlier years I did own a acetylene set. I would think it all depends on what you use it for. If you are cutting or using a rose bud it takes a lot more oxygen. I was also doing a lot of HD truck work back in them days. The thing was when I would get someone using my set and wouldn't turn the tanks off when they were done and I didn't know it. I would go to use the set a few days after and the oxygen would be empty. This new set I will be using very lite duty and I will be the only person using it. That was my though on the mapp/oxygen set that the oxygen wouldn't last very long and I would have over a 100 dollars invested in something useless.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Most of the sets sold by stores that sell gas are gas gobblers.
My first torch set was bought from CIG which was the only company that made & distributed gasses in Australia.
I was doing hobby work in those days and two acetylene"s and one oxygen for year were the norm.
I then bought a Dillion torch , now called Cobra and went to 1 bottle of each every 5 years.
Not only that my welding improved no end as the low pressure torches are a lot more forgiving.
The low pressure torches use no flux for anything except on the filler rods for alloy and you can use any lump of the same alloy as filler so I have actually repaired alloy mower bases using lumps of broken alloy mower bases.
Only material that requires careful rod selection are the stainless alloys also welded flux less which makes things really easy as you get a good view of the weld puddle.

However Dillion torches are expensive. There is no magic pudding so one way or the other the pocket gets hit.

Over in the States a Dillion ( Cobra ) set will set you back around $ 400 which is money well spent.
However Kent White, THE TINMAN does a line of similar Meca low pressure torches that are a bit cheaper.
Pop over to his web site https://www.tinmantech.com/index.php and spend a while looking at his stuff or better still at the videos of people using his stuff.
Then before you make up your mind go to the Cobra web site Cobra Torches | Oxy / Acetylene Welding and Cutting System and poke around their demo videos as well.

It is another of those funny things . just about every one who comes over to get me to do a freebie weld on some of their vintage bikes ends up buying their own kit.
When I had the courier business three of my customers ended up buying a full kit and one who was a photographer ended up building a full stainless kitchen set for his studio with stainless trolleys all over the place. Originally I brought the gear over to weld some experimential exhaust traps for his win turbo Suburu

 

[reynoldston]

Most of the sets sold by stores that sell gas are gas gobblers.
My first torch set was bought from CIG which was the only company that made & distributed gasses in Australia.
I was doing hobby work in those days and two acetylene"s and one oxygen for year were the norm.
I then bought a Dillion torch , now called Cobra and went to 1 bottle of each every 5 years.
Not only that my welding improved no end as the low pressure torches are a lot more forgiving.
The low pressure torches use no flux for anything except on the filler rods for alloy and you can use any lump of the same alloy as filler so I have actually repaired alloy mower bases using lumps of broken alloy mower bases.
Only material that requires careful rod selection are the stainless alloys also welded flux less which makes things really easy as you get a good view of the weld puddle.

However Dillion torches are expensive. There is no magic pudding so one way or the other the pocket gets hit.

Over in the States a Dillion ( Cobra ) set will set you back around $ 400 which is money well spent.
However Kent White, THE TINMAN does a line of similar Meca low pressure torches that are a bit cheaper.
Pop over to his web site https://www.tinmantech.com/index.php and spend a while looking at his stuff or better still at the videos of people using his stuff.
Then before you make up your mind go to the Cobra web site Cobra Torches | Oxy / Acetylene Welding and Cutting System and poke around their demo videos as well.

It is another of those funny things . just about every one who comes over to get me to do a freebie weld on some of their vintage bikes ends up buying their own kit.
When I had the courier business three of my customers ended up buying a full kit and one who was a photographer ended up building a full stainless kitchen set for his studio with stainless trolleys all over the place. Originally I brought the gear over to weld some experimential exhaust traps for his win turbo Suburu

I am a very poor welder and if I need any welding done it well be done by a professional. My grandson is a license professional welder and I am sure he will help me with any welding. The reason I am getting a torch will be for small brazing jobs and heat. My welding looks like chicken poo when I am done.

 

[7394]

I am a very poor welder and if I need any welding done it well be done by a professional. My grandson is a license professional welder and I am sure he will help me with any welding. The reason I am getting a torch will be for small brazing jobs and heat. My welding looks like chicken poo when I am done.

I used to have a large set of acet/oxy tanks hoses regs etc, etc.. Just don't use them enough anymore, so they were sold.. I did get a mini-set for those times when you need just a little.

Initially my gas welding looked like poo too.. When I was a kid my Dad taught me to gas weld with coat hangers, he said that's all they had when he learned.. In time my skills improved,
so don't give up hope, poo can be improved on..

And at times I still use coathangers for light gas welding..

 

[bertsmobile1]

My workshop is in a corner of a mates farm.
So old rusted fence wire is my usual welding rod and flattened swing back blades are the usual patching material.
You just have to use what you can get for free.

Like riding a push bike welding is 10% knowledge and 90% practice.
I do occasionally weld two beer cans together just to win a bet and I pull it off about 75% of the time.
It is hard to do good welding with poor quality gear but it is very easy to do acceptable welding with good geaar & the Dillion is as good as they get.

The local distributors used to sell exclusively at shows and they used to get novices up from the audience and in ten minutes they are doing acceptable welds and making combs from railway line.
The favourite was always to get the novice to cut their name out of a lump of scrap steel.

My kit came with an air: acetylene torch with is more than hot enough to braize & forge with.

 

[7394]

My mini set is from Victor.. Which my last torch set was also made by Victor.. No problems..

And they are very reasonably priced.. I don't need the best, just something reliable, & I have it..

 

[motoman]

I would be lost without my oxy acetylene rig. I use it to heat-bend, heat treat small stuff, gas weld, braze, and (rarely), cut. It takes lots of practise to gas weld. I chose that form looking someday to obtain a heliarc unit, but good ones (water cooled) are $2000 plus, I think. Victor seems to be the standard gas torch in the US , but I have never owned one, somehow using Harris for years. My original (small "aircraft" torch ) unit is no longer made and tips are unavailable. Such a torch is light and great to use on thin materials allowing an easy touch. But Harris quality seemed to go south . With great trepidaton I finally bought a H-Freight unit for $99. The one in the plastic snap shut box. SURPRISE : a quality unit far as I can see. The gauges even work. The fit finsh is surprisingy good. Leaking cylinders are always a potential problem. When I buy a refill I take some soapy water with me and check the valve. About half I have checked have slow leaks. NO good. Zero tolerance, Take a class and get a setup. You will not regret it if you are a tinkerer.

 

[reynoldston]

I find the cost of a acetylene torch set isn't priced that bad. Its the filled tanks that is the biggest cost. I have been looking and find two ways to use the tanks. Rent them or buy them. Seeing I will be using this very lite duty this was the reason I was thinking about getting the bernzomatic oxygen/mapp set. At my age I just don't want a investment in tools that I wouldn't be using that long anymore. I would guess at what age do you stop taking in customer repairs. I am to the point in life now I want less customers then more.