The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop oxyacetalene welding

I am a heating and air conditioning installer/tech and am more familiar and comfortable with a torch in my hand then an arc welder. does anyone have any experience out there with welding sheetmetal with oxyacetalene? What brazing rod would work best? Is there a good manual on the subject in print?

I used to do a lot of brazing & gas welding back 25-30 years ago when I worked in a body shop. You would be much better off IMO to get a decent mig welder. It is much stronger, cleaner & easier to use once you get used to it. Back in "the day" there were two kinds of brazing rods, one coated with flux and one just brass and had to keep sticking it in a can of flux as it was used. I have mig welded stuff with a cheap welder & if careful doesn't distort the metal like gas welding & even brazing can do.

On the other hand I know a older body man who gas welds and swears by it, says he can do better than a mig.

Hi tinknocker,

An interesting thread on welding here https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=463865&fpart=1 Like you, I am more interested in gas welding since I have the setup already. If done well, it can leave a tiny bead that is soft and easy to grind. Also I love being able to see what I'm doing without the dark hood. Unfortunately the heat affected zone is much larger than mig or tig. I found a few books at the library and Victor puts out a Welding, Cutting and Heating Guide that lists gas pressures for various size tips. I think practice is going to be my best teacher though. The welding supply shop I use gave me the Victor guide and sold me W1060/R45 and A52 R-60 steel filler rod.

tinknocker,

There is another option out there that you might be familiar with. Blowpipe folks use an arc welder, a carbon rod (AirArc) and silicon bronze welding rod to join sections of blowpipe.

When you strike an arc, the carbon rod turn white hot and you use it for the heat source to melt the bronze rod. It does this pretty fast and the heat is contained to the immediate area. I could see a person tacking panels, but don't think it would work well to run a continuous bead. Just another (strange) idea!

Stuart

Just a nitpick, brazing isn't welding. It can be quite strong, but welding melts the two pieces of metal to be joined together, while brazing solders two pieces of metal together with a dissimilar metal.

If you can weld with gas you can weld with TIG and get precise control over heat and filler. I bought one of THESE and did a review HERE.

Every inch of welding I've done on my truck has been with that little jewel and it's worked flawlessly the whole time.

Woody,
Nice job on the razor blades!
Dan

To set the record straight, I did not weld the blades with the Invertig, I welded them many years ago with a professional Miller machine when I worked in a jet engine repair facility doing a lot of thin-gauge exotic metal welding.

Not sure I could duplicate that feat today, more from lack of daily practice than any shortcomings in the Invertig.

Thanks so much for all of the information. I am not fond of wearing a mask, but wil probably end up getting used to it. I,m sure things have improved equipmentwise from my frustrating days in the welding booth back in junior high shop class.

Tinknocker
I too am a HVAC tech, trust me all disciplines of joining metal will be used in a restoration at one time or another. Enjoy it!! It will be something you can use down the road

Woody what kinda $$$$ do you have in that TIG

TP

Tinknocker, I can't recall exactly but I got a "demo" for around $700-$775. I picked up a couple other things from them at the same time. Call them and tell them you heard that sometimes there are demos available for about $700... and I'll bet they find one for you. Mine was obviously brand new and had never been run. I know this because one of the plugs didn't fit.

Anyway, it's not a industrial unit but it works and it works VERY well for welding in a non-production environment. It's very lightweight and well built. Invest in a long argon hose and you can carry it around like a lunchbox.

I did a review in the Tool forum here so if you search for "Invertig" you'll find it. I also have a little overview review HERE.

Money well spent... IMO, of course.