Heating 18 or 22 mild steel bar to bend it?

[fizzy]

Or you can get DIY versions

Pardon our interruption...

 

[bert]

@bert.
Were in White horse contry are you?

I have Oxy

I am in Chippenham, using yours would be good but really need to invest in something I can have on hand

 

[bert]

Or you can get DIY versions

Pardon our interruption...

How do they attach the coil to the board?

 

[James1979]

I use one of those induction heaters. A sealey one. It’s good. Never used it for bending.

If I was bending 20mm bar I would bite the bullet and get oxy propane setup with rent free gas.

Spend once and all that.

Or a gas forge if you’re wary of bottles / insurance says no

 

[The_Yellow_Ardvark]

@bert
Oh "The Nam"

Oh dear.

 

[bert]

So is this the kind of kit I need for just heating things up using oxy propane?

Oxy/Propane 18/90 Cutting Set

Contents 2 x Regulators (Oxygen & propane) NM 18/90 cutting torch 2 x Flashback arrestors (oxygen & fuel) 2 x Hoses Nozzle cleaner 2 x Cutting nozzles Combination spanner Single flint lighter Tool case

www.weldingsuppliesdirect.co.uk

 

[grim_d]

It doesn't cost an enormous amount to get set up for oxy fuel. It was about £350 for the oxy, torch, hoses, regulators and flashback arrestors when I bought it a couple years ago.

The deposit on the oxy bottle was the one that made me wince the most.

Already had propane.

 

[hotponyshoes]

If you don't currently have propane make sure you can get some first

 

[Beanwood]

The deposit on the oxy bottle was the one that made me wince the most.

Already offere a hobbyweld bottle - what more can I do ?

 

[James1979]

So is this the kind of kit I need for just heating things up using oxy propane?

Oxy/Propane 18/90 Cutting Set

Contents 2 x Regulators (Oxygen & propane) NM 18/90 cutting torch 2 x Flashback arrestors (oxygen & fuel) 2 x Hoses Nozzle cleaner 2 x Cutting nozzles Combination spanner Single flint lighter Tool case

www.weldingsuppliesdirect.co.uk

I know conflicting advice is a pain in the **** but you could heat with that. It is a cutting set but it will heat well until you pull the oxy lever to cut.

Depends how good / confident you are with a torch. If you are doing 20mm bar that will get it hot in a good time in a localised area.

There is the option of a welding torch or a rosebud but for heating big stuff I just use the cutting one as above.

Depends on your budget. If I was in your shoes and was going to buy one thing for heating 20mm bar I would use that. The bottles etc are the pricey bit. You can always add another welding torch if you want to heat small stuff or braze / solder things.

Edit. : some bedtime reading http://murex-welding.co.uk/gb/en/support/upload/A5-Safe-use-of-Oxy-Fuel.pdf

 

[bert]

Already offere a hobbyweld bottle - what more can I do ?

Apologies i replied without thinking, I see your in Bristol so not too far. Pm me what you would like for it and where in Bristol you are and we can sort something out

 

[bert]

So just for heating stuff I guess this is a more suitable kit?

Oxygen & Propane lightweight gas brazing/heating kit Oxy Prop 5 metres set | eBay

Oxygen & Propane lightweight gas brazing kit. 1 x Lightweight mixer. 1 x Propane Barrel type Flashback Arrestor. 1 x 6mm x 5m Propane hose fitted. 1 x Oxygen Barrel type Flashback Arrestor. 1 x 6mm x 5m Oxygen hose fitted.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[outofthefire]

I don't know how the cheap handheld induction heaters hold up with multiple heats, but the one I use at work is water cooled and if I really hammer it, it overheats. I also don't know the economics of induction heaters versus gas is, but for heating bar I use the induction heater pretty much every time over the forge or oxy/propane. The heats virtually instant and there's no messing about relighting the torch constantly or wasting gas leaving it lit

 

[hotponyshoes]

I don't know how the cheap handheld induction heaters hold up with multiple heats, but the one I use at work is water cooled and if I really hammer it, it overheats. I also don't know the economics of induction heaters versus gas is, but for heating bar I use the induction heater pretty much every time over the forge or oxy/propane. The heats virtually instant and there's no messing about relighting the torch constantly or wasting gas leaving it lit

Same as cheap welders, you get what you pay for. Send the right money on the right tool and it will run all day.

