Oxy/Acetylene for a newbie

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I been welding stick for around a year now and want to learn oxy-acetylene. Don't have the time to go to school for it so I have to learn it on my own. My goal is to learn this so I can make metal sculptures using small parts as nails to do so. Can someone recommend an affordable ($200-300) kit I can get to get me started, I know nothing about it outside what I have learned from a welding book so the more info I can get from experienced welders the better.I would most probably end up buying a kit from some online supplier as ebay, I see kits there starting as low as $60 ans I don't want to get stuck with some mickey mouse deal. Help!!!
Reply:eBay has several good deals here.  Go for the $200 Victor Super Range II kit.  Very easy to find consumables and supplies in most parts of the country.You're at the mercy of the local PR gas suppliers for the gas, though.
Reply:I bought a Victor Portable Tote at a place that is no longer open.  At that time the OA Kit was 20 dollars cheaper than other stores and he filled both tanks for free.  I exchange my tanks in Home Depot, not that cheaper but open on Sundays and anyway I save some money.  In PR a lot of the gas suppliers do not open on Sundays and only half day on Saturdays.  I had a little bit of trouble getting a cutting tip for my Victor torch this weekend.  They were out in Masso.  I will have to buy it in General gases or whatever is their name now.  In Masso they had all the welding tips and heating tips for my torch.  My kit came with a Cutting tip and a #2 welding tip that was lost.  I'm buying a new one next week, I have never welded with the OA Kit, just cut.  The portable kit in Home Depot is $299 with empty tanks.  Oxy is around $16 dollars and I cant remember the price for the Acet.  I'm not sure the price for the OA kit in Masso.  Thormold
Reply:Thanks Mac702 and Thormold, the Victor kit looks good, there are a few on ebay right now, have to check on the shipping here, had no idea that Home Depot had the oxy and acethylene here, will check that out!
Reply:make shore you get the victor kit, not a victor LIKE or TYPE kit. if its $60 stay away. i got a cheap kit to get by with and itwas just a waits of cash that burned up on me and could have been werse, the flash backs did not work at all i had flames all the way into my acet. regulator. i think home depot uses thorowbread gasses(blue bottles with a hores for a symble) get as larg a set as you feel comfortable moving around as you are paying mostly for service not gas so the small 10 tank is only $10 cheaper than the 155 tank. if you intend to cut also i would get a oxy tank 2X the size of acet. one.also for artsy stuff brazing  would be a good way to go, it will grind and clean up faster. defenetly wat to get a 4 1/2" grinder and some flap disks if you do not already have them. if you have not tryed them try one you will wonder how you lived without it befor. brazing will also be easyer to master than actualy welding with O/A, less heat needed and less efect on the serface metal you chose, a nice silver soder will also go nicely with the new O/A setup.the victors have built in flash back arester's and will last you a life time. they are safer and will pay for themselves over the time you keep them so dont go cheap here. also smith makes good torches and they have a real nice minie torch for jewelery that might be of interest depending on the size of your art idea's. i have a B tank in Acet, and an 80 in oxy. its a nice size for portability and still gives me adiquit burn time so i'm not running back and forth for gas. in the pic its a 60 tanks not the 80 i have now but they are close to the same size. i would advise aginst the porta torch as its tanks are small and verry little burn time, its for quick fixes not projects. you dont want to run for gas every time you get started.in the pic the 60 was reoplaced with an 80, the 80 reaches to the torch lines or top handle now.good luck be shore to show us some of your art when you get it going. Attached Images summer is here, plant a tree for mother earth. if you dont have time or space, sponcer some one else to plant one for you.feel free to shoot me a PM or e-mail me at [email][email protected] i got lots of time.
Reply:sorry forgot to spell check summer is here, plant a tree for mother earth. if you dont have time or space, sponcer some one else to plant one for you.feel free to shoot me a PM or e-mail me at [email][email protected] i got lots of time.
Reply:Bruchi,  Fun4now is right, I bought a medium duty Harris at Home Depot back in June, and have had some trouble finding tips and such here locally. I live north of Dallas so you would think that there would be no problem, but every welding supply I go to has a few odd and ends for Harris, and a huge!! full line of parts accesories for Victor torches. Don't get me wrong, I haven't used the Harris a whole lot, and it seems to be a fine torch, just a pain having to call around locally or waiting for the weldingdepot package to arrive. It may be a moot point because now I have all the tips etc. I thnink I'll need, but a lot of the local supply houses made a point to let me know that if I ever had a problem I'd have to ship the torch off to get it fixed, whereas a Victor could be repaired locally.
Reply:I have a port a torch set which I got at a garage sale very cheap but I wouldn't buy one unless it is a real bargain.  I run out of gas to frequently.  I might get 30 minutes of cutting time from a set of full cylinders.It's handy to be able to carry it off where access for any other type welder is impractical.  However, for a garage set up to do project work I think it will be frustrating.
Reply:yep the porta torch is good for sweating pipes for plumbers in installation or other similar light welding to brazing but cutting time is seriously low due to the size of the bottle. also using a rosebud for heating wont work so well as the acet. bottle cant release enough acet. from the acetone to feed the higher demands of the rosebud heating tip. summer is here, plant a tree for mother earth. if you dont have time or space, sponcer some one else to plant one for you.feel free to shoot me a PM or e-mail me at [email][email protected] i got lots of time.