So you own a Metal Inert Gas (MIG) or a Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) rig, and you’re putting in proper work to build your skills. You’ve done enough easy metalworking projects at your workshop and maybe have even started doing contractual work. In short, you’re getting better.

Say you want to work on more hardcore projects involving tough to crack metals, but you know your current rig just won’t meet the requirements. You don’t want to invest on expensive, complicated equipment that takes skill to use. What’s your option? An oxygen acetylene torch kit! This equipment will do a lot of work for a lot less, and the learning curve won’t be steep. Read on and find out what makes this equipment a good investment.

Stuff You Can Do With Oxygen and Acetylene Torch Kit

If you’ve been doing a lot of welding, you will eventually get to a point where you’ll need to invest in more equipment to make complicated jobs easy or you can hire a welding fabricator in Canberra. Tasks such as bending and cutting are common occurrences in this line of work, and an oxy acetylene torch kit can perform these functions. You can do so much with it; here are some ideas:

Heating

Oxy acetylene gas is the only combination of gases that can soften metal substances by supplying fuel to make heat. This capability of the acetylene torch can be advantageous if you have to bend metal bars, tubes, or sheets.

Specific metal components are too thick for you to bend using heavy-duty equipment. Oxy acetylene torches can help you make that though metal-bending work easy by applying enough heat on the spot so it can be malleable for manipulation.

Welding

Gas welding using the oxy acetylene can also weld metal pieces. When the oxygen gas pressure setting on the regulator is set to 5 up to 7 pounds per square inch (PSI), and the acetylene gas pressure at 7 to 10, you’ll be good to go. Fire up the torch tip and just play around with the oxygen and acetylene knobs on your torch until you get a nice, thin, blue flame spitting out.

The good thing about oxy acetylene welding is that you don’t need any filler rods or consumable wires to weld metals together. The torch will create a puddle from the workpiece metal to fuse together.

Cutting

Set your acetylene PSI to 3 or 5 and your oxygen to 20 up to 30. That’s the optimum gas cylinder regulator settings for your torch to cut metal. You have to turn the two knobs of the torch to get that short, blue and white flame on the tip to cut through metal. The cutting function of the oxy acetylene torch requires some timing and skill. Too fast and it won’t cut, too slow, and it will create slag.

The good thing about torch cutting is it can penetrate immensely thick metals. It can pierce and cut through as thick as twenty inches—something other cutting equipment can’t do.

Brazing

You still have an option to use a filler rod when you’re joining two metals together using a brazing torch kit. The pressure setting for you to braze using oxy acetylene is the same as the pressure setting for welding, but you’ll need a filler rod for this method.

Now, if you have a Metal Inert Gas (MIG) or Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welder to use for brazing, you shouldn’t need an oxy torch, right? That’s understandable, except there are also advantages to brazing using an oxy torch. It gives you more control over how often you can lay a filler metal for brazing, and you can also easily control the temperature of the torch for finer brazing.

Cost of Setting up an Oxy Acetylene Kit

The cost range of an oxy acetylene kit would depend on the package inclusions. A basic torch kit can set you back around two hundred dollars. If you want an oxy acetylene torch kit with tanks, it will cost you more than three hundred dollars. A complete setup with heavy equipment would cost a thousand dollars or more.

You want to get a gas welding torch kit with mid-range pricing but has the essential add-ons for you to get started. There are oxy acetylene torch packages sold for around six hundred dollars that you can use immediately after purchase.

Product Recommendation: The Victor Journeyman EDGE 2.0

If you have decided that a gas welding kit is a superb addition to your tools, we recommend getting started with the Victor Journeyman Edge 2.0. This package has all the items you need to set up an oxy torch, and the price is average—costing around six hundred dollars for the kit.

What’s included:

• An oxygen regulator with two gauges (Green)
• An acetylene regulator (Red)
• Two 20-foot neoprene lined hose to attach to the oxygen and acetylene regulator
• The torch handle with knobs arrestors for the two gases
• Three welding nozzles with lengths 1, 3, and 5.
• A heating nozzle that can handle up to 117,000 British Thermal Unit (BTU)
• Cutting tip and its torch attachment
• A striker to ignite your torch tip
• Cutting, heating, and welding guidebook with tip charts
• Goggles for eye protection

Salient Features:

• The neoprene hose can handle other gases
• The Edge 2.0 has refined the torch knobs for a smoother turn
• The cutting attachment head is thicker and more durable against wear and tear

Product Highlight: The Beauty of the Victor Edge 2.0 Regulators

If there’s one thing you could consider an essential part of your gas welding kit, it would be the regulator. It’s what keeps you and those around you safe around gas cylinders.

That’s why it makes sense for Victor to improve their regulators to an Edge 2.0 so you can feel safer and work more efficiently with your gas welding kit. Here are some of the technologies they’ve included on their Victor regulator.

• Delivery gauge is a knob-type and is made thicker so you can easily make calculated turns for precise pressure setup.

• The meter’s face is also made larger and color-coded to see the information better and be guided on the pressure parameters used for heating, welding, brazing, and cutting activities without guesswork.

• There are many labels, chemical symbols, and gas type indicators placed on the regulator that serve as an informative guide, while giving you the necessary information at a glance. This is great when you’re multitasking and you have to check on your regulator for information quickly.

• Aluminum alloy regulator guard gives maximum protection to the regulator if it hits the ground when the gas cylinder falls.

• Regulator design allows easy attachment with hand and gives clearance for tools such as wrenches in case you need to tighten the regulator mechanically. It’s also modular—you can disassemble it easily if you need to check for parts or replace them.

Pros and Cons of a Victor Journeyman Torch Kit

Pros

• Can perform multiple functions such as heating, brazing, welding, and cutting
• Can cut and pierce through very thick metals
• No need for electricity or consumables for welding unlike with MIG or TIG welding
• Intuitive and easy to learn
• Relatively costs low to acquire compared with welders or cutters

Cons

• Highly volatile and dangerous
• Duration of each function takes longer compared to a specialized equipment
• Can only work on low-alloy and low-carbon metals
• The large heat-affected surface area makes for a rugged weld or braze

Conclusion

If you’re someone who hasn’t used an oxygen and acetylene torch kit, the Victor Journeyman Edge 2.0 would be an ideal package to start with. The cost is reasonable, and you get an easy-to-learn product packed with features. This versatile product will help you with industrial-level work involving huge and thick metals, which your other basic welding equipment may not be capable of doing. The Victor Journeyman Edge 2.0 is definitely a must-have if you’re looking to get some heavy work done.