Just bought a torch! Anyone ever cut with propane?

[pvfjr]

Well I finally shelled out for a torch setup. Got one of those victor kits, and the guy convinced me that I needed to buy a propane tip. Saved me a bit of dough in the long run I suppose, as long as they work out for me.
Anyway, he tells me that propane is what all the cool kids are using these days for cutting, but I've never heard of it. Supposed to be faster, and would be a lot cheaper too. I didn't buy the tanks, but I rented the oxygen tank from the local shop after a quick credit check. I figure $5 a month ain't bad, @ $20 for the contents. I can supply the propane tank easily enough.

So does anyone else on here cut with propane? Know of any good tech articles out there where I can learn a bit? I'm kind of a noob when it comes to this.

 

[79BRUISER]

I have never used it personally. My gas supplier said the only people he sells propane to are scrap salvage guys. They don't care what the cuts look like.

It is cheaper than acetelyne, but doesn't cut as clean.

Bruiser

 

[Confedneck79K30]

maybe he said propylene?

 

[BILTIT]

Its propane, i used one where i used to work. I hated it, was hard to get a good mix for cutting. I am buying one shortly and would only go acetelyne.

 

[Muddytazz]

Propane works good to heat something to bend it, but to cut with it, it sucks.

 

[pvfjr]

Well as it is, it's pretty easy just to put the acetylene tip back on a go rent another tank, but then I gotta pay for contents. The reason I picked up the torch set yesterday, was because I've got 2-3 parts trucks that need to go bye-bye. Gonna stick them in the bed of the crew cab piece by piece, and haul them off for scrap. So no, I don't care what the cuts look like. That's pretty much what he told me, was that it cuts fast and cheap, and it's the only thing you'll see them using in scrap yards. I figured hey, I'm scrapping at the moment, why not. I'll use it and see how I like it, but it doesn't hurt to have the ability to do both.

So does anyone have any tips on using the propane? I've got a little experience with oxy/acetylene, but I forgot most of what I knew about setting up the flame. Now if the propane flame is a little different, I may have a little trouble.

 

[nerraw117]

i have never used it but i have heard that its cuts are very ugly. i have also heard that alot of salvage yard people use it. i would run acetylene. propane also doesnt burn nearly as hot as propane.

 

[Muddytazz]

If your just going to use the propane to cut of scrapped rigs for the scrapper, then by all means go for it. It'll do that job great.

 

[Randy92782]

I've actually never even heard of it but i'm curious as to how it works also. i'd also like to know some tips

 

[pvfjr]

If your just going to use the propane to cut of scrapped rigs for the scrapper, then by all means go for it. It'll do that job great.

Well....for now. It was bad enough buying torch set, I'll worry about the acetylene a little farther down the road. At least we'll be able to get all this scrap out of the way.

 

[blazin_blazer]

amen to that!

Propane works good to heat something to bend it, but to cut with it, it sucks.

it sucks big time! it takes twice as long to heat the metal up b4 hitting the oxygen...then you have to go slower so it heats the metal enuff for the oxygen to cut it.....he flat out lied to you telling you its faster. altho once metal is hot enuff the oxygen will still cut(burning on its own), i've had a torch pop out on me during a cut and i cut about 6'' further w/just oxygen blowing, no flame, before the metal quit burning the oxygen, then the oxy started cooling the metal and quit cutting the 1/2'' plate.

 

[pvfjr]

Well this is a very experienced man at a well reputed welding shop, who would gain nothing from "flat out lying" to me. I've been doing quite a bit of research, and it seems that propane gets most of it's criticism from people who haven't used it quite right. Many of the experts will swear by it, however. Here's a little excerpt I found off wikipedia, take it for what you will.

Propane
Propane does not burn as hot as acetylene in its inner cone, and so cannot be used for welding. Propane, however, has a very high number of BTUs per cubic feet in its outer cone, and so with the right torch (injector style) can make a faster and cleaner cut than acetylene, and is much more useful for heating and bending than acetylene.
Propane is cheaper than acetylene and easier to transport.
Like propylene, most propane tips are of a two piece design. Propane often gets unfair criticism because it really needs changing your torch (from an equal pressure torch to an injector torch) and not just changing your tip to get the best performance. Most torches are equal pressure and designed for gases such as acetylene which are lighter than oxygen. Propane is a great deal heavier and runs much better through a low-pressure injector torch with a setting from a few ounces to about two pounds per square inch when cutting.