I'm not sure about the economics either.
With the current price of electricity I think gas is cheaper per kW. But most of the comparisons I have seen have been with mains gas. I guess bottle gas is a lot more expensive per kW?
Although there is very little wasted heat with induction compared to gas so I'd say the induction would be cheaper to run especially if you take into account the time/cost of getting gas bottles filled up?

 

[grim_d]

I know conflicting advice is a pain in the **** but you could heat with that. It is a cutting set but it will heat well until you pull the oxy lever to cut.

Depends how good / confident you are with a torch. If you are doing 20mm bar that will get it hot in a good time in a localised area.

There is the option of a welding torch or a rosebud but for heating big stuff I just use the cutting one as above.

Depends on your budget. If I was in your shoes and was going to buy one thing for heating 20mm bar I would use that. The bottles etc are the pricey bit. You can always add another welding torch if you want to heat small stuff or braze / solder things.

Edit. : some bedtime reading http://murex-welding.co.uk/gb/en/support/upload/A5-Safe-use-of-Oxy-Fuel.pdf

My torch has interchangeable ends beyond the valves, so I can have a cutting torch, a heating torch or a soldering torch with just a few seconds of changing the end.

I thought they were all like that.

 

[James1979]

My torch has interchangeable ends beyond the valves, so I can have a cutting torch, a heating torch or a soldering torch with just a few seconds of changing the end.

I thought they were all like that.

Not being rude but I hate them!!!

I’ve got different torches. Easy to swap the hoses. Just personal preference but if you’re burning a lot then I find there’s too much to get caught

OP - if you want this it’s yours for the postage. You’ll need nozzles. It’s butbro so not ****, just unused.

 

[bricol]

Same as cheap welders, you get what you pay for. Send the right money on the right tool and it will run all day.

Yep - my first one, a cheaper one, let all the magic smoke out one evening . . .
The current one I limit its use to close to the instructions duty cycle.

 

[grim_d]

Not being rude but I hate them!!!

I’ve got different torches. Easy to swap the hoses. Just personal preference but if you’re burning a lot then I find there’s too much to get caught

OP - if you want this it’s yours for the postage. You’ll need nozzles. It’s butbro so not ****, just unused.

I can see how that might be the case, I basically only use mine for heating but it's nice to be able to cut if necessary.

 

[Hitch]

I'd be looking at a bar bender rather than gas.... no electric, no consumable costs...
Is it a tight bend/radius bend....90degs or past.. black bar or something fancier?

 

[hotponyshoes]

Not excessively so. Depends on the size of the bottle to some extent. Bottles are portable.

With the induction heater, far more of the energy is going into the work piece. It is the only thing that is being heated. That said, commercial leccy prices are likely much more expensive than bottled gas, so economy may come down to how much material is being heated over a long period.

Here is a domestic analogy: My gas boiler is likely no better than 80% efficient (without considering other system losses) and it only heats the whole hot water cylinder (from the bottom), whereas just heating the top section of the cylinder (a short top-fitted immersion heater) with more expensive electric (100% efficiency) can be less costly - especially if of most the hot water cools down.

At E7 rate, leccy pricing is not that much different than gas for that duty - with only the two of us in the house - whereas a family of five, requiring hot water throughout the day would fare much better with the gas boiler rather than my daytime electricity rate (being nearly 4 times as much as gas).

I need the gas for work and don't have any other option so I've never worked out the real cost of it.
Just going from pub talk about household heating use it seems to be preferable to heat houses using gas or oil rather than electricity.

There must be some inefficient losses in an induction heater as, for a start, they have duty cycles so must be heating themselves up a bit. Plus the bigger ones are watercooled so aside from the heat they produce that needs cooling, they also have to run the pump etc.

I don't know how to work out the actual running cost in terms of gas vs electricity but with gas you have dated hoses/regulators that have a replacement cost amongst others.
But I suppose the initial outlay is a lot less for gas than the equivalent in induction.

Yep - my first one, a cheaper one, let all the magic smoke out one evening . . .
The current one I limit its use to close to the instructions duty cycle.

I have a cheapish but branded one. I only use it for heating the odd bolt etc so it's never been pushed that hard.

I've always had easy access to gas & coke forges so never looked into a big induction.
One day when I can get an electric van and run an induction furnace from it and have 100 miles range left at the end of the day I'll post back...