Is there such a thing as an ... "enhancement" pill for my torch-wielding skills?

I'm having some issues with my torch set. I'm not sure if it's my lack of torch-wielding skills or if it's the torch set itself, but I'll elaborate.. I've literally been teaching myself how to use a torch. I've been teaching myself how to use each and every tool I posses as much as I can since there isn't someone I can call a mentor around. I know how to light a torch up, how to get the mixture right so I get the blue tip, and I've bent s**** steel with it a couple times. An old shifter stick is a much more different game than the thick steering arms on a spindle.

I'm trying to drop the steering arms on my squareback spindles to clear the wishbones since I'm running a dropped axle. A couple times, I have lit up the torch and gotten it to the blue tip and pointed it at where I'm trying to heat up the arm but it doesn't even get dark red after 10 minutes, let alone hot enough to bend. The steel does change colors which shows it's getting hot ... just not hot enough.

Maybe I just need a second set of eyes or a tip or I'm overlooking something? Maybe I'm just impatient and need to sit there for half a hour? Once again, I'm a rookie when it comes to using a torch, so keep that in mind. Here are a couple pictures of my set-up..

A thought of mine was it might not be big enough? But a friend ***ured me that's probably not the case.

(Yes.. That is an invitation for perverted jokes )

... Your two cents?

 

Where are the Ox and Act gauges set at with flow going?

And, if you can get a pic of the flame you got going.

It's not set right, as that cutting tip can do arms.

 

So you need the pill to make your welding rod stiffer. Get more flow and move the torch around.

 

I'm also a novice,but methinks you need a rosebud tip.And maybe bigger bottles-those may run out too soon.

 

x2 on the Rosebud tip.

 

So the general consensus is I don't have the proper tip to heat with? That's a cutting-tip?

But it's possible to heat with a cutting tip. Hm.. I'll have to get the numbers on flow on both bottles tomorrow and the shot of the tip. I did think the tip was too small to be enough getting the arms hot. I did move it around on the arm within a specific area but there wasn't any redness going on.

But thanks, guys! It makes sense that it's not properly set-up for heating. I'll have to snoop around and see if there's a rosebud tip here somewhere. I have another torch set-up with the taller tanks at a friend of my dad's shop but he's never in town (18-wheeler driver). It'll be coming home in the next couple months if I can catch him.

Keep talking, gentlemen.. Taking notes.

 

Ditto on a different tip, that is a cutting tip...

 

Googled "rosebud tip" ... This is what I should be looking for, right?

 

Yep-er.Gives a better even heat.

 

That is one ... smaller tips will direct more heat in a specific area. Get a few different size tips. Buy an older junk yard fender. Practice, practice & when you think you got it ... practice some more!

 

Not to start a flame war, as I did not read the other replies yet, but yes you can bend Ford arms with that cutting tip. I have done it to ford arms. Yes I have a rosebud also, but I use the cutting tip if it's already on the torch.

No, you can't drop a ford axle with one though

 

Duly noted..

Thanks guys.

 

Yep, your torch is pretty small compared to a lot of them including the Harris I have out in the garage and while it is great for packing out somewhere to cut a part off a donor rig it probably doesn't put out enough heat to properly heat the part to be able to bend it. The rosebud would help a lot in that respect. You might see if you can get a bigger tip for your torch to be able to flow a bit more though.

 

ok, I will take a pic in the morning, of my little teeny weeny Smith to show how small the torch body is, and the size of the cutting tip, and it's rosebud. I have dropped 33-36 axles with it, no problem. It is a very small torch body made for gas welding sheet metal. The rosebud really is not very big either.

 

I'll also say a rosebud isnt totally whats needed. I've never owned a rosebud, and always done bending with a cutting tip.

My bet is you don't have enough gas going out into your flame. Regulators should be 5-7 on the acetylene, and 10-12 on the oxygen (been a while, so someone correct me if im wrong) Not enough gas will make a colder flame, (ask me how I won my high school VICA welding contest)


THOUGH if you do go to actual welding with your torch, you will need to change tips.

 

Ya, I've done Ford steering arms with a cutting tip too... But it is MUCH easier and quicker with a rosebud tip. Like exponentially easier.

 

You can buy a rose bud type tip that will fit the torch head you have.
Those small bottles will run out very quickly with the flow pressure needed for heating. look up cyber weld on the net. They have decent prices and
quick shipping. Also you will need someone to maintain the heat while you manipulate the metal to the shape you desire. If you have not used a rose bud before be aware that they are very settings sensitive. if you do not have it set properly it will go out with a bang like a gunshot! Also be cautious about hear transfer back into the barrel. I have seen the barrels so hot that the mixture will ignite in the chamber! If this happens, simply and quickly turn off the acyetalene and let the thing cool.

