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O/A setups

782 views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  hairy kanary 
#1 ·
i am looking for a O/A setup for cutting steel up to 1/2 inch i am not looking to spend a fortune but dont want a cheap china pice of crap that will blow up in my face i would also like to be able to expand in the futer my main use for this will be cutting things up and for hacking parts from vehicles at the bone-yard the only welding i will do is practicing i dont have very good o/a welding skills seems molten metal like flying and burning me :rolleyes: :D i am thinking of getting sized 9 and 8 tanks how much cutting time can i expect from these tanks? and what are the smallest most portable tanks i can get for taking to the bone yard cause those two tanks will weigh like 150 pounds and should i go bigger with the main tanks? thanks Dj
 
#2 ·
I see you're from Canada also. Should be easy to find a used Liquid Air torch setup at a pawn shop or from Ebay. These are a good set that you can buy parts for easily. Just be sure not to buy one of the older "small body" torch bodies. They don't work well with Mapp or propane if you ever decide to go that way. Beware of the small O/A bottles! They sometimes charge as much to fill the small ones as the bigger ones.
 
#3 ·
(Long & some of this won't apply in Canada)

The "big 3" of general-purpose O/A equipment in the U.S. are Smith, Victor, and Harris.

My Equipment:
75cuft. acetylene tank, 150 cuft. O2 tank set up to run out about equally for what I do. I own them outright and they have unstamped necks. Large gas suppliers will stamp the necks on their cylinders so you have to trade them back in to *that* company. Be on the lookout for stolen tanks if you buy used. Call the company stamped on the neck of the cylinder (*if* it is stamped) to verify the seller's ownership. Check the last hydrostatic test date if they are unstamped tanks. The bigger the tanks are, the cheaper per cuft. they are to fill.
I have a Smith and a Victor torch and an older set of *heavy duty* Smith single stage regulators. All of it was bought used or handed down to me.
My Smith torch is a medium duty and takes welding tips or a cutting attachment.
My Victor is 24", strictly cutting.
I use a Harris outfit occasionally at work.

I have no idea what size 8 and 9 tanks are - I'm assuming that's a Canadian thing. If you're referring to the small "tote-a-torch" setups with 10 and 20 cuft. tanks, 99% of U.S. junkyards won't let you bring your own torch because of insurance/liability concerns. A battery operated sawzall is about the biggest cutting tool that I can permissibly bring into a junkyard. If I see something big that I want to buy, I just mark where I want it cut with a tire crayon and pay the yard employee to torch it off for me. I trim off the excess material after I haul it back to my shop. It's *much* easier and faster working on something in your own shop vs. the middle of a salvage yard with crap scattered all over the place. Well worth the extra money IMHO. Ex: The last rearend I bought, the 'yard owner refused to budge on price, but I convinced him to torch the whole back of the frame off and forklift it into my flatbed for an extra $100 - I have all the extra brackets,springs and misc parts I'll ever need - I even got a spare ABS valve. I resold the bumper to recoup some of my costs.

Opinions:
Victor is by far easiest to find cutting tips for in most areas I have lived. They're also probably the most tolerant of rough treatment/abuse and the most common. If you plan on mostly cutting - I'd recommend a Victor torch. If you plan to just hack off old parts and not make precise cuts, buy a "scrap cutting" tip too - it'll last much longer than a regular cutting tip.

Smith Torches are all "lifetime guarantee" now and are very nicely made. I don't like the way Smith mounts the O2 adjustment on their cutting attachment heads and I tend to accidentally bump it whenever I cut with my Smith. Their cutting tips use a soft packing and are very expensive compared to Victor or Harris. The graphite? packing is supposed to seal better than other brands but be careful- it will wear out prematurely if you swap tips often and your tip will leak. Their torches are excellent in all other respects. Smiths are relatively expensive so you don't see them that much in small shops. I only use my Smith when I want to weld or braze something. Their welding tips use O-ring seals and come as a complete unit.

Harris was bought out by Lincoln Electric in the late 90's so anyone who sells Lincoln welders usually sells Harris outfits also. They're (relatively) modestly priced and easy to find tips for. The one I use occasionally at work has the smoothest operating valves of any torch I've ever used and it cuts nicely. They seem to be becoming much more popular since Lincoln bought out the company. You can by a "V" series Harris that uses Victor style tips.

Buy regular or light duty regulators (any reputable brand). Heavy duty regulators are meant for running over 10 psi acetylene/60 psi of O2 on a regular basis and you'll most likely never need that much. Also learn to cut with the smallest preheat flame and smallest size tip you can work with - you'll have a much neater cut with minimal slag, and it also saves gas.

There's other torches out there like Purox, and Airco which work fine but they are harder to order tips and parts for. Lots of the China-cheapo torches will say "Victor compatible" .That doesn't make it a Victor, and doesn't necessarily mean it's a good torch. I know Harris makes an "off label" brand that's pretty good. Just get what's in your budget (and what you can get parts for) and get started!

Learning to cut and weld is just like sweeping a floor: the more you do it, the more naturally it comes and the better the end result looks. You can read about it all day, but in order to get any good at it you'll just have to practice and experiment with your own equipment.

-Good luck!
 
#6 ·
hairy kanary said:
I see you're from Canada also. Should be easy to find a used Liquid Air torch setup at a pawn shop or from Ebay. These are a good set that you can buy parts for easily. Just be sure not to buy one of the older "small body" torch bodies. They don't work well with Mapp or propane if you ever decide to go that way. Beware of the small O/A bottles! They sometimes charge as much to fill the small ones as the bigger ones.

As much as I personally hate Air Liquide I still buy 7018, torches and Regs from them.

So just like Hairy, those of us who live here vote for Liquid Air/Air Liquide stuff as it is pretty much industry standard (80%+), cheap and easy to find parts for.
 
#7 ·
Just wondering...you guys down south don't see any Liquid Air torches? If you could ever try one I'm bettin you'd like it. I have a Victor torch that I like because of the balance but the LA torches seem to cut better on heavy steel (2" and up)
I've done a lot of gas welding on aluminum and found that the LA regulators are really accurate where it counts...around the 2.5 to 4psi mark.
I've tried a couple of Purox outfits for this and they suck.
Up here....LA is the standard of the industry. Pulp mills, fab shops etc mostly use LA torches.
 
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