Rep yer torch!

[zank]

Whatcha runnin? Oxy/fuel, TIG, flamethrower...show your love.


Rep yer torch by Zanconato Custom Cycles, on Flickr

[Eric Estlund]

My main squeeze is the Victor J-40, and I use my Smith AW1A quite a bit. I have several back up Smith bodies, and a J-28 I need to clean up and get into rotation.

[steve garro]

I have two Victors & two Smiths.
- Garro.

[EricKeller]

I have two Smith A1Wa and a J28 clone. I want to get them hooked up to a set of the Western Research quick change fittings, but the idea that you have to spend full boat for just the two torch-side fittings chaps my ass too much to follow through

Smiths are a little wonky on the valves -- I find myself fiddling around with them more than I like. Granted, they are right there under your fingers so it's easy. I haven't tried the J28 clone yet, I hear it's generally considered a better torch

[Mike Mcdermid]

This is now a Tig versus evil thread......

[bencooper]

image.jpg

I mostly use the Midget, the one on the bottom - the Butbro only really gets used when I need to put a lot of heat into something.

[edoz]

_20140208_182559.JPG
A Meco Midget that I'll soon hook up as part of a multi torch setup
Victor J-100 that is my main torch
Victor 250 clone that I use for cutting
Weldcraft wp 20
stick electrode holder that is sometimes necessary
Weldcraft wp 17f that doesn't see much use since I quit welding pipe.

[Jonathan]

Who's going to be first to post a bottle of epoxy?

[Amaro Bikes]

Here is my sewing needle, which does not suffer same stiff neck pain as Zank's :o

[fortyfour]

CK130 Rigid TIG Torch : Gas Cooled : No.8 Stubby Alumina Nozzle 2AG8 (53N61S) : 1/16 lanthanated Tungsten : Gas Lens 2GL116 (45V43)



Victor J-28 : Flamethrower

[waterman]

Weldcraft wp 20
Weldcraft wp 17f that doesn't see much use since I quit welding pipe.

What's your opinion on having a watercooled TIG torch for building one bike at a time? I'm sure it's a nice upgrade, but do you think it's worth the coin?

[jaredjerome]

What's your opinion on having a watercooled TIG torch for building one bike at a time? I'm sure it's a nice upgrade, but do you think it's worth the coin?

I normally use water-cooled torches just because it's what I have access to, but at a BMX company I was at, we used water-cooled for the all-day welding stuff (sub-assemblies, bars, etc.) and air-cooled for frames. Water-cooled was nicer for running the torch all-day, but the air one was wayyyy lighter and easier for the frames. No idea if that was just the welders we had, or if that's all air vs. water.

For reference, the water-cooled machine was a Miller SyncroWave and the air-cooled one was some sort of tiny Lincoln.

[Andrew R Stewart]

IMG_0414.jpgI have three OA torches, two set up with regs and tanks. Purox w-200 and w-300 and a Goss 42W. The Purox are Victor like, the W-200 (one of the hooked up handles) being about the same size as the J-100 and the W-300 is truly industrial. (At one point i thought I had to be a bigger man and have a bigger torch. Thankfully this misconception never made it to my cars...). The Goss (the other one hooked up) is my first love. It's what i learned on and I'll never get rid of it. It's about 110% of the W-200. Pictured is the Goss. I haven't read of any other builder ever using a Goss. Too bad cause it's a nice handle. Andy.

[MrkiMedo]

And now something exotic Turkish YILDIZ 2601, clone of Gloor 3601:

160sysz.jpg

[afwalker]

^MrkiMedo are those flashback arrestors at your torch or just check valves?
I have mine by the regulators which make it less bulky. I think it works as well, think I read that in Doug Fattic's treatise on oa vs propane.
cheers
andy walker

[MrkiMedo]

^MrkiMedo are those flashback arrestors at your torch or just check valves?
I have mine by the regulators which make it less bulky. I think it works as well, think I read that in Doug Fattic's treatise on oa vs propane.
cheers
andy walker

Well, I hope they are flashback arestors, guys in shops here do not know the difference, and this is what one gets when asks for either flashback arrestor or check valve.

As for moving the flashback arrestor to the outlet of the regulator on the bottle, besides being easier to hold I suspect it would be safer too. Sometimes i wonder what would hapen if some piece of red hot mettal falls on propane hose, and in current setup there is no flashback arrestor between that point and propane tank. Also one more reason to try to route hoses from above and not from the floor.

Anyway, the guy who spexed this kit and sold it to me said he could not put arrestor on the pressure regulator because the fittings were not compatible. He was closing shop and had limited selection of parts, and I was on budget.

[zank]

That's how I have my meco set up. Check valves on the torch and flashback arresters on the regulators.

Hey Andy, I used to be in Cape Girardeau all the time when I worked for GE. I was Spartech's dedicated tech rep. I slept in the plant a few times :-)

sorry for the sidebar, folks.

[bencooper]

With my Meco, I've doubled up - FBAs on the torch and the regulators - mainly because there's an economiser in the middle and I'm using the (very non-British-Standard) unarmoured Meco hoses.

Plus, the FBAs give something to hold onto when the torch gets a bit warm ;-)

[Mike Mcdermid]

IMG_00000186.jpg

depends on the mood

also dont use cheap shit parts its a waste of money

[zank]

also dont use cheap shit parts its a waste of money

amen to that. i chased a gas issue until i pitched the lousy generic gas lens i was using. now it's only genuine ck parts.