Welding Tips and Tricks

Hi folks,

I have never used oxy before but am getting in to blacksmithing and it is useful for cutting, brazing, etc. and I want to get a setup. I bought a used set, mostly for the tanks, which includes really old Harris regulators, a few old torches and tips, etc. My concern is they are so old that they are unsafe to use and frankly I would rather spend the money on new than take the chances. I already reached out to the torch rebuild folks in Georgia and they indicated it was too old to be able to rebuild. I would like recommendations on a new setup, also some info on what type of regulators I need. It seems like my tanks use an usual acetylene regulator. I appreciate any help.

Smith Miller Medium Cut Oxy-Acet

We run this rig and an the equivalent in Oxy-Pro.

#GoBLUE

Hello Balyrion and welcome to the forum
Take a look at Victor and the Smith outfits, they are both high quality. The shops I've worked in seem to only have had the Victor torches, so that's what I'm familiar with

So what actually seems regulators unusable. I mean I've used some that it was so fogged and wore that I couldn't read the numbers and just guessed and did as best as I could for 30 seconds of cutting on a neighbors farm and had really good success. Would I do it again-probably not but I had to do what I had to do and don't reccomend it.

You can easily replace gauges for very little money. Then just try the regulators. Even if there old they will be fine if they were used lightly, you will know right away if they leak or don’t adjust properly.

Thanks for the replies. The main concern I have about the regulators was contamination. My understanding, which may well be incorrect, is that it can be extremely dangerous. I don't really know enough to judge but I really don't want an explosion in my garage. I know the outside of the lines and stuff is nasty/oily etc. I don't know how to tell if this has affected the interior of the lines and regulators. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.

I bought a small oxy-acetylene setup about 12 years ago, for blacksmith work also...what I did was take them over to my local welding shop and asked if they could check them out for me and make sure everything was working properly. I can't remember how much they charged me, but it wasn't too bad, like $35. It was worth it, IMO, as they checked all the fittings, hoses, torch, etc...I thought it was money well spent for the comfort level alone. Something to consider. It worked out well as I have had them fill my tanks over the past dozen years...and you'll need to get yours filled somewhere.

Acetylene can be very dangerous, it's not like argon or oxygen, so be careful. Oxy-acetylene is a good setup to have as a blacksmith so you can braze and cut as you point out, my instructor had told me to get a set first, but welding with gas is an art in itself. Until I got an inverter recently, the majority of welding I had done was in the forge, and have never gotten too good at welding with gas as I use it mostly for cutting and brazing. Welcome to the forum.

Alan

Thanks, I'll take them in and see if that is something the guys will do for me. I have been using airgas so I will see if they are willing to have a peek. I appreciate the help, looking forward to getting this thing fired up.