Need a little cutting torch help

I just got a little torch setup, one of those Victor 100 rigs that is portable and you carry around in a plastic green case. All I have currently is a cutting torch, no brazing or welding tips.

I have three questions. 1-I'm in a pinch, can I use the cutting torch to heat up pitman arm red hot(but not to cut, of course)? I just want to bend it down like 3/4" .

2) what size tip should I get to heat up screws and bolts and the like to help remove them?

3) what size tip should I get to heat up something like a pitman arm?

4) where should I get them? Local airgas is about $50 per, which is too rich for my blood.

Thanks!

 

You should be able to use it for your pitman arm. Just make sure you let it cool by itself or even wrap it up so it can cool slowly. #5 tip should be good for heating the arm. #2 will do fine for smaller things.

 

i like a rosebud tip for heating something to bend

 

Thanks you guys! Yeah I actually have a rosebud tip, but its huuuuge and for a bigger setup than mine anyway, so I guess its not much good LOL. I gotta ebay it.

Thanks for the tip deadend cruiser! That's a good idea, I gotta see if I can come up with something to wrap it in.

 

Cutting tips are fine for heating. Use a neutral flame though.

 

You might be able to get a rosebud tip for the cutting torch. They are available for some torches. It would be a good investment-------.
Bob

 

You can't use a rosebud with a little acy tank. The tank doesn't produce enough gas.

 

yep, go buy a rosebud and use that. And let it cool on it's own.


BTW: Did u ever find my 4CV's????????

 

Mike is right. It'll probably light up fine, but you'll very soon run into problems with the whole gas dissolved into acetone thing. ( can't remember the specifics right now. )

 

Just use your cutting tip to heat the pitman arm. Use a neutral flame, not an oxidizing flame, and don't put the cone up against the arm. Hold the tip back from the part and keep the tip moving all over the area to be bent untill it turns cherry red. Make sure you have the part securely held and are prepared to make the bend BEFORE starting the heating process. When you've made the bend let the part cool slowly, do not quench.

Frank

 

You can probably find some Victor compatable tips at Harbor Freight a lot cheaper. You are not gona do much heating with that little MC tank though. Have fun though.

 

All kinds of tips cheap on epay.....Ole Pork

 

If I was doing it, I would place your torch tip on your steel bench with the tip facing up, maybe propped up with two bricks. Next, place your part over the top of it about an inch away,using your bricks. Watch it and when it shows signs of glowing red,from the top,slowly induce the bend with a large Crescent wrench or open end wrench the thickness of the pitman. These arms were heat treated and you have just ruined that,so I would quench in water to bring back some of the heat treatment. Just my two cents. Mikey Houston County Welding

 

This would most likely result in a "glass hard" portion in the arm. There is not much point in quenching anything that isn't red hot all over, as the hardening is guaranteed to be inconsistent.
Also, there are very few water hardening steels around, far more likely an oil hardening steel.
And after hardening, it would certainly have been tempered.

If you let it cool slowly, the worked area will remain soft and it might bend.
If you quench it in water, the worked area will be hard and, likely, brittle, and it might break....

 

Thanks for the help you guys! I tried on a different piece of metal iwth the torch, its a number 3 tip evidentally. I just couldn't get it red hot without it starting to puddle, so I bought a #5 tip and hopefully that's going to work. I was able to use the #3 for about everything else that I needed it for though. Like I said I've never used a torch before, but it sure is coming in handy.

 

Find a junk arm or something similar and practice on it first. You don't want to burn through or puddle on the one you are bending.