Gasoline cutting torch

[trucker 40]

A cutting torch that uses gasoline.Anybody ever use one?Wonder what it costs.
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[Lanse]

Ive never used one, nor do I plan too...

Something about that whole concept just screams "bad idea" to me...

Plus, how are you supposed to purge the lines on that thing when you're done?? With a regular O/A torch, you just open the valve and let a tiny little bit of acetylene out into your shop, and it dissipates into the air pretty much instantly, and isnt a fire hazard. Draining gasoline out of a torch tho, would be another story.

 

[bill mart]

I've heard that the military and a lot of big time salvage operations use them.Priced out of my pocketbook range. Bill M.

 

[Ken Macfarlane]

Gasoline blowtorches used to be very common, burned alot of places down too! Not my cup of tea.

 

[Lanse]

Well, you can get a chinese one for $600!! How could this concept sound ANY safer??
fleabay

 

[trucker 40]

I called him up and I think he said 1800 dollars for the economy one.Made in USA.Still it would pay for itsself if you used a torch a lot.I would think it would be just as safe as acetylene.I dont know exactly how it works but if its like the old blowtorches it turns the gasoline into a vapor instead of a liquid.You would probably purge it just like a regular torch.But since it costs so much Id say a propane rig would be better.That Chinese one looks tempting though.I dont know why it would burn the place down as long as you used common sense.Acetylene above a certain pressure will explode.So its not problem free either.Especially since some have to pay so much for acetylene.

 

[trucker 40]

He also said it cuts 4 times faster than acetylene,and you can stack up plates and cut them all at once, which you cant do with acetylene and also it leaves no slag like acetylene.

 

[MIKE FRENCH]

I have used one, they work good. About like any torch they dont like lots of rust.

 

[trucker 40]

Also found this video that tells about hooking up a torch with propane.Need a different regulator,tip and hoses.
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[Brad Buchanan]

I heard that those rotten stock market speculators have been flying around in black helicopters cutting up all the cast steel with gasoline torches so nobody has any.

You can tell where they have been by the contrails you see in the sky!!

Brad

 

[trucker 40]

You have a vivid imagination.Now I sure hope they dont catch you playing on the computer and put you back in the straightjacket!Maybe they can up some of your meds and your halucinations will stop.

 

[elmersooner]

are you trying to say the trucker likes to argue these torches would cost 40 percent less to run if those speculators didn't make them. did read up on them---they have their place, but way too exotic for me---and sounds like a good way to burn something you don't want to.

 

[Anonymous-0]

They aren't a replacement for a conventional oxy/fuel torch using acetylene or propane, etc. They are a special purpose torch and don't produce a nice smooth cut like a regular torch can.

 

[snitkawl]

I found one of those in a pawn shop and bought it for $160.00. I had some bus frames to cut up for scrap. They had multiple layers to go thru. With acetelyne you can cut only one layer at a pass. The gasoline torch cut four layers in one pass and the rust didn"t cause near the trouble it does with acetelyne. The drawbacks; having to be careful about oxygen regulator setting as you can go thru a lot of it real fast, and when I turn it on it drips a little gasoline. In my opinion, it is no more dangeruos than my acetelyne outfit.

 

[trucker 40]

Well I only know what I saw in the video and what he said on the phone.He said there is very little slag and it cuts 4 times faster and cuts through different layers which Acetylene wont do,or at least wont do very well.So why do you say they arent a replacement for a regular torch?Also just watch the video,it looks as if it cuts as smooth as an Acetylene torch to me.Of course I know that people can make something look easy and then when you try it,you cant quite do as good,but it appears to cut very well.Now I didnt check to see if you can weld with it or not.Maybe thats what you are talking about?
I also looked at the propane rig,which I have used one of those.You have to have a different fuel hose which is supposed to be orange and made for propane.Also said that you can use the Acetylene regulator and you have to have a propane tip.
Some of these guys are having a hard time getting acetylene and its real high priced also.I think I would rig my torch up and use propane.Its not as hot,and a little annoying because you have to preheat a lot,but it works to cut with and I would do that before I would give them 125 dollars to fill the acetylene tank.I dont think you can weld with Propane either,or at least not very well,but it will cut.

 

[NCWayne]

Petrogen makes these type torches and also another company called Opetrol I believe it is. I've did a good bit of research on them a few years back but for the going price of $1400 plus for the basic setups they were out of my range at the time.

As far as cut quality they ar just like any other torch, use the right sized tip, right travel speed, etc and you'll get as good of a cut with them as you will with any other torch. Like other posts have stated they butn so hot they actually compair them to a plasma as far as cutting ability and can easily make cuts on multiple, rusty pieces, with space in between them, something no ozy/acet torch can even begin to do.

Safety wise they are much safer than Oxy/Acet torches and that's why they are used by the military rescue/disaster crews. What makes them safer is the fact that acetelyene is an unstable gas and will actually explode 'unaided' given the right conditions. If your line gets a hole in it it's for sure going to light off, and don't even think about putting a tank with 250 psi in a fire. With the gasoline torch it's safer becaused the gas is stored in a liquid form, isn't pressurized anywere near 250 psi, and is carried through the hose to the torch in a liquid form. As everyone probably knows, liquid gasoline does not burn. Heck I tossed a plastic, quart oil container full of gasoline on a brush fire years ago (when I was young and dumb) just to see what it would do. As it was I stood there and watched as the top of the plastic container burned away and the gas just sat there in a big puddle with the vapors burning off the top til the container was empty. Anyway, with the gasoline torches the container the gasoline is kept in is pressurized, though not to a high pressure, and is fire rated for x amount of time actually setting in a fire. Because the hose is full of liquid instead of gas, by my understanding, it's mopre or less rated the same way because the pressurized liquid gasoline can carry off heat and in effect keep the hose cool, and ultimately prolong the time it takes to get everything hot enough for the gasoline to reach it's flash point to where it can burn. I don't know of an acetylene bottle made that is rated for those conditions and I can say for a fact that a hose filled with acet gas will create a nice flare if it gets hit with a hot glob that burns a hole in it. As for fire rating the bottles I really wouldn't want to be on the team tasked with figuring out how long one could take the heat before melting the safey fuse and going boom.

Grantred you still have to use an oxygen bottle with them but given the cost of operation of these torches vs the cost of a bottle of acetylene they are well worth the price for the setup if you do alot of cutting or just have the money to put out and the time to recoup the cost.
Petrogen

 

[Anonymous-0]

The only thing you can weld with is acetylene. If a gasoline torch could produce as nice of cut as other fuel gasses, it would be used a lot more. A good acetylene or even propane cut is superior to a gasoline cut. For cutting scrap or stacked steel a gasoline torch appears to work better.