expensive welding gas

[Jim.ME]

I was told by welder that does use LP for cutting, that it doesn't work well for gas welding or brazing.

That is true, especially with thinner material. The acetylene is a hotter more concentrated flame.

 

[drsportster]

At the Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis they have an acetylene generator on display Am old one .

 

[kencombs]

I know of an older fella that went fishing with carbide.. He would put some in a pop bottle with a tight cap - put in a little water and cork it and sink it -- in about 30 seconds -- BOOM ! fish for supper !

Works, but I sure wouldn't want to wade in that creek!

 

[bc]

That is true, especially with thinner material. The acetylene is a hotter more concentrated flame.

I tried propane for a while but switched back to acetylene cause propane caused a lot more splatter and didn't work as well for fine clean cuts. Of course it could have been me or the tip I was using.

 

[Caryc]

Carbide and water makes acetylene.
Old miner's lamps made it that way.
Houses were lit with it also.

I had one of those miners lamps when I was a kid. I also had the "Big Bang" cannon that made the big bang with carbide. You filled the body of the cannon with water and the breech plug had a little scoop on it that you filled with carbide power from the tube. When you put the breech plug back in, it dumped the carbide into the water creating the gas which was ignited with a sparking device on the breech plug. Great fun for a kid.

It was great fun to find a nest of caterpillars and push them into the barrel then hold a piece of cardboard a couple feet in front of the cannon, then fire the cannon and watch the caterpillars go SPLAT on the cardboard.

 

[moresmoke]

I was told by welder that does use LP for cutting, that it doesn't work well for gas welding or brazing.

Propane will also cut through multiple layers of steel. Good sometimes, but makes it harder for jobs like cutting bearing races.

I am jealous of some of the prices you guys are quoting. Last B acetylene I got was $75. Half of that was fees and surcharges. Enough to make me switch to propane for most things now.