The Armour Archive

I have been practicing my welding and cutting using the tin cans and some aluminum cans and my Oxy/Mapp torch. its now at a point where I can set that torch up every time to a welding tip and not have it go out once. My problem lately has been that I have spent a lot of money on Oxygen. about $8 for 15 minutes of working. Well, My dad comes in today with a big box that says Harbor Freight on it. Now I know he doesn't like harbor freight because they don't have the greatest tools and with him being an owner of a wood tool store and all, but he hands me this box that weights probably 100 pounds. I open it, and I find this: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/D ... umber=3395

I pulled out the carrier with the 2 tanks in it and he said well the tanks that they gave you were really poor quality so I went to the welding supply in dayton and was going to get them filled, they took the tanks and tossed them in a trash can labeled "harbor freight" and handed him 2 new tanks that are harris. so now I have a small Oxy/Ace set up.

the kit came with:
ncludes torch handle
cutting attachment and tip
#2 welding tip
air/gas tip
oxygen regulator
MC acetylene regulator
20 ft. 3/16'' hose, goggles
striker
carrier
10CF MC acetylene cylinder
20 CF type "R" oxygen cylinder
Oxy/Ace welder's gogles
3 sets of welding gloves
welder's apron

I have started my first black smithing project with it. I heated a rail spike and am pounding it into a hammer. I need a long necked hammer to set rivets on the inside of my helmets. So far I have cut the hole and widened it for the handle. I did this by heating and pounding with a cold chisel so I didn't loose any metal. and I have shaped the profile and tempered and heat treated it. I am going to a machine supply on friday to pick up a 1/2 inch or so ball barring to weld to the tip so I can pein rivets really well.

one question though, when I weld the barring to the end of the stake (I am flatening the tip first) once I get it clamped where I am going to weld do I pre-heat the joint, then apply the welding rod with flux? or do I just add the rod and flux without a preheat? I can't remember because I have just been welding small things that get red-hot really fast and using low melting weld rod.

also, with my balls, what sizes would you recommend. Hal your advice is wanted. as I remember you seem to like balls.
thanks!
~Casey

Where you live? i work in dayton. I go to the Harbour Freight over on needmore all the time.

I think it was the one a bit south on 75 in Springboro. We actually live 30 min south of dayton so he drives past it every day. He said they had it marked at $150 off the regular price because they were trying to get rid of it.

cwr1000 wrote:I think it was the one a bit south on 75 in Springboro. We actually live 30 min south of dayton so he drives past it every day. He said they had it marked at $150 off the regular price because they were trying to get rid of it.

nice...

Welding the 1/2" ball to the end of a RR spike.
It will get hot enough as you start to weld.
After a bit the whole ball will be red.

Have fun and be safe.
Be sure to turn off your gas when not in use.
It has a way of leaking out if left on overnight.

Hal

Halberds wrote:Welding the 1/2" ball to the end of a RR spike.
It will get hot enough as you start to weld.
After a bit the whole ball will be red.

Have fun and be safe.
Be sure to turn off your gas when not in use.
It has a way of leaking out if left on overnight.

Hal

Don't worry the man who taught me to weld was a retired highschool teacher of industrial arts, he was one of the old-fashioned teachers who you know, cares about the equptment, he was a major stickler about turning off the gas and he taught me the order of; shut down the flame, close the tanks, drain the regulators and hose and then turn the regulators off.

there is one attachment that I don't know what to use it for. it says its an air/gas tip. but I have only seen them for propane and I don't want to run acet through it without reasearch first.

thanks!
~Casey

That's a great little kit. It's an import torch but so is mine and I can oxy-acet weld well enough with it to impress even old timers so don't let anyone tell you that the equipment will hinder you. Sure a nice victor or harris is great, but it's not a requirement for good welds. Skill and experience is what you need for good welds. I would reccomend sticking with oxy/acet for a while before you go to mig/tig as it will give you a really solid foundation for welding skill and i've noticed people who rock with oxy/acet pick up mig/tig really well and seem to just have more intuitive welding skill.

Practice using all the tips and welding thick stuff as well as very thin stuff. Even try seem welding 1/16'th sheet and see how clean you can make your beads. Eventually you will get good enough that your oxy/acet welds will look like they were done with a high end tig welder. This is also nice because if you do get a mig or tig and you run out of argon in the middle of the night you can always crank up your oxy/acet rig and finish a project. Oxy/acet as far as i'm concerned is pretty much a must in a shop just because you can't really pre-heat very well with propane and arc welders are purely for welding(no heating).

You might in time want to get yourself a welding hood. They can be a little more comfortable then those stock glasses they come with and of course offer more face protection.

Also get yourself some brazing rods [url=http://cgi.ebay.com/SILVALOY-BRAZING-RODS-SILVER-SOLDIER-5-COPPER-AC-BRASS_W0QQitemZ360032997721QQihZ023QQcategoryZ66999QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem[/url]like these stay silv style rods[/url] and practice some brazing. It can be really handy for copper and brass. Also those white rods at your welding store (the flux coated brass) are awesome when you want to weld steel to brass or steel to copper (dissimilar metals) using your torch. Oxy acetlyene is very versatile, and is practically a lost art. If you get good with it you almost become more artist then welder.

Also one little caveat, you will probably want to upgrade your tanks at your local airgas or gas supplier if you weld a lot. But when you do exchange your tanks for bigger, jump up a few sizes. Trust me. If you just exchange your tanks for the next biggest size, and then do so again and again you lose your shirt on each trade in. Unknowingly this cost me a fortune. So it's best to go from those small tanks to a 40 or 60oxygen and similar acetylene. I'm guessing you prolly have a 20oxygen and an MC acetylene? Those are excellent for portability but you'll prolly find they don't last you to long.

This is my setup, not overkill at all and this lasts me pretty good. I think this is a 60oxy and B tank acetylene if I recall right.




maybe it's just the devil in me, but I love to play with fire.



Have fun and enjoy your brand new setup. Show us some pics of your welds when you get going.

well I just spent 2 hours trying to weld 2 ball pein HF hammers together. I took out both handles alligned and clamped to tack it and get my first weld so then I could reposition and fill in. well, it didn't go so well. I don't have any "welding rod" so I have been using some 18g mild steel wire that I have laying around left over from a maille project. well, I get the wire to flow wonderfully. and I can get the hammers cherry red and ready to cut. but I can't get the wire to stick. it flows in and doesn't bond to anything. is it because I don't have any flux? Bah I am lost. I know I have the tip set up right and I know its getting hot enough, but there is no bonding.

thanks
~Casey