Howdy,
> My FIL got me a Victor portable oxy-acetylene outfit for Christmas
> this year. A very cool gift.
Nice!
> I know enough to be able to set it up and cut metal, which of course
> is going to be its primary purpose, but I thought that it would be
> fun to learn to weld with gas. So is there a favorite book out there
> for me to buy to pick up the basics? I don't have time to take a
> class, or I would. And really, I'd be more likely to use a stick
> welder or a MIG to actually weld when it counts. But I think gas
> welding would be a good arrow to add to my quiver.
I don't have any particular book recommendations, but I can tell you what
we did in the welding class I took when we were doing OA welding...
First, instead of setting your regulators to 7(ish) psi Acetelyne and
35(ish) psi Oxygen, set both to 7(ish) psi. Switch tips/handles from the
cutting handle to the small "heating tip" that probably came with your
kit. This setup doesn't have the o2 blast lever and the tip has a single
hole maybe a couple millimeters wide.
Now setup your stuff to be welded. This is just like any other welding
setup.
Now light the torch, and adjust the flame just like you would if you were
cutting (i.e. acetelyne first, then add o2, then back the o2 off until the
blue tips in the flame align).
Now heat up/melt a weld puddle wherever you want the weld to be. Keep the
puddle size under control by raising or lowering the torch, travel speed,
etc. Use your other hand to feed in your filler rod (which, if this is
just screwing around, is a coat hanger. Well... A _metal_ coat hanger...
:-)
Pretty much, its just like tig, except you don't have as immediate a
control over the weld puddle as you seem to with tig and you have to put a
lot more heat into the surrounding metal to do the weld.
Just start trying it and see what you come up with. I'd probably use 1/8"
stuff to start, and maybe use setups that put the edges butted up against
each other with a 90 deg. v in between and concentrate on just getting the
weld puddle to flow the edges together without worrying about adding
filler yet. Of course, you wouldn't want to do that for a _real_ weld, as
the weld would end up thinner than the root material, but I think it's
probably the easiest way to go at first.
At least, that's what we did in the class.
Mark
(and, if you get much beyond that first thing there, you'll be a better OA
welder than I am, so take all this with a huge grain of salt! :-)
Mark
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