Is oxy-acetylene welding still used?

[vavet]

Does anyone still use oxy-acetylene welding for actually joining pieces of metal together? Seems like everything has gone to MIG, TIG, and stick.
Oxy-acetylene is still useful for cutting and when you need heat to help break a joint free.

If you still use oxyacetylene, tell us if it's for home use or some sort of production work.

 

[dr_clyde]

I know there are still commercial applications for oxy-acetylene brazing. There is a furniture company in Grand Rapids that still has workers production brazing chairs together by hand with a torch. They donated an auto-fluxing torch rig to the local college so students could train on it and be considered for hire.

I don't see much actual welding with oxyfuel in a commercial setting, especially not production. It still has niche applications in industry though. It can be very handy to have if you do antique aircraft repair or some sort of aluminum welding where you need to form the panels after welding, as it anneals the aluminum while you weld it.

Oxy-acetylene welding is mostly used in education and training, as it is an excellent teaching aid. It teaches heat input, puddle control and manipulation, travel speed's effect on heat control, and basic torch use and handling. There is a reason they teach it as a first step.

Oxy acetylene is an incredibly versatile tool. Simple, inexpensive and very effective in some areas. All shops should have one for cutting, brazing, heating and straightening and maybe very occasionally, welding.

 

[The Cobbler]

brazing for cast iron repair is common still .
In metal shop we actually made shop stools and gas welded them all together with steel rod. there was probably more than 10' of welding on that project. some guys just couldn't get it

 

[u3b3rg33k]

I typically use plasma for cutting, and you can use tig for brazing.

 

[joeswamp]

Oxyfuel brazing is still used a great deal in refrigeration. Also still used in making high end lugged steel bicycle frames.

 

[Old Man Roger]

Used to be used a lot in radiator shops. That was before every thing got an a aluminum radiator with plastic tanks.

Back in my younger days, I made a complete dual exhaust system using a torch and coat hangers for filler rod..lol Held up for years.

 

[lis2323]

I still have oxyacetylene in my shop as I used it on the farm for over 50 years.




It’s used mostly for heating metals for bending these days and for brazing although I haven’t actually brazed anything in years[emoji23]

I like using the cutting torch for hard to reach areas because of the longer torch body compares to plasma cutters. (I have plasma cutters also). There’s a time and place for all tools.




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[Jim Pelosi]

I love using an Oxy torch when the need calls. Induction heating seems to be the most common way to braze and solder in production these days. Faster and safer.

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[NC Rick]

Last year, before getting my TiG setup, I welded my broken motorcycle frame with Oxy-acetylene. It was “the” way to do Chro-Mo. I did additional frame bracing on my bike with the tig and the smaller HAZ is a great advantage. Without normalization, I’m not sure it is as strong.

 

[ken w.]

I actually brazed a crack in an exhaust pipe flange last year. First time in 20 + years for me.

 

[gamescastspencer]

I work in a grind shop, we use the torch a fair amount for brazing carbide to various tools. Some are tools we make in house and others are for repairing broken carbide on others. Other things like brazing 'fingers' on bushings for splitting drill points on the tool and cutter grinder.
Also use it for heating to break threadlocker bonds.
Everything else we Tig weld.

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[sberry]

I know there are still commercial applications for oxy-acetylene brazing. There is a furniture company in Grand Rapids that still has workers production brazing chairs together by hand with a torch. They donated an auto-fluxing torch rig to the local college so students could train on it and be considered for hire.

I don't see much actual welding with oxyfuel in a commercial setting, especially not production. It still has niche applications in industry though. It can be very handy to have if you do antique aircraft repair or some sort of aluminum welding where you need to form the panels after welding, as it anneals the aluminum while you weld it.

Oxy-acetylene welding is mostly used in education and training, as it is an excellent teaching aid. It teaches heat input, puddle control and manipulation, travel speed's effect on heat control, and basic torch use and handling. There is a reason they teach it as a first step.

Oxy acetylene is an incredibly versatile tool. Simple, inexpensive and very effective in some areas. All shops should have one for cutting, brazing, heating and straightening and maybe very occasionally, welding.

I agree with most of this. It can be used, I show a bud or 2, but can count on one hand the weld or structural braze I done since I get a feeder. I welded a bb to something the other day.

 

[rmack898]

Oxy-fuel welding is the only welding process that I have a formal education in from back in the '70's. I'm talking WELDING not brazing.

If you can learn to gas weld, you will find TIG a walk in the park.