So now comes the question, do I have the "right kind of torch". Don't exactly know what the difference between equal pressure and injector style torches are, or which one I have, or if I have something in my kit that would help me swap it around. Guess I'll find out.

 

[pvfjr]

I did hear mention of a oxy/gasoline torch once, there's a little bit of info on that too. Looks like it's pretty good for the thick stuff.

Gasoline
Oxy-gasoline (= oxy-petrol) torches have been found to perform very well, especially where bottled gas fuel is not available or difficult to transport to the worksite. Tests showed that an oxy-gasoline torch cut steel plate up to 0.5 inch thick as well as oxyacetylene; and 0.5 to 4 inches thick better: 3 times better at 4 inches thick.
The gasoline is fed from a pressure tank whose pressure can be hand-pumped or fed from a gas cylinder.

 

[blazin_blazer]

ok, i stand corrected.....but from my experience its slower, but we used a regular torch w/propane tips.....i've been welding/cutting for 20+ yrs, and i have no idea wth an injector torch is, which would put propane on par w/ acetylene.....i will look into this, as propane is alot cheaper, if cost of "injector torch" outways the cost of acetylene, i'm definitly interested!!...i use a bottle of acetylene in a week-week 1/2, but company buys it, maybe i can raise profit sharing :-)

 

[blazin_blazer]

that sounds dangerous

I did hear mention of a oxy/gasoline torch once, there's a little bit of info on that too. Looks like it's pretty good for the thick stuff.

i'll have to check into this to, wonder if it lights on its own....from my understanding oxygen w/petroleum product will self ignite...ie no ignition needed....when i was a kid i had to see for myself, i took some old torch hose, put it in oil drain pan and got back and turned on the oxygen and sure enuff it erupted into flames w/o spark or anything!

 

[pvfjr]

i'll have to check into this to, wonder if it lights on its own....from my understanding oxygen w/petroleum product will self ignite...ie no ignition needed....when i was a kid i had to see for myself, i took some old torch hose, put it in oil drain pan and got back and turned on the oxygen and sure enuff it erupted into flames w/o spark or anything!

Yeah, that's what I always thought. Have always heard that you should keep your oxy clear from petro, and definitely never grease/oil your regulators and valves....though there have been those who did. I'm gonna have to see about this injector torch thing too, but it's been hard digging up info on it. A lot of the stuff I've been finding about propane on the net has been a little vague and foggy. "I heard this" or "my buddy said that" kinda stuff. The old head down at the welding shop even argued with one of the younger guys. He eventually exclaimed, "I'll cut circles around your a$$ with my propane!". I thought that sounded kinda painful. He never mentioned anything about an injector torch, so I'm wondering if maybe there's a way to compensate with the psi on the regulator. Maybe I'll talk to that guy again. Oh hey, good luck raising the profit sharing. Any good company will cut you in on it if you can save them some coin.

 

[BlazerBud]

There is absolutely no substitute for Acetylene. It does everything well, it only has handling and storage issues, not performance issues. All other gasses have performance issues. It looks pretty convincing when you see the guys demonstrate propane or propylene or mapp gas at a welding show, but they have already fine tuned the torch to the work piece, so when you give it a try, it cuts like butter.
Which brings up the following, most people don't take the time to tune their flame to the work piece correctly, they just start cutting and get slag and blobs. This is more important than gas selection.

 

[tRustyK5]

i've worked in several shops that use propane for cutting. it's not that much slower, and the cut quality has more to do with operator skill than anything else. I can get as clean a cut using propane, Acetylene, or MAPP. I just prefer acetylene...

The old shop next to us used propane exclusively, and they cut 6" plate all day long on a large cutting table. Pretty impressive to see 6" plate pierced with a propane torch! They built the Accu-press press brakes there.

Rene