The gas supplier may even deliver for free..... When I bought my O/A rig about 12-14 years ago I bought the tanks and the gas supplier (either Holox or may have already sold out to Airgas) said they deliver free. They constantly run big flat bed trucks all over around here delivering industrial and medical gases, so its easy for them to combine deliveries in an area. YMMV.
OA is a very versatile choice for a welding set up. It may not be as cost effective to use when figuring in the cost of gas and the extra time it takes to weld vs a point and shoot MIG set up. But in situations where you are off grid and only do occasional welding I think it is the smart choice. For brazing silver you my want to look for an old presto lite torch. it is an acetylene only rig and may be chaper to use. It is not as fine of a flame as a mini torch with a small tip. I have done several cast iron repairs with OA and vrass brazing rod. the key is to drill a hole at the end of any cracks and to grind a groove with 60 degree sides. If it is a clean break you need to bevel the edges and make a fixture to hold the parts together. pre heat both parts and then braze away. When done let the parts air cool, DO NOT USE WATER. I repaired a CI water pump with a spiral weld around the entire pump using a cutting torch and some flux coated brass rod. By the time I was done brazing the whole pomp as glowing dull red. I put a metal box over it to hold the heat in so it could cool slowly and the thing held until the bearings went bad 10 years later.
I used to carry bottles in my van. The welding shop discouraged, but allowed. After reading this article, I now hook up my trailer if I need to haul an acetylene bottle. If you absolutely, positively have carry in your car, leave all the windows open. If you've ever ignited a balloon filled with acetylene, it will give you a small idea of the explosive power of a car filled with gas. Cutting steel with a torch leaves a ragged edge. When I built my trailer I put an abrasive blade on my circular saw and used that for all the cuts. I went thru a lot of blades cutting 700#'s of steel.
Related to this, and thus, welding (kind of), I've been searching for a good way to cut steel tube (2x2 or smaller, both square and round) *somewhat* accurately without investing a bunch of money in a horizontal band saw or abrasive chop saw. Is there another way besides my angle grinder and cutoff wheel, or am I gonna have to pony up for a chop saw? I've never used an abrasive bladed chop saw that didn't take eons to make a cut...
Huh? A chop saw should cut thru smaller tubing in seconds. The horizontal band saw should take a lot longer. Cutting 6" channel with my circular saw took a bit of time.
Perhaps this? http://www.harborfreight.com/3-12-horsepower-14-in-industrial-cut-off-saw-68104.html Find a 20% off coupon in some magazine and it becomes real cheap. Eric
The only power tool I've ever bought from HF has actually done me very well. I've got their benchtop drill press... for $60 (plus a $20 2 year warranty = $80, highly suggested) it's given me no problems whatsoever in my 3+ years of occasional use... may just have to take a look. Although I'll factor a *real* blade into the price, since we ALL know the stock one will suck balls.
Do you have an O/A torch and bottles.......... cutting torch? I've seen some people that were really good with a cutting torch, Years ago thats all there was Learn how to use it. It's a lot cheaper than cutoff blades and ya arn't breathing all that dust or have it down the back of your neck. Use a straight edge to help guide the torch when the length of cut allows Cutting anything thinner than 1/4" plate is not recommended because of warpage, but sq. tube, channel and pipe are easily cut with a torch.
The people I have watched that appeared to know what they were doing (i.e. paid pipe fitters and welders) always used a portable bandsaw for such work. HF sells one (that I have bought - but not used much): http://www.harborfreight.com/power-tools/band-saws/portable-variable-speed-bandsaw-47840.html. I bought my portable bandsaw to use with a small generator to cut 20' sections of 1/8" steel angle to carry home. I have yet to see a blade on a HF tool that was adequate. Milwaukee sells a more industrial portable band saw for ~ 2-1/2 times the price as the HF. Slow speed is needed for cutting steel. Having used abrasive blades, I found the bandsaw a huge improvement - and the lack of vibration, noise, and abrasive dust are appreciated also.
2 x 2 steel tubing can be cut with a hack saw. A grinder with a true (1/16") cut off blade will do the job, it may take a jig to get it to cut straight. Wheels are availabel at tractor supply for $2.00 each. Chop saw! Sawzall works on steel with the right blade and if it goes slow enough. Full speed on steel and the blade turns blue then the teeth fall off. Portaband is great, but $300 is a little steep. I have one. I bought a horizontal band saw from harbor freight in 1985 for $179. I now have a bigger one that circulates coolant. I still use the small one. A good man with an ox acet torch can make a nice cut. You don't learn it in a minute. Good luck David
One of my favorite toys, when I was working, was a Milwaukee portaband. A good quality saw will last a long time and is really handy, but they are expensive and the blades, which are also expensive, can either last for several cuts or be ruined part way thru the first cut depending on the experience of the operator. Even the deepthroat portaband has limitations as to shape and size of material it will cut.
My point was that if a chop saw is slow then you're doing something really wrong. The first time I used on I didn't know any better, and taking 8 minutes to cut 2x2x1/4 tubing. Yes, I actually timed it to see how many hours it would take to make all the cuts. Swapped the blade and each cut took a few seconds.
I don't have an OA set. Too big and bulky, and expensive. I also rarely weld anything over 3/16, 1/4 max. My "cheap" Everlast TIG has a plasma cutter, but I only have a very small pancake compressor. I'm looking for clean cuts at definite angles though. I've used portable band saws, and while they *can* work nicely, it's almost impossible to get a perfect 90* cut without trimming or fiddling. At least for me... it seems they typically want to buck and fight you, and it's too easy to break a blade. And when you DO break a blade, you have to spend the next 3 minutes fitting a new one. For some things, they are invaluable, and nothing else will suffice. However, I see them as a "field" tool. IMHO, if you've got a work bench, you might as well buy a bench tool. Like using a jig saw to cut a 10" circle in the shop, when you could use your vertical band saw. Technique and blade choice are indeed very important. All I'm saying is that a toothed blade is almost ALWAYS faster than an abrasive blade. This series of posts got me to thinking though... what about a portable band saw, with a fixture rigged up to turn it into a horizontal band saw? Aaawww, shit... you guys got the wheels turning...
For some reason I think Milwaukee has something like that for the deep throat saw. as far as not being able to cut @ 90 degrees. Support the weight of the tool a its weight is forcing the blade to wander, also a line to follow will help to keep it straight. Finally let the stop on the saw come to rest against the material.
I think you mean a band saw stand: http://www.ebay.com/bhp/band-saw-stand There are several types; this is but one: http://www.amazon.com/Grizzly-J1T-120A-Portable-Bandsaw-Stand/dp/B0000DCZ7H And of course, the homemade versions: http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Portable-Bandsaw-Stand-Cut-off-Vertic/ Good luck! Edit: the best value tool I have purchased so far is the Harbor Freight 4x6 bandsaw (sans the HF blade). For metalwork, it's a great tool and extremely versatile with a bit of creativity. There is a (cult?) following in the yahoo 4x6 bandsaw group.
Ya the ones in the first link. the depth of the throat ( 4-5/8") of a deep throat milwaukee still determines the length of piece you can cut.
Well fuck me... I may have found my answer. Thanks gents! Now I gotta find me a 20% off HF coupon, pick up a saw, and get to designing a stand I suppose!