There is an aircraft facility down the street from me that repairs older propeller driven aircraft and all the airframe welds are done with the oxy-fuel process.

 

[Wamsutta]

It's the ideal way to weld gas tanks after you fill them up with water.

 

[Toold_up]

I oxy-fuel weld but that's because it's what I have available. REALLY nice for doing body work because you can work the panel as you weld it.

 

[engineer2]

I've done bodywork with oxy-acet gas welding and hammer welding, usually coat hanger wire and flux. Works very well, but it's been a few decades.

 

[MattT]

I still weld with O/A. Smaller jobs where it isn't worth setting up the TIG. It's the only thing I use acetylene for anymore. Everything else I've switched to oxy-propane.

 

[kenc184]

Yes, for the welding of both steel and aluminum bodywork it cannot be beat. Also, for the braze welding of cast iron like some vise repairs I did recently, and some others I'm about to do tomorrow.

 

[Onefastgsx]

I have a small portable set that's really handy for field repairs where power isn't close by to use one of my welders.
I also agree with it being a great introduction into learning how to weld, teaching the basics of puddle and heat control. It was the first process I learned in welding school and it made learning to tig much easier

 

[BarryWells]

I use it once aa month or so when an electrode or mig is overkill. The other day was a Chinese Vespa fake. the thng literally broke in half.I opted for torch #3 and rg 45) although braze would have worked too)

 

[metaleltr]

Came across a guy online a while ago that worked with galvanized culvert pipe. In their shop they were coping right angle joints into the couragated pipe and gas welding them together. He claimed it was the best way to weld galvanized material.

 

[sberry]

The wire feed has really replaced a lot of the joining work and the plasma has replaced most of the fabrication cutting. Bottle fills last a long time now. So much that I rarely use lp anymore. Torch can be quite precision but we don't get the practice we did back in the day when it was the main fab tool.

 

[NC Rick]

@lis2323, that tank cart is really nice. I’m jealous.

 

[bczygan]

No!!............Never ever!

Bill

 

[redmondjp]

I oxy-fuel weld but that's because it's what I have available. REALLY nice for doing body work because you can work the panel as you weld it.

Yes, until the first time that you use a MIG welder. I learned to oxy-acetylene weld in 7th-grade shop class, and bought my first gas-welding setup two years later. I also took a full year of welding class in high school, doing vertical and overhead welds with the torch (overhead - fracking crazy!).

Then, while reworking the front-end sheet metal on my 1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe in body shop class, I used a MIG welder for the first time. Oh what a revelation!

When welding sheet metal, the heat-affected zone when MIG-welding is FAR smaller, which makes it superior to gas welding in about every way. You can weld up a hole in sheet metal with one quick trigger-pull of the MIG if you have the heat and speed set up properly, with the heat-affected zone being no larger than the size of a nickel. You just can't do that with a torch.

And the more heat you apply, the more the metal distorts and changes properties. If all you have is a gas-welding setup, it's better than nothing, but for how inexpensive it is these days to get set up with a small MIG welder, it is a no-brainer to go that route if you are doing anything more than the occasional repair IMO.

 

[Elsinore13]

Gotta have a deep appreciation for those 2 stroke pipe builders who still go with the gas.

 

[sevt_chevelle]

Yes, until the first time that you use a MIG welder. I learned to oxy-acetylene weld in 7th-grade shop class, and bought my first gas-welding setup two years later. I also took a full year of welding class in high school, doing vertical and overhead welds with the torch (overhead - fracking crazy!).

Then, while reworking the front-end sheet metal on my 1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe in body shop class, I used a MIG welder for the first time. Oh what a revelation!

When welding sheet metal, the heat-affected zone when MIG-welding is FAR smaller, which makes it superior to gas welding in about every way. You can weld up a hole in sheet metal with one quick trigger-pull of the MIG if you have the heat and speed set up properly, with the heat-affected zone being no larger than the size of a nickel. You just can't do that with a torch.

And the more heat you apply, the more the metal distorts and changes properties. If all you have is a gas-welding setup, it's better than nothing, but for how inexpensive it is these days to get set up with a small MIG welder, it is a no-brainer to go that route if you are doing anything more than the occasional repair IMO.

You would be hard pressed to find a top car builder using a Mig welders on sheet metal. Go on any forum that relates to sheet metal, guys are using gas and Tig, and if it's aluminium gas welding is king.

