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oxy acetylene welding questions

67Satty

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I'm thinking about picking up an oxy acetylene setup for an old '60s Ducati project I've got. I need to do some heating up of rusted together stuff, take the cutting torch to other things, heat up and unbend some frame loops, some welding here and there - things like that.

I haven't done any oxy acetylene welding in about 25 years (back when I was in college). I found it really easy to do, much easier than when I did tried some mig welding. That seemed much harder to get the technique right.

So my questions are what kind of things are the oxy acetylene set ups good for, are the Harbor Freight sets any good, what are things to look for and good brands to look for when buying used from Craigslist and eBay, are they good for welding body panels on a car? Thanks for any advice you can give me.
 
To much heat for body work. No comment on the Harbor Freight but if you can't find some new equipment that was made in the USA then find some used stuff that was.
 
I have a used set that I bought 20 years ago and is invaluable. You just can't beat an o/a set up when you need some serious heat or for cutting plate steel. As far as gas welding sheet metal, I've done it but frankly, the HAZ is just too great and I end up spending too much time shrinking and bumping the metal back in to shape as opposed to MIG welding (which still requires smithing, just much less).

Yes, the old guys used a torch, but they also slung the lead on pretty thick.
 
Anybody ever play with a henrob?

[video=youtube_share;dBYhViwGwgU]http://youtu.be/dBYhViwGwgU[/video]
 
Anybody ever play with a henrob?

[video=youtube_share;dBYhViwGwgU]http://youtu.be/dBYhViwGwgU[/video]


I have one of those as well. I never could get it to work like the video, but in all honesty, after ruining a piece of windshield trim I was trying to surgically cut, I put the torch away and haven't looked at it since.
 
You can greatly reduce the HAZ by draping sheetmetal with wet rags, or light misting from a garden hose. The huge plus when gas welding sheetmetal is that the welds are much much softer and easy to work with. Been doing it for 30 years, tried everything, and when I want a weld that counts, I ALWAYS go back to my torch.
 
If your willing to learn, gas welding is a great tool, some of the best sheet metal guys use gas welding. It is an acquired skill. You can join sheet metal with bronze silicone rod in non structural areas. it is a softer weld and less likely to blow thru than you think. Almost every brand now comes from China, sad but the reality of today. I would buy a good used set and also back flash protectors and take the time to learn this art. The Henrob is an over rated tool. I still can not find anyone that has been able to get them to work on any thing.
 
Nothing wrong with gas welding if you do it right. Select the proper tip size for the job and have at it.

By the way, what 60's Ducati do you have? I have a 67 250 Scrambler - not running of course.
 
If your willing to learn, gas welding is a great tool, some of the best sheet metal guys use gas welding. It is an acquired skill. You can join sheet metal with bronze silicone rod in non structural areas. it is a softer weld and less likelyw to blow thru than you think. Almost every brand now comes from China, sad but the reality of today. I would buy a good used set and also back flash protectors and take the time to learn this art. The Henrob is an over rated tool. I still can not find anyone that has been able to get them to work on any thing.

I have a henrob and it works just fine.
 
Good used torch equipment is all over Ebay. You'll have better luck finding something American made buying used anyway.
 
Nothing wrong with gas welding if you do it right. Select the proper tip size for the job and have at it.

By the way, what 60's Ducati do you have? I have a 67 250 Scrambler - not running of course.

I actually have two. One is an early in the model year 1963 250 Scrambler. They are pretty rare and worth some good coin restored. I bought it as a really rough rolling basket and want to try to restore it to stock. Here's what one looks like restored:

1963 Ducati Scrambler.jpg

The other is a 1964 250 Monza that someone put a big-valve, big port head with big cam on sometime in it's past. This one is really rough too. I want to make that one into a Cafe bike.
 
No comment on the Harbor Freight

LOL! So...if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all? Hehehehehe...


Matt's got a bit more class than me, so I'll comment on the Harbor Freight. As far as what to look for with Harbor Freight, that would be the nearest Garbage Can...That's where that Chinese junk belongs. Rule #1 will tools (and it will never change), you get what you pay for. Stick with the good quality more expensive stuff and you'll end up with tools that are reliable, long lasting, work like they should and not cause damage to your ride or yourself.
 
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