curious how many still gas weld? i was told by a friend that if i wanted to learn to weld, buy a tank set up and practice. little did i realize, he meant practice, practice, practice, practice, practice. i am feeling confident enough to share my latest practice panel i finished up tonight. i have some more hammering to do as it has warped a little and i need to chase it out of the panel. i am not bragging and expecting weldporn to post it up on their fb page, but i am excited to see the lost art still going and challenging
i still like to gas weld exhaust stuff, but on a flat panel i mig, or tig. problem with me is old eyes. hard to see when doing gas or tig. mig is easier when "guessing"...uh , i mean welding
Warping is its biggest drawback but it can be over come with practice and patience. I learned in a Jr college class with bailing wire, coat hangers, hammer and dolly. A small tip and lower pressures than some recommend.A lot of stitching works best. I’ve even made motor mounts 1/4” thick that are still service after 45 years.
Still gas welding. Got the new stuff but that is what I'm comfortable with. Tig is much too fast for me. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I learned to gas weld at Tech School in 1993. For a while, I gas welded everything at home that was too thin for the old Lincoln Tombstone. I still gas weld exhaust and delicate stuff. You should see the kids at work when I break out the welding tip for the torch! I keep the welding tip locked in my toolbox because nobody else knows what it’s for. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I still gas weld stuff, most sheet metal I primarily do it it is a edge it flange. I mig everything else. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Just saying ... I once asked on a popular welding forum for tips on gas welding. I was considered the village idiot for even considering the concept. Needless to say, I am now banned from that forum. A friend of mine, while owns & uses mig, tig, stick, still prefers gas welding for panels. He claims he thinks he has more control ... he does great looking work. Controversial subject, some will claim you are a loona bird with no cage, while others will thank you and add context .... good on you
I took a farm mechanics course in school on a lark, to fill out my graduation credit requirements. The course was all hands on, no theory, and covered gas and stick welding, forging, and metal work. For me and my interests, it turned out to be one of the best courses I could have taken. That was where I started gas welding in 1958, and although I have MIG, TIG, and AC/DC stick welders, there are still plenty of occasions, where gas welding is the best solution. Gas welding is particularly handy when it comes to making repairs where the metal can't be cleaned. As one of the other members mentioned, the eyes can be a problem, but just like I had to break down and buy an auto darkening helmet, I have lenses that allow me to use reading glasses for close up work. Bob
Art form, makes building custom headers easy. Predictable with good results. In time got to where I could weld the (upper) backside of exhaust tubes out back unseen, by listening & timing weld rod droplets
Went to a state school in 73-74, course lasted a year. We had 2 instructors, an old guy near retirement age who taught gas, and a younger, wizard like guy who taught everything else. Even then, the older guy, Russell, told us that gas was obsolete, and nobody would ever use it, yet he could do magical things with a torch, and any material. Every time Russell would say that, I'd think, "not me, I want to build customs, and want to gas weld". Never saw Mac, the younger instructor near a torch, except to cut stuff. I spent a lot of time learning gas, even sectioning a 40 Ford pickup that oddly, turned out fairly OK. When it came time to learn tig, or heliarc to us old guys, my experience with gas made tig a helluva lot easier. That reminds me, I need to get my tanks filled.
Yep.....do most all my pipes and mufflers.....sometimes I amaze myself with the sound of duals.......
I've owned a cutting torch for many years, but do not have a single welding tip for it. Gas welding with a cutting torch head is interesting, to say the least. I can tell you it is possible, I can even braze with my cutting torch! One can learn to adapt! It is really hard not to warp stuff when gas welding with a cutting torch, its pretty difficult to really control the heat. Back when we first started dirt track racing, I welded several fenders onto the race cars with the old Lincoln tombstone welder. It wasn't very pretty, but it worked. Since I got my mig 30 years ago, pretty much everything has been welded with the mig, but I have done some braising and gas welding of stuff with my cutting torch since the mig arrived, the last time was a few weeks ago! Gene
I still like to gas weld when building headers. Mig welded headers have a tendency to crack right beside the weld. I don't have a Tig welder . It is on my list of tools that would be nice to have.
My welding shop instructor started us on gas. His reason was that it is very hard to do right, and if you learn how then going to tig stick or mig is easier. I remember running beads on sheetmetal, just going up and down the sheet with nothing but the torch, no filler. He critiqued us and wanted to see uniform beads in a straight line. easy in your 20s, like mentioned above not so easy with old eyes...
I took vocational welding in high school my Senior year. The first semester was all about gas welding. We had to run bead after bead on a coupon. They all had to be uniform. He had us clean the coupon after each pass. After several layers of beads were layed down in alternating directions, we had to cut the coupon on the cut-o-matic. If there was any porosity or inclusions, you did it over. The second semester was the same drill, but with stick welding. Lots of chipping and wire brushing. He was a retired pipeline welder. He taught us well but didn't tolerate any bullshit!
When I worked for the power company in Virginia, I grabbed the torch and was welding with coat hanger. A guy older than me came over , looked and said he never seen welding with a hanger. Never ever saw him weld either.
I still have my Oxy Acetylene kit even though I also have a MIG welder and an AC/DC TIG set. I wouldn't want to get rid of the O/A kit even though I don't use it very often. Because, when you need it, you really need it!
I took a course at a local welding supply shop. The instructor was a retired navy Sea-bee. He really knew his stuff. He told us that welding with old coat hangers was problematic as we could not be sure of the metal composition of the hanger wire. That was 40 years ago, and I still remember what he taught us.
Did a lot of coat hanger welding back in the day Exhaust mostly but floor and rocker panels as well. Once I got my Miller sidekick mig I never really did gas welding anymore. your welds look good and it’s another skill you have under your belt.
Love gas welding. Similar to @RMONTY, I learned in vocational school, though mine was part of A&P classes. With the new(er) tech it has its place, but it'll get anything done. I wanted to re-configure my steering setup on my pickup and decided to flip the spindle for the drag link do I didn't have to ream it in the opposite direction. Used a big #4 tip and welded 'er right up.
Only have a O/A welder, or rather, I have a set of tanks and a couple of different torches, one Dillon (more known as Henrob or DHC 2000 in your part of the world) and a couple of conventional AGA X11 torches. Great for welding, brazing, heating...
I learned gas welding in high school; it was a good primer for when I took up TIG welding in the Air Force. I can still gas weld, but I have to make a few practice passes first since I don't do it often. I've always wanted to try gas welding aluminum... that's quite skill in itself!
I've never welded with coat hanger....sounds like a pain. Filler rod isn't expensive, and it's clean, and already straight.
i must admit it has taken a while to get my weld to look like this. lots of trial and error. many disappointing attempts were made prior. there were times of discouragement that had me wanting to take my truck to a shop and have someone else deal with it. practice and more practice have gotten me here. thank you everyone for the encouragement.
I do MIG, TIG and gas. All have their advantages, you just need to know when one works better than the others!
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