I'd like to do some occasional brazing and some light welding. Mainly small bits of motorcycles. Also cutting from time to time. An alternative to the standard gas welding kits with the refillable cylinders seems to be something portable and lightweight such as: the Rothenberger Roxy 120L kit or the Turbo Set 100 both of which cost around £150-160. Does anyone have any knowledge/experience of these. For occasional and lightweight use are they as good as/better than the standard gas kit? And economically, why pay rental for those big cylinders if you are using them only occasionally?
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Portable Gas Welding/Brazing Kits for occasional use
- Thread starter uralyogi
- Start date
They're extremely expensive to run. The MAPP gas lasts ok as it's stored as a liquid, the oxygen on the other hand... like the disposable argon and argon/CO2 gas bottles they don't last for any useful length of time and are more expensive to boot
There's a few rent free sources for oxygen around which would make 'em cheaper to run if you can find an outlet localish to you. Portaflame will sell you a refillable cylinder (or a complete kit with everything needed), Adams gas (used to at least) do rent free oxygen and some HSS branches do welding gases too. Propane (heating/cutting/brazing) or MAPP for welding too (although not as good as acetylene) are easy and cheap to sort
There's a few rent free sources for oxygen around which would make 'em cheaper to run if you can find an outlet localish to you. Portaflame will sell you a refillable cylinder (or a complete kit with everything needed), Adams gas (used to at least) do rent free oxygen and some HSS branches do welding gases too. Propane (heating/cutting/brazing) or MAPP for welding too (although not as good as acetylene) are easy and cheap to sort
That's very helpful. So - if I could get some of the rent-free or refillable oxygen I would have a good solution? Are the gauges and regulators and so on which come with these kits good quality or is it all a bit mickey mouse?
In fact, I have a standard little MAPP gas cylinder with the detachable nozzle which I bought at a plumbing supplies shop. When I try to braze small bits with it tho it takes absolutely ages to get the metal up to heat.
In fact, I have a standard little MAPP gas cylinder with the detachable nozzle which I bought at a plumbing supplies shop. When I try to braze small bits with it tho it takes absolutely ages to get the metal up to heat.
Can't comment on the quality of the regulators etc but i suspect the oxygen reg is similar to any of the single stage flavours available from any welding suppliers. The MAPP reg will be gaugeless
Must have missed your location in my last post as Adams gas and portaflame are both based in the south east (portaflame may have agents elsewhere but i don't know). Have a read of the 'gas suppliers thread' in the gas forum, there'll be the contact details dor some suppliers nearer to you and some of 'em should be able to supply oxygen.
The portaflame kit is available without an O2 cylinder i believe (for those that'd rather rent the O2 etc) which may make it a cheaper way to get sorted i.e. you'll get a suitable torch (looks like it may be a nice one), hoses, check valves/flashbacks etc. I did speak to them a while ago regarding oxygen as i don't use that much these days. The 48cuft oxygen was £140 to buy, fill (to 130 bar) around £40 and it'll need retesting every 5 years for around £50. Still haven't done the sums but i'm pretty sure i'm better off sticking with rented O2
Must have missed your location in my last post as Adams gas and portaflame are both based in the south east (portaflame may have agents elsewhere but i don't know). Have a read of the 'gas suppliers thread' in the gas forum, there'll be the contact details dor some suppliers nearer to you and some of 'em should be able to supply oxygen.
The portaflame kit is available without an O2 cylinder i believe (for those that'd rather rent the O2 etc) which may make it a cheaper way to get sorted i.e. you'll get a suitable torch (looks like it may be a nice one), hoses, check valves/flashbacks etc. I did speak to them a while ago regarding oxygen as i don't use that much these days. The 48cuft oxygen was £140 to buy, fill (to 130 bar) around £40 and it'll need retesting every 5 years for around £50. Still haven't done the sums but i'm pretty sure i'm better off sticking with rented O2
Yes, I'll have to check out suppliers in East Yorkshire and see how the economics work for me here. But if you rent the O2 then the only difference between the Portaflame (or Flamekit from MigtigArc in Portsmouth?) and a standard OA set up would be that one has Mapp and the other has Acetylene. Mapp would be cheaper but not as good, you say. Is there a safety issue as well? One or two people I've talked to about OA seem to think acetylene is not so safe.
You can make a mess/big bang with any compressed cylinder of fuel gas and a much bigger mess/bang when pure oxygen is involved. It's not so much that acetylene is unsafe but it is an unstable gas and so less tolerant of abuse/mishandling. The Fire Brigade would prefer you to use alternatives where possible for example which is understandable considering the typical scenario when they're likely to be involved
MAPP isn't as good for welding due to the heat spread of the inner and outer flames. None of the other acetylene alternatives are suitable for welding at all but fine for brazing. Link's more concerned with cutting but more info here.
MAPP isn't as good for welding due to the heat spread of the inner and outer flames. None of the other acetylene alternatives are suitable for welding at all but fine for brazing. Link's more concerned with cutting but more info here.