 

At some point, I do want to take on gas welding. However.. That's a long way down the road and not the focus of this thread.

VICA Welding Champ in HS? And I thought being a runner-up for "King of CHS" was an achievement.

 

Texas, whats King of CHS?

I was in the tops all 4 years, Only kid that beat me came from a family that owned a welding shop.


p.s. how I won was realizing that they'd set the regs to very low pressure. We werent allowed to adjust them ourselves, so I had to get a judge to set mine. I think that scored some points, along with the fact I was the only one to have flowing bronze and penetration on my other welds

 

I've got a set of those ''mini torches'', your cutting tip WILL heat up the steel your trying to bend. A rose bud is nice to have, but if all you want to do is bend a steering arm your throwing away $40+.

 

Yeah I'm sure hearing that bang would really freak Matt out haha.




Posted using My **** Tracey watch and the full custom HAMB app

 

Actually.. I'm only legally considered "profoundly deaf" by the standards of the law. I can hear sounds that are above 95 decibels in one hear and 110 decibels in another. Anything less won't be heard. Possibly felt, but not heard. Sirens, train horns, open headers, stuff of that nature are all noise I can hear.

So.. Yeah, a bang would freak me out.

On the bright side, my hot rods' exhaust noise has to p*** my "standard".. If I can't hear it, it ain't loud enough.

 

Man, if you run out to your local weld shop, Victor I believe puts out a hand book that most shops give out for free (or very cheaply) that explains most welding operations. it really would do you good to pick it up and read through it. Honestly, gas welding really is mostly just sitting down with a book that can tell you the physical settings, and practicing on s**** material.

Your basically just melting the two pieces together and dipping some rod into it to add some filler material as you go. I know the real welder guys will call that an over simplification, but once you have that basic down you can go to town on learning the more technical stuff there is to know. Good thing about learning to gas weld is that it actually uses mostly the same skill set as TIG welding, so that becomes much easier to digest when the time comes, too.

 

just a thought: er 3, turn yer oxygen all the way open,, acety. about 1/4 of a turn,,

and get bigger tanks. you will drain those real fast...& get the free Victor book.

have spray bottle H2O handy.

 

Verde72 is right!----Go to larger tanks---Set acet. at 7-10 ---Oxy at 35-40.
Same setting for both cutting & rose bud tip.
Rule #1----Always buy Victor equipt.---No problems there.
I started with Victor in the USN in 1951, still using that brand today.

 

If this is a one time deal take your cutting head tip to the welding supply and get a larger tip. I'm sure the one that came with this set up will be small That will be cheaper than a rose bud. A rose bud will drain those tanks in no time.

If you want to build hotrods get the big tanks. your gauges and hoses will fit just fine. Rental or demurrage charges add up for a harry homeowner. Ask around. I found a supplier that fills them with no rental fee.

 

I'll second everything that's been said, check your pressures ( you sure one of those tanks isn't almost empty?)/tip size and you should be able to heat things with what you have, but it's very inefficient. I invested in a second handle and some quick disconnects so I have one handle set up with the cutting torch and one with a welding tip (which I also have a rosebud tip for) so I can switch from one to the other in seconds with no tools. I would also invest in a couple of flashback arrestors for reasons indicated above. My equipment is also Victor style, although not neccesarily from Victor. There's also some good vid's on Utube that will demonstrate what needs to be done if books aren't your forte.

 

Perhaps I should elaborate a little on my 2 handle strategy before I catch flack for being extravagant. My cutting torch is a heavy duty unit, with a large handle. It's great for hacking up big thick slabs of metal that are over a half inch thick, but it's not the handiest handle for doing delicate jobs like sheet metal welding. For that I use a medium duty handle which is much easier to work with, and the different handle sizes are something you need to be aware of when you go shopping for new tips. Until I had the 2 handles and quick disconnects, I too would grab whatever was on the torch and try to heat with the cutting torch. In the end it tended to waste gas, do a poor job and cost me money, so the present setup is much nicer. Also check the pressures required for the tips you are using since the recommendations above apply to some cutting tips, but not neccesarily yours, or welding tips, or rosebuds.

 

You should not run a rosebud on those little tanks... I'm not good at welding but make sure you are not using too much fuel... If your rate is too high you can be using the acetone in the acetylene tank...which could make one of those bangs you mentioned. As for the tip I have bent 1 inch round bar with a cutting tip. I have an 84 cubic foot oxygen and a 75 cf acetylene (I think).

Oh and bigger bottles will help reduce the amount of flame adjustment.

Here is my first attempt at welding 18 ga. so You know I'm not just flappin' my lips.

Double "ot" tip (00) and 5 psi both oxygen and acetylene, no filler rod.

 

I guess I'm profoundly illiterate... I thought the ***le said welding. Oops!