[Sharp]

let me know what i need to know to set it up and get some half decent cuts, most of the cutting is on 1/4" and 3/16" some lighter stuff.... .120 wall and 1/8" plate

i would love a plasma but i don't think that the amount i will use it will out weigh the high initial cost....

thanks...
:beer:

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Set your act regulator to about 5psi, your oxy reg to between 10-15psi. Crack the act valve on the handle and light 'er up, open oxy valve on the handle all the way then open the on on the bypass valve until you have a neutral flame, then squeeze the handle and re-adjust the oxy valve again so that you have a neutral flame again. Now, go to your metal, preheat till the metal starts to glow orange, then pull the handle and cut. It takes some practice to get it to the point where you can cut quickly without it flowing back together. HTH

Ary

 

[Sharp]

thats great info, i know this is a noob question but what is a neutral flame...gotta learn right...
Thanks!! :beer:

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

It's when you have a little blue flame about 3/16s of an inch long coming from the nozzle. If you don't give it enough oxygen, you'll get lots of soot, if you give it too much, the flame is huge and loud. When you have a neutral flame you will still have a large flame, but there will be the little blue cone for each hole in the nozzle. Don't know how else to describe it, hopefully someone else can chime in with a better description. Also, you want to keep the nozzle no more than 1/4" away from the plate.

BTW, some will probably consider this newbie tech.

Ary

 

[Sharp]

well it's a given that i get a "FAWKING NOOB :flipoff2: "
sure it's a noob fabrication question.... but thats the point, how many noobs actually fab up stuff?

but i was still hoping to get some good info
i have fabricated a lot of stuff however i have found the need for cutting and this will also allow me to preheat cast materials before welding....
you description was good, and i have seen a neutral flame and used a torch before, it's just been a while.... needed some clarification

thanks

 

[JHarsany]

This is a good post. I have been using my torch occasionally for a few years, but I have never recieved formal instruction. Sometimes I can make good clean cuts, but usually they have a ton of slag and burn back in places. I don't usually preheat to a glowing red, just a couple of passes. It seems like preheating that much would increase burn back. Anybody else want to chime in and tell their techniques??

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

This is a good post. I have been using my torch occasionally for a few years, but I have never recieved formal instruction. Sometimes I can make good clean cuts, but usually they have a ton of slag and burn back in places. I don't usually preheat to a glowing red, just a couple of passes. It seems like preheating that much would increase burn back. Anybody else want to chime in and tell their techniques??

I didn't mean pre-heat the whole pass to glowing orange. Just run the torch over the area a few times, then hold it where you intend to start cutting till it's glowing orange, then pull the trigger to start cutting.

 

[Danger Ranger]

couple things...

keep the tip clean, this is esential to good cuts with the blue tipped wrench. with a dirty tip... you're waisting your time.

a trick i was taught in the J.C. welding shop for the right amount of acetylene is: open the act valve untill the flame seperates from the tip, then close it untill the flame re-joins the tip and your act will be almost perfect every time.

once you open the oxy you will notice the flame goes from orange/red to white and blue, look at the blue cones coming out of the pre-heat holes, they are the small ones around the big center hole (the center hole is the high press oxy) when the tips of those blue cones look nice and sharp you're almost there, then hit the high pressure oxy lever and usually you have to adjust the oxy just a little bit more to get a neutral flame.

when looking at your neutral flame, hit the high pressure oxy lever and look at the center of your flame. You should notice a nice and long white looking streak. fire up your dirty torch and look, clean it and then you'll see the difference.

far as cutting, a smooth steady sweep is what it's all about. Be as comfortable as you can, cut in a direction that you can see what's going on, away usually provides the best view. when you are cutting at the right speed etc, it should sound like paper tearing

good luck

 

[anthony_harris]

With a neutral flame, the little cones will be nice and sharp and not blurry or fuzzy around the edges.

 

[RufusTheRam]

yeah, just preheat the first inch or two max... the heat of cutting will carry the preheat in front of the cut the rest of the way. Ayra described the proper flame, etc. about as good as you can without pics...

 

[Danger Ranger]

oh yeah...

WEAR GOOD GLOVES!!!

I was hot doggin it one time with no gloves and guess what... i found out what a 1200 degree flame does when it's 2" from your hand

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

oh yeah...

WEAR GOOD GLOVES!!!

I was hot doggin it one time with no gloves and guess what... i found out what a 1200 degree flame does when it's 2" from your hand

Is it bad when you set thick-ass leather gloves on fire?? :flipoff2:

 

[Danger Ranger]

Is it bad when you set thick-ass leather gloves on fire?? :flipoff2:

NAH... you're fine, keep cuttin' :flipoff2:

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

I didn't even notice they were on fire till after I stopped cutting and couldn't bend my fingers from the position they were in. Had to get a new set of gloves 'cause those were in the permanent position of holding a torch.

 

[morpheus]

Make sure you have the right size tip in your torch. for material that small I use a 0 or 00. Makes all the difference in the world on the quality of the cut.

Speed of travel and angle of the torch are also very important. For me I've found it best to keep the torch angled slightly into the cut and not to travel too fast that you "outrun" the cut but not to slow either. How fast should you go ? only experience can teach you that.

good luck.

- jack

 

[cbwymore]

I've been playing with an acetylene torch lately and have been getting pretty good results by setting regs pretty much as stated above. One thing I was told to open the acetylene valve (on the tank) only 1/2 way as a safety precaution.

To get straight cuts I clamp a piece of bar stock along my cut line and use it as a guide.
.

 

[cbwymore]

Oh yeah and saftey first
http://www.doh.dot.state.nc.us/safety/wpsm/ch11a/27.html

 

[Arya Ebrahimi]

Couple more things, NEVER set the Acetylene pressure higher than 15psi, and I mean NEVER. Also, I only open the tank valve like a quarter turn and I've never had problems.

 

[RMW]

great info. i need to use my torch more (and better) this'll help.

 

[ondarock]

Set your act regulator to about 5psi, your oxy reg to between 10-15psi.
Ary

a couple things to expand on...keep the regs loose, like wound down to 0psi when not in use.....you never want to open a bottle with the reg turned up. It's hell on the internals.

crack the valve on the acetylene bottle....1/4 to 1/2 turn, then open the oxygen bottle wide open.....then set the regs as Arya said....
NEVER turn the acetylene reg above 15PSI.
high pressure acetylene is unstable and spontaneously explosive.

Keep the acetylene bottle vertical. The acetylene is dissolved in acetone (liquid) and the acetone is held in a media, like fiberglass.....if the bottle is tilted to transport, stand it up and wait a while for the acetone to run down out of the valve before opening the valve or you'll shoot acetone out at high pressure......

when you're ready to go (bottles open and regs adjusted), open the fuel valve on the torch, light it, then bring up the oxygen untill you get your neutral flame., open the cutting valve and readjust.....

a tip for cutting....similar to plasma cutting, watch the sparks/slag from the bottom......if your sparks are shooting back toward the direction you're coming from, you're going too fast.....if the sparks are going straight down, you doing good, or maybe slow...speed up untill you see the sparks barely tip back, then slow up a bit.

make sure you have flashback arrestors/check valves installed.....if you hear popping and cracking, you're too close to the work and overheating the tip and the gas is igniting INSIDE the tip.....if the torch goes out, then you're WAY too close......a couple cracks following by a whining noise means you're burning gas in the hoses and it's headed for the bottles....should never happen if you have flashback arrestors installed, but be forewarned.