Why not use propane???????

Well hell, now I want to go out and try this tonight. Think my neighbors would mind a little welding experiment in the middle of the night? LOL

Thanks for the great tips guys. I didn't know you could use propane either.

Regards,

Big Daddy Eric

 

An old body man that I know always complained about Acetylene for soldering - claimed Propane or natural gas was much better -

 

Yeah, but UPCHUCK...your WAY out in BC! You guys get everything LAST!!! LoL

Bill

 

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah, but UPCHUCK...your WAY out in BC! You guys get everything LAST!!! LoL

Bill

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sometimes thats a good thing aye? LOL

 

Kronikmotorhead, is your real name Hank Hill?? Do you sell propane and propane accessories???

 

[ QUOTE ]
Kronikmotorhead, is your real name Hank Hill?? Do you sell propane and propane accessories???

[/ QUOTE ]this aught to teach me not to read the last page first......all i could do was here hank hills voice when reading .......spooky!!!!!!!

there was a scrap yard back home that only used propane... didnt realise all the benifits though thanks...

 

Shit. what a great idea. i have been using it in my street rod and every day driver big block ford pickup for over 30 ,yrs. never thought of it for my torches. cheaper than gasoline right now. saves me at least a $1.00 a gallon vs gas right now. The "Bush" whacker sucks.

 

Not alot that shrub can do about gas prices...

Pretty cool thread! Gonna have to read more about this...

 

I wanna get sumthin clear... A little ol BBQ bottle lasts LONGER than a 75 cu ft bottle of acetylene? Or have I been forced to be awake 20 hours again...?

 

Yup I was thinkin' that kind of sounded like Hank Hill... my experience is that a 5 gal propane will last about as long as 4-6 accetaline bottles... here's some pics that should solve some of the mystery...

 

more pics

 

cuts clean too..........

 

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That sounds like very good advice from a very experienced guy.
If it works, it works and it's hard to argue with success.

Having said that - and keep in mind I'm not arguing against propane - I wonder why we use acetylene if propane works so well?

And if natural gas can be run into gas BBQ's that were designed for propane and work the same after a little burner tuning, why couldn't a commercial welding shop use natural gas?

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the radiator shop in town here uses natural gas to solder the brass radiators together. In dentistry we use natural gas and compressed air to melt gold before we cast a crown. We also use it to solder gold. I don't think natural gas gets hot enough to weld or cut. If i have something really big to cast (lots of metal to melt) i have to use my acetylene torch. Pure oxygen may make the difference??? duno

Very cool Kron! - it will make planning your weekends much easier - no need to make it to the welding supply before 5 PM friday! - Great Tech!

 

I think you would have to have a lot more volume of gas (natural Gas) to do the same job... I think it would take a different tip... one that's not made... for cutting heating and braising propane works great... there's Map gas too which is like propane only hotter... but that kind of takes away the coolness of just being able to use the BBQ tank for cutting.... I've used map and my advise is propane works just great...

 

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what's a henrob....

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A Henrob is one of those handy little new torches that people have been raving about on here. ..."Cut like Plasma" guys.

I don't know much more about them than that but I was saving for one to play with. Thought if I could save money on the tank and use the one for my bbq, I wouldn't have to save as long...

 

Maybe someone who has a henrob could try it with propane.... because it says it mixes the gas better I bet it would work.... you never know untill you try...

 

So, How many of you have more money in your tools than your project? Most I'll bet!

 

Boy isn't that the truth.... for some guy's it the tools... they just love the tools.... they line em' all up nice an neat... heck they got tools they don't even know how to use... all in that big shiney box... with springs on the wheels... ifd that your thing I guess it's OK but it just cracks me up...for others tools are a means to accomplish something like a road to get somewhere... they buy something because it gets them to a place they want to be...or it makes a job easier or faster... I could really go on about this... you know doers and watchers...

 

Yup... my rule for tools... If I have to borrow it twice a year, I need it in my box. If it cuts the job time by a 1/4, I need it. If it stops busted knuckles, I'm gonna give it a try.

 

[ QUOTE ]
I wanna get sumthin clear... A little ol BBQ bottle lasts LONGER than a 75 cu ft bottle of acetylene? Or have I been forced to be awake 20 hours again...?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, it lasts a lot longer. I bought mine & have refilled the propane once in the last year- & I have used prolly fifteen 125 bottles of O2.

 

Emailed this one to a mate as I have no idea about welding.....apparently it's very common practice out here to use propane (the things you learn!) instead of acetylene. It also has the advantage of being easier/safer to transport.

 

Ive been using Propane in the cutting torch for about 15 years- it works fine and is very reasonable cost wise.I brazed some cast yesterday with it thru the torch cutting tip!-so its versitile as well........

 

Awright, I'm definately robbing my BBQ when my torch setup shows up....

BUT, anybody verify the availability of the adapter for the NEW tringle-shaped-knob, overfill-protection-device BBQ tanks? The have a different fitting than the "round knob" one shown in the pic?

I'm not so sure about getting one filled at an industrial gas facility, but I know for a fact you CANNOT get the old style ones filled/exchanged from a common consumer propane vendor.

Thanks again,
J

 

I bought my propane bottle in Aug of '02, so it has the OPD (overfill protection device). The on/off valve is triangular. My torch was bought at a pawn shop & is fairly old. Its a Victor w/ Victor gauges & I didn't need any kind of adapter to hook it to the propane bottle. I did, however, try to use my propane bottle on another guys torch that he used ace on. His ace fitting wouldn't work w/ my bottle.

 

I went outside to look at my bbq bottle because the new ones have big threads on the outside(male), but they also have female threads inside,I wonder if it will still work?

 

We use a propane floor buffer at work, tank looks the same as bbq tank. the law only applies to home use tanks , A vender said all you have to say is that it is for commercial use IE Floor buffer, forklift. I used the same line at a chevron that denied me propane, and they filled it after a few minutes of convincing. It might not work though if your tank is covered in bbq sauce.

 

AHA! I'll have a look at this "Blue Rhino" tank and see if its got those inside threads, I forgot some had those...

Beauty is, I have a gas station about 100 feet from my garage door, (almost too close to even use the torch!) and they exchange tanks, how freakin convenient would THAT be?

The old style tanks show up at the recycling center every once in a while, I was planning to grab a few for air tanks anyway...

 

glad i found this thread. a friend of mine has been useing propane for cutting for as long as i've known him (12 years or so) and swears by it. to tell the truth i thought he was a little nuts at first.

my question is in regards to welding with it. my friend has done a little welding with it but mostly uses the MIG. he said it takes a few more seconds to get the heat up at the start of the weld but once you get goin it works great. anyone have experience WELDING with propane??? how about WELDING ALUMINUM???? how would you go about ANNEALING aluminum with the propane setup??? these are my questions as i am on the verge of buying my own setup, FINALY!

i saw bug RYAN till he puts this thread in the TECH-O-MATIC. it is definately worthy...