lastcowboy32
Well-known Member
I'm a very experienced solderer. Water pipe, electronics, even production electronics, as in, there are products in peoples' hands right now, today, that have circuitboards with my hand soldering. (just don't tell them...)
Anyway, for my shop at home, over the last year, I picked up a very el cheapo wire feed, flux core welder and a torch setup. I have regulators, tips and such for both oxy-acetylene and oxy-propane.
I have stuck a few things together with the wire feed welder, but it doesn't seem to do the trick for me. It has a high setting and a low setting...nothing in between. Seems like it blows through thin stuff and just sputters a bead on top of anything thick.
In my reading about using a torch, I've read a lot about acetylene welding. It seems that the acetylene burning with a neutral flame produces its own shielding gas (CO2)...nifty.
So, one day I'm at the welding supply store, and I pick up a #6 welding tip for my torch, along with some RG45 1/16" filler rod (copper clad rod for mild steel).
With this, I've made a few repairs on thin parts...I've even used the cutting tip (with no oxygen from the trigger) and four of these little rods held together to weld some thick material. These welds are on farm equipment, and they've taken some abuse with good results.
So, I looked into getting the #15 and #30 tips for my torch and some 1/8" filler rod.
That, it seems, is equivalent to trying to buy a brand new Model T Ford. "It's a dying art." says my friend at the welding supply shop.
So...why is it dying?
I understand that acetylene welding isn't as fast as stick, MIG or TIG in a production setting. It may even use more consumables per inch of weld.
But, for me, if I can spend 100 bucks on a couple of bigger tips and get some reasonably priced filler rod of a good diameter, isn't that more cost effective than shelling out the money for a truly good MIG setup that could do the equivalent thickness (say, up to 3/8" metal, for argument's sake)?
So, are there other reasons that acetylene welding is dying? Will I never be able to make a weld that's as strong with acetylene welding vs stick, MIG or TIG?
Follow on question...why can't I use 70S2 TIG filler rod that comes in 1/8" thickness with acetylene welding. At first pass, it seems like the same application as RG45. It's a copper clad filler rod for mild steel. What gives? Something about the temperature of a TIG arc vs my acetylene flame?
The big question is, should I just give up on this fantasy of using acetylene welding to repair my farm equipment?
Anyway, for my shop at home, over the last year, I picked up a very el cheapo wire feed, flux core welder and a torch setup. I have regulators, tips and such for both oxy-acetylene and oxy-propane.
I have stuck a few things together with the wire feed welder, but it doesn't seem to do the trick for me. It has a high setting and a low setting...nothing in between. Seems like it blows through thin stuff and just sputters a bead on top of anything thick.
In my reading about using a torch, I've read a lot about acetylene welding. It seems that the acetylene burning with a neutral flame produces its own shielding gas (CO2)...nifty.
So, one day I'm at the welding supply store, and I pick up a #6 welding tip for my torch, along with some RG45 1/16" filler rod (copper clad rod for mild steel).
With this, I've made a few repairs on thin parts...I've even used the cutting tip (with no oxygen from the trigger) and four of these little rods held together to weld some thick material. These welds are on farm equipment, and they've taken some abuse with good results.
So, I looked into getting the #15 and #30 tips for my torch and some 1/8" filler rod.
That, it seems, is equivalent to trying to buy a brand new Model T Ford. "It's a dying art." says my friend at the welding supply shop.
So...why is it dying?
I understand that acetylene welding isn't as fast as stick, MIG or TIG in a production setting. It may even use more consumables per inch of weld.
But, for me, if I can spend 100 bucks on a couple of bigger tips and get some reasonably priced filler rod of a good diameter, isn't that more cost effective than shelling out the money for a truly good MIG setup that could do the equivalent thickness (say, up to 3/8" metal, for argument's sake)?
So, are there other reasons that acetylene welding is dying? Will I never be able to make a weld that's as strong with acetylene welding vs stick, MIG or TIG?
Follow on question...why can't I use 70S2 TIG filler rod that comes in 1/8" thickness with acetylene welding. At first pass, it seems like the same application as RG45. It's a copper clad filler rod for mild steel. What gives? Something about the temperature of a TIG arc vs my acetylene flame?
The big question is, should I just give up on this fantasy of using acetylene welding to repair my farm equipment?