oxyacetylene questions

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for quite a while now i've been wanting to buy my own welder. i'm currently using my buddies cheap mig, and have gotten decent at it, but haven't ever used flux-cored wire w/ it, and it doesn't use gas.   i've been thinking about getting an o/a kit and just buy bottles or somethin from local welding store.  before i jump into this let me tell you that i have never really been around o/a but i believe it's something i could easily figure out b/w me and my dad.  i preffered this process over anything else because of how much you can do with it, and it's a hell of a lot cheaper than an arc welder.  im only 17 and pay for most everything besides room and board, so of course money is tight.  if i could get a good intro to this process any help is greatly appreciated.  i would like to learn as much as possible before just jumping into it.thanks, sloan
Reply:Hi Sloan,are you thinking of buying a used oxy-acetylene outfit?Because for the price of a new one around $600 with full rental tanks(where i live it costs $99 to lease 1 tank for 3 years)you could get a decent stick welder .Buying electrodes is also much cheaper than filling cylinders all the time,and you can weld much thicker metal.I started out buying a 110v Mig pak 10 than i got a 220v mig pak 15 and the last welder i got was a lincoln ac225 tombstone which i love and it only costs$365 brand new.Last night i found a used set of Purox oxy-acetylene torches with 2 brazing tips,cutting torch,50 ft hoses,2 spare gauges,tip cleaners ,goggles and cart for $80.This will be nice for cutting thick metal ,I'm used to cutting with angle grinder,chop saw and recipricating saw.Good luck whichever way you decide to go,.
Reply:You are using a wire feed welder without flux core wire and without gas? What do the welds look like? Poop I'm sure! An O/A welding rig isn't all that inexpensive. Plus its more difficult to use, more dangerous to handle. I'd suggest, since you're familiar with the wirefeed process, to pick up a used chinese MIG and run Flux Core. It's going to be the most cost-effective setup for hobby welding. If you can swing it, I'd highly recommend one of the 110v Lincoln Migs, as they are excellent entry level machines and most of them will give you the option to run gas down the road.
Reply:well i wasn't sure how much the gas would cost.  didn't expect it to be all that much.  the welds i make now have the color of poop, but don't look bad.  i've welded a table and treestand already with it.  beause the metal came out of the woods, and never got around to buying flux-core.  but i trust it all.i dont need to weld or cut anything over 1/2" most of the time.  i really just wanted to be able to weld aluminum.  i know i can do that with a tig, which is what i would love to have.i was also looking at the HF tig(i know, i know, harbor frieght=no good)  but i'm willing to try it.  the only thing is i don't know if they take a foot pedal and i wont tig w/o a pedal.thanks for the replies too though
Reply:also, with a tig or something you still need argon, or can you use flux-cored rods?
Reply:You can also do aluminum with MIG. And you'll get a MIG that can handle Aluminum way cheaper than a TIG. If you get one of the new Lincoln MIGs you can add on their new cheap spool-gun for 'easy' aluminum. This is pretty much limited to thin sheet on the 140amp unit, and not a whole lot more on the 180amp, but it's possible and relatively cheap to get started.To be honest, I wouldn't trust a tree-stand welded with solid core MIG without Gas... There was a picture floating around here I thought of a fella that fell out of his tree-stand when a strap broke... Not a pretty site at all.As far as the Harbor Freight TIG, I have one, it works great. But it won't do Aluminum because it's a DC only machine. I don't find the footpedal is a real huge limitation for lots of stuff I do. The biggest hassle I've found is that it has a hot-start feature that is just a little too hot for thin metal work. If I could adjust the hot-start down for thin sheet I'd be completely happy with it for what it is. For anything more than thin sheet it works great, makes a nice bead, and all things considered is a great learning tool.And I think it's on sale for $199 again. Overall, if I had to keep one of my welders and give the rest away, I'd keep the HF TIG. Pretty sure I'd give up my Lincoln SP175+ even. I like it THAT much.
