Welding smaller pipe.

[sledsports]

Noel, Sledsports, you guys are awesome! Haven't seen work like that in many years. Thank you both for the great stories and pics!

Thank you for the kind words. I know I am only 42 years old but I am realizing that I'm getting old. I now have war stories that I use to listen too from the ol timers when I was a young punk. Ohhh dont get me started on Train wrecking... I am finding your screen name and profile picture interesting Aeronca41. I took some flying lessons in a piper warrior and cessna 172 when I was in high school. Something I wish I could of afforded when I graduated. I play with a couple of R/C planes every now and then. Nothing fancy. Both ARTF kits. Both high wing trainers. Its relaxing

[sledsports]

Good lord...if I tried something like that, it would look like a kindergartener has done it. I probably would've got so agitated half way through I'd just slice it in half and throw it in the scrap bin. Who needs a plasmacam with you guys around?

Thank you Ryan Jones. It's all what and where we started brother. When I got laid off from Weilers Steel my boss told me to take my squares and fitters tools along with my torch. He knew the doors were closing for good as the Weilers were getting old and their children had no interest in the business. He said "i may need them down the road"The newer prefabricated buildings with the stamped out parts and flimsy beams were taking over. We wasnt big enough (18 hourly guys) and would of costed a fortune to bring us up to speed. I went to a little hole In the wall machine shop and learned to tig aluminum with a Miller econotig on some kinda flimsy aluminum thing they were mass producing. I didnt get Into tig until i purchased my first syncrowave 200... then i bought a syncrowave 350lx... my wants got the best of me. Now I have the dynasty 400. Thank you again Guys. To all that have gave me pointers and commented.

[Aeronca41]

sledsports--check private messages.

[FusionKing]

I have always been a fan of acetylene.
I don't really care for how plasma cuts on aluminum. I really don't do much steel either. In fact when I do something out of steel it is for myself at least 90% of the time. Or it's for someone close like a friend or relative. Either way it's cheap or free.
So we use the torch for heating and bending or pre and post heating and annealing aluminum.
But in the olden days, I worked in a steel fabrication shop. I was the dude who had to stop my project and cut out your steel order. It made me a pretty good hand with a torch.
That being said, Noel, I had an experience similar to yours with an old pipe guy about being a "free hand burner" he called it. It was a job I had taken after the steel shop at a bigger shop in the next town. He lectured me and another guy (my best friend at the time) about how difficult it was. He showed us how good he was and then handed me the torch. After that day He hated our guts. He never let up and finally fired us both on the same day.
We hated on him for a few years after that. But since then I'm thankful. I would have gotten nowhere had I stayed there.
I have a Powermax 30 and want a 45. But it will never feel as good in my hand as one of my old Victors.

[tarry99]

I have always been a fan of acetylene. But it will never feel as good in my hand as one of my old Victors.

You know that ability & art went away many years ago for most of us...........My dad showed me how to braze & weld with coat hangers and use the cutting torch properly when I was about 10........He was a Millwright / Mechanic in a Steel Mill......and learned early how to weld both with gas and Arc and use torches.......... just after WW 2 broke out before I came along he volunteered for the armed services through his job at the mill , but when a recruitment officer read he could weld.......they pulled him and sent him to a job in the ship yards for the next 4 years while never losing any seniority from his original job. Most of the time welding on Merchant ships in Richmond but also did a stint at Mare Island welding on Subs................

As a kid under his watchful eye I was always brazing mini-bike or go-kart frames together from conduit or water pipe.......I was always amazed at how ambidextrous he was being able to switch hands mid weld any position or cut while never stopping or lifting the hood............an art I never mastered , I still have & use his torches and Regulators.

[Ltbadd]

You know that ability & art went away many years ago for most of us...........My dad showed me how to braze & weld with coat hangers and use the cutting torch properly when I was about 10........He was a Millwright / Mechanic in a Steel Mill......and learned early how to weld both with gas and Arc and use torches.......... just after WW 2 broke out before I came along he volunteered for the armed services through his job at the mill , but when a recruitment officer read he could weld.......they pulled him and sent him to a job in the ship yards for the next 4 years while never losing any seniority from his original job. Most of the time welding on Merchant ships in Richmond but also did a stint at Mare Island welding on Subs................

As a kid under his watchful eye I was always brazing mini-bike or go-kart frames together from conduit or water pipe.......I was always amazed at how ambidextrous he was being able to switch hands mid weld any position or cut while never stopping or lifting the hood............an art I never mastered , I still have & use his torches and Regulators.

