Oxygen regulator questions

Some of the Harris can be rebuilt... I ended up just getting one from Harbor Freight. Was the quickest, cheapest option and given how much I use my torches now a days, will last me for a long time

Mark,
My oxy-acetylene setup is probably as old as yours, maybe less. I think I'm using Smiths regulators and handles.
I find that the gauges are also showing wonky readings. I feel that they also need to be rebuilt after years of use.
I got to say, having the outfit has come in very handy.

While I don't normally use a Hot Red Wrench of any kind in my shop, once upon a time i did manage to attend an auction and came away with a nice set of Victor Gauges, hoses, and the torch and brazing tips. Put the whole kit in a large plastic tool box from Napa and there it sits to this day. But they are there if ever needed. Would still have to pick up some backfire valves in the name of safety but that is still on the list to be taken care of.



Nick

Both Brazing, using brass or alloy rod, and silver soldering, have become something of lost arts. The MIG, whether flux core or solid wire and Gas, has proved itself to be easier to both learn to use and to work with. The same is fairly true for body filling using lead. Now I do purely concede that the old school lead that used to be found in body shops was Toxic.
How toxic is toxic? Well consider that back in the time of the Roman Empire, they had figured out a way to take lead and smelt it down and then form it into thin sheets. The artisans would then take those sheets, roll them into tubes couple the tubes together using pitch or tar, and voila! water pipes for incoming fresh water and sewage. What they didn't know was that the lead salts were being leached out of the pipe and into the water moving through it so, over time, a lot of citizens developed lead poisoning and not the kind acquired from being shot; that came later.

The thing here is that lead never did become any less poisonous over time and the ages so once it finished killing the Romans, it moved on to killing people who drank, which is why you can't buy leaded crystal glasses in North America, and then it set its sights on bodymen. Only for the body and fender trade it wasn't consumed by drinking it, it was ingested by both inhalation and by touch.

The new "lead" fillers actually have no lead in them at all.

As with MIG welding you also have to be careful with brazing as there can be noxious or toxic fumes discharged during the fusing process.

On my list of "Needs to be done at Sometime in the Indefinite Future:" I have the body of a wheel barrow that has to be dissected and reconstructed. My Mom< RIP> was a generous soul and the cross the street neighbour took advantage of that to borrow the wheelbarrow after I had specifically told him NO. It came back with the floor of the pan all tore out and I watched him repeatedly ram it into a pile of gravel as if he wanted it to fill itself. Should have gone and retrieved it at that point but knew he would come back over and whine away at Mom until she gave in and let him have it again. Did attempt to repair the damage by making patch panels and brazing them in to sandwich the damage and rebuild the pan floor but never did get around to reassembling the barrow, until that family was long gone and by that time Mom had left as well. Bother> What will likely happen is that I will wind up my air drivin exhaust cut off tool and cut away the whole floor, then separate the layers, discard the original damaged pieces and Mig the repair panels back in. The only thing here is that I will have to carefully grind away all that brazing because MIG and brass do not get along and I don't need any pop up explosions of brass to accidently occur and ruin my day.

As for that trick with fusion welding that cast iron pan using just the torch heat, that sounds almost like old school black smithing. Good trick to know and have handy. THANKS!


Nick