Beginning welding

[Anonymous No.1757391]

I found an old oxy-acetelyne welding set for free, but I don't know when or if I'll need to buy more gas. How expensive is oxygen and acetylene, and where can I buy it?
Would I be better off just buying a cheap stick welder?

[Anonymous No.1757397]

Tanks are expensive, gas is a consumable.
Stick is cheap, but higher skill requirement then wire feed machines, limited utility on thin material but on the thick end of the scale is much more capable.
You need 220 for any real stick machine though.

[Anonymous No.1757398]

Oxy acetylene welding is supposed to be the easiest to start with apparently and it's also a lot more versatile a tool than a stick welder. I've been shopping for a good kit for a little while now and haven't decided on one.

For gas prices call your nearest AirGas

[Anonymous No.1757409]

call up your local "airgas" you can also use propane, that might save you some bucks.

[Anonymous No.1757661]

Don't learn to Oxy Acetylene weld, it's literally not used in the welding environment at all besides cutting steel
Get a cheap stick welder

[Anonymous No.1757787]

>>1757391
oxy acetylene welding is kin to tig welding in how it works, if you get good at that. you can tig weld.

However there are many safety concerns with oxygen and acetylene that can kill you if you don't know what you are doing.

[Anonymous No.1757917]

Here in Alberta oxy-fuel isn't used for welding at all. Its very niche. Instead you'll find it used for cutting and heating, that's it. They teach it in school, but your best bet is learning and knowing stick. A 200 Amp gas powered machine isn't cheap but it will allow to to reliably join steel up to 1/4" thick. Search the classifieds or nearby upcoming auctions. I have 2 Lincolns and a Hobart that I got for next to nothing. Some new spark plugs, a carb cleaning and I was up and running. My oldest machine was made in the 50's and doesn't start an arc very smooth but it gets the job done. You dont need a new machine. Try and find a gas or diesel in the 300 amp range.

[Anonymous No.1757950]

He's not opening a shipyard. You can do all sorts of welding with a gas torch around the house.

[Anonymous No.1758012]

Learn stick or flux core mig first. Gas is expensive.

[Anonymous No.1759808]

>>1757391
>and where can I buy it

You have no business welding if you have to ask this on here.

[Anonymous No.1760142]

>>1757391
I have been using it for years. I use it to braze copper and brass. I also love to cut copper and brass with the torch tip. You can braze steel but you have to use silver solder and flux. This is used to make jewelry and copper/brass sculpture. It takes a whole lot of heat to weld steel with. I love my torch sets.

[Anonymous No.1760143]

>>1760142
Forgot to add you can also use bronze rods and flu for steel.

[Anonymous No.1760145]

>>1757391
Oxyacetylene torches are neat and all, but it's also really dangerous shit. If you don't know anything about metalwork, you should put it on a shelf and start elsewhere. Other types of welders are also cheaper to run, and may be more versatile.

[Anonymous No.1760146]

>>1759808
True that. The pressure adjustments are critical to not blow up your hoses and tanks. Youtube is full of information on how to set your pressures and how to do it. Also if it is too old, the hoses and rubber in the regulators might be rotten. You can blow up a house if enough gasses leak out.
I had a buddy that left his set on in a work van and had it blow up in his face when he opened the back door. He is ok though. I love my torches.

[Anonymous No.1760147]

>>1757391
Look at the head and pelvis. Torch cut and brazed. Plus it is really cool to cut steel with all the sparks blowing everywhere. It is a very manly tool.

[Anonymous No.1760173]

A lot of places won't fill your tanks that you bring in, they want you to buy or rent theirs or you may have to get yours pressure tested. Air gas sucks, they bought up most of the good companies and they will rape you on their refill prices. If you can find a local non corporate supplier, I would go their first. Oxy-acetylene welding is a good skill to learn, especially if you plan on tig welding in the future, it's really good for learning puddle control. That said it doesn't get used much in the real world these days.

[Anonymous No.1760176]

>>1757398
No that's completely wrong. Oxy-Acet is equally hard as TIG.

Stick is the easiest because it's almost unfuckupable. You can make it look bad but it's hard to make it not strong.

[Anonymous No.1760214]

>>1760173
I bought my own tanks a few years ago and brought them to Air Gas for a refill. They talked me into trading them in for theirs because no 3 week wait time and testing every 5 years so I did. They have never questioned me since when I bring them in for a refill. It was around 40 bucks last time for a 125 cubic foot oxy refill. It takes a shit load of time for me to use 125 cubic feet.

[Anonymous No.1760215]

>>1760176
You can't use it on copper or brass so fuck it.

[Anonymous No.1760280]

>>1760215
Sure you can.
There's rods for arc brazing but Lincoln used to make a copper alloy rod for SMAW welding copper, bronze, and brass.

[Anonymous No.1760489]

"found". /thread

[Anonymous No.1760522]

>>1757787
Fucking this, read up how much bar/psi you need to have voor oxygen and acylene. Don't cheap out on the valves or tubes if you don't want alluhu akbahr yourself

[Anonymous No.1760552]

>>1757391
>found it for free
give it back Tyrone

[Anonymous No.1761114]

>>1757398
I was taught gas because its teaches you a lot of the method you need for other welding.

[Anonymous No.1761156]

>>1757391

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4086547-magnegas-revolutionize-welding-industry

you all should read this because its not often that a considered crackpot scientists comes up with a new type of matter called magnecules and actually creates and sells a product via a public traded company


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruggero_Santilli