View Single Post
Old 10-21-2003, 08:53 AM   #12 (permalink)
Bill O'Rights
will always be an Alyson Hanniganite
 
Bill O'Rights's Avatar
 
Location: In the dust of the archives
Quote:
Originally posted by Peryn
When you hit the handle, adjust it so teh flame stays blue, but doesn't change shape/color very much. When you hit the handle, you dont want a significant change in teh flame. This way you blow out the metal, rather than altering the heat and flame characteristics every time you pull the O2 on. Also make sure to aim the tip in the direction your going to preheat the metal. Makes a smoother, faster cut then going straight up and down. I have found a 15degree angle works well, as much as 30 or even 40 in some instances will work nicely.
Peryn's got it down. I've been using cutting torches for over 30 years. And I worked in Welding Supply for about 8 years. Use the methods that he described, and you should be fine. Keep a good steady speed going, without too many jerky movements. If you hold the torch in one place to long, the slag underneath the cut will "rollback" and refill your kerf.

So far as pre-heating metal prior to welding goes...I've only ever done it to cast iron. Cast iron is tricky to work with. Get it too hot, too fast, and it'll crack. If it cools too fast, it'll crack. I always slowly pre-heated the work with a torch (the key being slowly), effected the repair (use nickel alloy rod), then covered the piece with sand allowing it to cool overnight. Works like a charm.
__________________
"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires." - Susan B. Anthony

"Hedonism with rules isn't hedonism at all, it's the Republican party." - JumpinJesus

It is indisputable that true beauty lies within...but a nice rack sure doesn't hurt.
Bill O'Rights is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360