 

[Al Borland]

Fusion welding (no Filler rod) small patches in auto body with a jeweler's torch.
Been a few years though. Watched a car get a strip and repaint that I did this to 30 years prior. Welds were still there. Also someone's brazed patches. Those were cracking and had to be re-done.

 

[IndyGarage]

I took a class on oxy welding up at AirVenture a few years ago. I didn't even know you could weld with it. It seems more precise than MIG, and easier than TIG.

However I pulled my torch out one time to try and I had lost the skills. That torch sat in the corner of my garage for years unused, I finally sold it .

 

[Tennessee Cattleman]

I use to use oxy-acetylene for cutting and brazing, but the with the last gas outfit bought about 12 years ago I went with oxy-propane and only a cutting torch for use. I would like a plasma cutter, but couldn't do without the torch for heating steel and really don't do enough cutting to justify another machine and the torch.

 

[lukedwag]

I use to use oxy-acetylene for cutting and brazing, but the with the last gas outfit bought about 12 years ago I went with oxy-propane and only a cutting torch for use. I would like a plasma cutter, but couldn't do without the torch for heating steel and really don't do enough cutting to justify another machine and the torch.

I'm with T cattle . I hate acetylene. Love me some propane torching though. Safe, much cheaper then A and damn close to as hot.

I've got a slew of Harris torches from a standard multi head to a straight head 8 footer that makes dropping elevators a blast.


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[donebyperry]

Used to be used a lot in radiator shops. That was before every thing got an a aluminum radiator with plastic tanks.

Back in my younger days, I made a complete dual exhaust system using a torch and coat hangers for filler rod..lol Held up for years.

I was going to say. In the 70’s I used to gas weld everything. I didn’t have a 220 outlet for a stick welder. I welded/ brazed all kinds of stuff. They even taught it at the trade school I attended.

I have a small welder now, but have been thing about a torch set for sometime. Guess this thread has convinced me to get one.


Lead, Follow, or get out of the Way!

 

[NUTTSGT]

Around here, it seems to be a lost art and you don't see much of it. Back in the day, most had a oxy-acetylene and a Lincoln tombstone in their garage or farm shop. I think as MIG welder came down in price, the oxy-acetylene has literally gotten put on the back burner and only used for cutting.
Now with the pricing of plasma cutters coming down, they are growing in popularity and getting used more. Again more prevalent in home/farm shops with the gas axe left to the heavier cuts.

What's next, the price drop of TIG welders and gaining popularity.

 

[BFBOB]

I've had an oxy-acetylene torch set for half a century, still use it. It's the most versatile as others have noted. In my case, although I have and use stick welders, for anything really crucial I bring on the gas. Somehow I just can't get the hang of stick welding. Time and again I have what I think is a perfect joint ... until the flux comes off. I think TIG would come easily to me because it's so similar in technique to gas, but I haven't been able to justify the cost.
I also use oxy for brazing- has many advantages over welding for some applications.

 

[Jim Johnstone]

Oxyfuel brazing is still used a great deal in refrigeration. Also still used in making high end lugged steel bicycle frames.

not just lugged frames. a lot of custom frame builders still use fillet brazing.

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[lilredex]

Also have had O/A forever, still like to use it on exhaust systems from time to time. Back when, my only other option was a Lincoln buzz box.

 

[Jim Johnstone]

for the guys that have switched to oxy propane, what are the gas consumption costs like? I know the propane is cheaper but my understanding is you use around 4 times more oxygen?

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[Dieselhammer]

Use torch for cutting all the time, the only thing i still like oxy welding for more than other choices is two stroke exhaust pipe welding. Did a fun project for my buddy building a sleeper sled where we cut the stock pipe/muffler combo apart and opened up the restrictive stock muffler, then welded it back together for a stock appearance.

 

[Tennessee Cattleman]

for the guys that have switched to oxy propane, what are the gas consumption costs like? I know the propane is cheaper but my understanding is you use around 4 times more oxygen?

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It does take more oxygen, but oxygen is very cheap in my area compared to acetylene, plus the danger and regulations of acetylene tanks . I don't use the torch enough for oxygen to even be on the radar for cost. Slower heating and cutting is the only shortcoming for me on oxy-propane.

 

[Jim Johnstone]

It does take more oxygen, but oxygen is very cheap in my area compared to acetylene, plus the danger and regulations of acetylene tanks . I don't use the torch enough for oxygen to even be on the radar for cost. Slower heating and cutting is the only shortcoming for me on oxy-propane.

thanks for the info!

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