Reply:Well I for one wouldnt be affraid of O/A. Most of the people that are against it, just never learned how to use it, and I mean USE it, or they are plain ignorant. Not to fault them as most welding stores are ignorant as well. If you not looking at doing a TON of work, picking up one of the portable torch sets with the small burgular bottles is a great way to get started. Yes they arent as economical to fill, but if your using the set occasionally they will last longer then you think. As you get more and more into it, you can always buy larger tanks down the road, and keep the small ones for portability if you ever need to do field work. I believe Harris/Lincoln has a port-a-torch setup sold everywhere for very reasonable, including the small tanks. In my personal shop I have O/A, Mig, Tig, Arc etc. , and most of my work is car restoration, aircraft, motorcycle, engine overhaul and the like. Of all the processes, O/A is used the most by far, followed by Tig, then WAYYYYY at the very end of being used a couple times a year is Mig. But then again I dont do Ag welding or build bridges.
Reply:OP,IMHO you won't go wrong starting to learn to weld with OA.  If you look around (Craigslist) etc.  you should be able to find a good (full size) OA setup with "owner bottles for less then $300. Like Makoman1860 said, you will find this tool very useful in your home/shop.  It is unfortunate that many schools don't teach youngsters the "art" of OA welding and the "still" many uses for the process.I am just learning to tig weld (after 30+ years) of construction welding with other processes and over 20+ years of A/C fabrication.   I am sure that I would not be as far along (still a long ways to go) in my learning of the tig process if it weren't for my ability to OA weld.  If I were you I would look for a OA setup with a quality torch included (I purchased one this winter that came with a Victor Journeyman torch with cutting head, 4 tips sizes and three welding tips and a rose bud for $240!!!   Hope this helps and have fun!TimA rich man is not the one who has the most but instead one who needs theleast. Retired IUEC local 19AK Bush pilot,  Chaplain  CMA Chapt 26victor torchesMiller110v migDynasty 200dx (new in Dec 08)Hypertherm PM-45MM-252 (new 2/09)
Reply:I have to concur with Makoman about O/A. I started with fluxcore and MIG, then stick, and finally O/A. All still have their place in my shop.  It took me a year to assemble my O/A kit (with advice from Mako and several others who know what they are doing). I mostly build bicycles and knew I wanted a small airline torch and some decent regulators. With that in mind, I started shopping eBay and Craigslist, until I got what I wanted for good prices. If you don't intend on doing heavy cutting or building tractors with the torch, you really don't need anything large. Of all the welding processes, I must say I enjoy O/A the most. Since I am only a hobbyist, I don't need to weld fast or do any large scale production. O/A is mostly quiet and civilized without all the sparks and commotion of electric welding. I am not quite as far over-the-edge as this guy, but I understand what he is saying about the Zen thing.http://www.airbum.com/articles/ArticleZenWelding.htmlLast edited by smyrna5; 04-01-2009 at 10:43 AM.
Reply:ok, so i went out on sort of a limb and bought a 2 lb. roll of flux cored wire, it welded GREAT!!  hers a couple pics of my first real welds:some beads:another one of the same beads:picture of two pieces of that flat bar but jointed together:other side of the butt weld:the reason the weld in the 3rd pic looks wierd is because after welding both sides i took it over the cross member holding the bottom table of my welding table on, trying to break the weld.obviously it didn't do nothing after bending it both ways and back.please critique as much as possible...Last edited by fishon91; 04-01-2009 at 10:49 PM.
Reply:I have a mig and O/A rig. I love gas welding cuz it's slow and quiet and most of my projects are not huge. Now when it comes time to make the bumper for my truck, I will reach for my Lincoln.Learn gas welding and it will serve you well in other processes.Lincoln PowerMig 180cVictor O/ABandaids and aspirinI don't know what I don't know!?
Reply:Originally Posted by skywestI have a mig and O/A rig. I love gas welding cuz it's slow and quiet and most of my projects are not huge. Now when it comes time to make the bumper for my truck, I will reach for my Lincoln.Learn gas welding and it will serve you well in other processes.
Reply:Originally Posted by chicksdigwagonsThen you'd really love TIG! Slow, Quiet, and you never have to deal with figuring out what to do with a lit torch when doing small piece work.
Reply:Wa happened to tha pics????"Any day above ground is a good day"http://www.farmersamm.com/
Reply:sorry:
Reply:i really liked the flux-core, but i really wanna be able to weld aluminum.  i can make money ff aluminum more than i could steel by building dog boxes and such.
Reply:baby steps. you just got started correctly learning to weld steelMillermatic 211weldpack 3200 squirtgunsquare wave 200victory journeyman kitHypertherm 30xptoo much other crap to listtinkerer extraordinaire