Great story, thanks for posting

[Noel]

Real life, real drama, and real people. I enjoy the history stories as well. Interesting are the paths. Such a wealth of knowledge.

Thinking about it, we either learned from someone, or it was the schools of hard knocks and the streets. The latter two options didn't always bring the best results from what I recall, but they still taught a fella something.

I understand the weak points made that joining materials or cutting them with Oxy-Fuel processes are from days of old. Relics of the past out of use and favor to more modern processes. I get it. GMAW/FCAW has made welding easier quicker and faster. And PAC, same for cutting and gouging, and with cutting, less HAZ material is effected.

What's missed, is when a person has used oxygen and acetylene gas learning to weld, braze, he walks away knowing heat and temperature, solid too liquid and the principles of so much more that make everything else, easier to understand and grasp, IMO, because it's easy to see happen.

How does the song go, you don't know what you got till it's gone? Well, this conversation has also been a reminder to remember. Good stuff.

[OscarJr]

I haven't done much smaller than about 1.5" but I did custom build two sets of longtube headers back in the day.











As was mentioned, proper wrist motion is critical, but one thing that wasn't emphasized was head and body motion. Depending on where and how the joint is oriented, it might necessitate body movement that is almost always stabilized by your core muscles. You can't always weld out the entire joint from one spot/position.

[Aeronca41]

Real life, real drama, and real people. I enjoy the history stories as well. Interesting are the paths. Such a wealth of knowledge.

Thinking about it, we either learned from someone, or it was the schools of hard knocks and the streets. The latter two options didn't always bring the best results from what I recall, but they still taught a fella something.

I understand the weak points made that joining materials or cutting them with Oxy-Fuel processes are from days of old. Relics of the past out of use and favor to more modern processes. I get it. GMAW/FCAW has made welding easier quicker and faster. And PAC, same for cutting and gouging, and with cutting, less HAZ material is effected.

What's missed, is when a person has used oxygen and acetylene gas learning to weld, braze, he walks away knowing heat and temperature, solid too liquid and the principles of so much more that make everything else, easier to understand and grasp, IMO, because it's easy to see happen.

How does the song go, you don't know what you got till it's gone? Well, this conversation has also been a reminder to remember. Good stuff.

Well stated, Noel. My dad would never allow me to move to the next process (from soldering to brazing to gas welding to stick--that's all we had back then) until he was confident I could consistently turn out nice work. First I had to be able to heat up a big soldering copper and solder galvanized sheet metal shapes [sal ammoniac block,flux, and bar solder] , then on to brazing, etc. To this day, gas welding is still my favorite process. Love it on 4130 tubing. His words from 60+ years ago still ring--"watch that puddle"; "too much heat on the vertical member--watch your torch angle", "slow down--watch the toes".....and on and on. The principles are the key. I can still remember the day I brazed some adapters to an oil filter, left it to cool on the bench, and went in the house. He came in about a half hour later and said, "Did you braze those adapters on that filter out there today?" When I said yes (and kept my smart teenage mouth from saying something like, "well, who do you think did it, Mom?" He said, "That is perfect--no way to do that job better than you did it." That one comment just drove me to do it the best every time. Sadly, I find it easy to embarrass myself now with my old eyes and lack of practice over these many years. But there is just something magical about moving that puddle around with a gas flame. And you learn stuff doing it that you can apply to many things.

[sledsports]

This thread has been High jacked in the most pleasant way. Thank you all fellas!!! I have enjoyed these amazing stories. So much experience here for sure. You guys are all top notch in my book. Would love to sit down and have a cup of coffee with all of you!

[FusionKing]

This thread has been High jacked in the most pleasant way. Thank you all fellas!!! I have enjoyed these amazing stories. So much experience here for sure. You guys are all top notch in my book. Would love to sit down and have a cup of coffee with all of you!

We could if people would only let out there location.
Some of us travel more than others.

[ryanjones2150]

Well, if any of you jokers come to southeast Texas, or even the Houston area...I'll buy the first round.

[FusionKing]

Well, if any of you jokers come to southeast Texas, or even the Houston area...I'll buy the first round.

ok
as long as it's still coffee

[Ltbadd]

Hope it's good coffee

[OscarJr]

Well, if any of you jokers come to southeast Texas, or even the Houston area...I'll buy the first round.

I'm in Houston a few times a year, but unfortunately it's always for work.