I've had an itch to pick up an oxy acet torch for welding. Any thoughts on torch welding? Whats it good for and what is impossible to torch weld. Is it strong?
When you get an oxygen/acetylene rig, also get a Henrob torch. You will be able to easily weld cast iron and stainless. I spent most of today welding stainless with mine. I've been using it for 14 years and its amazing how easy it is to weld cast iron.
Torch welding is a skill that requires a lot of finish work if your doing sheet metal. The old master body men that did hammer welding,lead work,metal shrinking & all in between are few in number now days. In 1956 I was 14 years old & working at an old time body shop in Ft. Worth. I had a '47 Ford 2 dr sedan that my dad gave me. The plan was for me to work for the body shop which my Dads friend owned, to pay my for the Ford.That didn't work out to good for my Dad. I was mostly a sand boy & floor sweeper,with appropriate pay for my "skills". I only had one goal in mind, to have the Ford nosed & decked & a new black paint job done with me "helping" out. The task was assigned to 'old Tom who was the oldest employee in the shop. Tom took all the dents out,filled the trim holes left from dechroming the hood, deck lid & fenders by using the methods described earlier. That was just before Fiber glass epoxy & body filler came to be the material used instead of lead. The car looked just the way I had envisioned,I was so excited & proud of it, until my Dad got the bill that I could not possibly pay on my wage!!! I hope i didn't bore you too much!
This thread brings back those swell. good memories. Torch welding, shrinking, and hammer welding. I use to do it, and loved it!
Hello many: If you dont mind me asking, what Flux and Rod are you using for welding cast iron. Thank you Luke
Before mig, tig, and arc, there was torch welding. You can weld any material you can melt if you can control the heat.
I did my first weld in 1959 using a cutting torch and a coat hanger for rod as we did not have any weld attachments or tips.. You do the best with what you have that you can use. Later I got some brasing rods and glass flux. How all that shit held together I will always wonder. I still use the torch on sheet metal and on rusty used exhalst pipes. Todays coat hangers have shitty metal and are not fit to weld with.
when welding cast iron with the henrob just try using a broken old piston ring no flux clean area with grinder or wirebrush
and you can evan use copper wire old electic cable out of the house but dont let your old man catch you
Now your talking old school. My frist model A that I chopped and channeled in 52 was done with coat hangers. Altho I was lucky enough to have a buddy with a welding torch. I did some welding with a cutting torch also did some cutting with a welding torch. I remember when I got my first welding rods, I though it was the best thing since sliced bread.
When I chopped the 48 I did all of the welding with a torch and even though I have a mig most of the welding on the mods I am doing on the new cab will most likely be done with a torch rather than the mig. Bill Hines has been doing custom work for as long as anyone can remember and I don't think you will ever see a photo of him using a mig or tig to weld anything. All of his work is done with a torch. I don't see why using a torch to weld sheet metal has all the sudden become a revelation or a novelty.
Once you know what you are doing you can pretty much weld whatever you want. it is like old timer TIG welding in that aspect. I have welded chassis, bodies rear end housings etc with a torch. It is not hare to pich up but you should practice on mild steel scrap to begin with.
OxyAcetylene is also mighty useful for bending stuff, and not many seized fasteners (there are lots of them in Massachusetts) have been able to resist it's power. gets a charcoal or wood fire going like no other
Funny, I just picked up a torch set and some tanks from my stepdad this weekend. He's a bodyman and starting to pare down his tool inventory so he can retire. I came here to search for tips and tricks. I found a couple of videos on youtube helpful. I'm hoping to be able to teach myself to weld sheetmetal and eventually aluminum. I have mig welded but I always like learning new things.
In the old days, one could buy square cast rod. Grind a deep Vee in the two parts, use a big tip. Heat the rod red hot, and stick in in a new can of Lewis Lye for flux. Puddle it in and always keep some flux on the rod. Its best to clamp the broken part to something big, it may try to change shape with that much heat. Let it cool very slowly.
I didn't explain very well in my earlier post what I have been up to. I was taught how to gas weld back in the late seventies by a friend's dad who did nothing but gas welding for a living. To say he was proficiant would be the understatement of a lifetime! Soon after I found myself in the work force "aprenticing" in body and paint and resto shops around Phoenix. This was just about the time that MIG welders were becoming common shop staples and looked upon as about the greatest invention ever... One of the shops I worked in, the two main body guys were of the very old school and not only hammer welded but also leaded every seam, and when they found out I could gas weld they pushed me pretty hard keep at it. But by the early nineties I could afford a good mig for myself and that is what has done most of my stuff since. A couple of years ago I picked up a magazine that had an article on gas welding aluminum, and since I had never tried it, gave it a go. Not too bad. But what it did do was get my mind working about the "art" of gas welding, and hammer welding as well. these days the mig does all the chassis construction and such, but the gas rig handles the sheetmetal, and the exhuast stuff. That nice pliable weld is so damn easy to work with, and it doesn't crack like the hard MIG stuff, either. Definitely worth your time to sit and learn.
Gas welding the only way I ever repaired cast iron was with a rose bud and brazing rod (brass). Large V either cut or ground into the cast piece get is hot and flow the brass inthere until it filled the V then let it cool naturaly. The top of thre V wants to be 1.6667 the thickness of the iron. I welded up a casting on a 12 ton press once that was about 2" wide at the top. It was in a boat trailer place I worked at and it held for several years from what I was told.
Probably the favorite skill I learned. And useful to loosen rusted stuff, or torch cut out a pilot-hole drilled exhaust stud or bolt. Best for exhaust building...nothing else comes close.
I've got several sizes of o/a torches here from regular ones to a jeweler's torch and have found them pretty handy for welding and silver soldering.
I still think this is the best and strongest way to weld older body panels (before stressed bodies came out) older bodies talking early v8 back were 20 gauge late model jappers are 24 gauge and stressed gas welding changes the structure of the metal and weakens it.
With due props to Mr. Hines, he may be a case of not expecting an old dog to learn new tricks. After about a century of experience, he's in his comfort zone with a torch, and that's cool. However, I don't think his exclusive use of a torch means it's preferable to MIG or TIG. Probably more of a habit than anything. Bob
I have a Henrob as well. Any decent quality gauges can be used, but they must be accurate down to four PSI or less. Read the instructions on the Henrob, they work very well, but very unlike what you may be used to.
Dual Stage regulators work better when regulating low pressure, such as the 4lbs the Henrob torch requires. They are rather expensive. I bought mine refurbished to like-new condition from a welding regulator rebuilder. $80 apiece- Harris brand. This torch REALLY shines when used for welding sheet metal. Very concentrated heat so warpage is held to a minimum....jack
Back in the mid 70's a 80 year old man tought me how to gas weld without picking up the torch, I have done everything from chopping tops to welding up frame mounts but as I get older I get lazyer, I'll take the mig.
The Jalopy Journal
