Harbor Freight Oxy/Acetylene Welder and my first weld. I weld for the first time with gas.

This is my first time trying to weld using my Harbor Freight Oxy/Acetylene torch/welder. I was able to weld a piece of metal for my friend and neighbor to fix his lawn chair.
I LOVE this kind of welding!

[@itstallionman]

Great start. Everyone has a start. The more you practice the better you'll get.

[@jster1963]

Thank you so much! I can't wait to put in some practice.....

[@robertreid8396]

Like your humor brother. Everyone have to start somewhere. Good job.

[@jster1963]

Thank you so much!

[@LarsJohnson-ro1zc]

I like the way you describe what is going on in your head as you figure things out. It makes the welding process seem a lot less impossible. I wanted to see your oxy acetylene setup because trying to get a plasma gun setup is a lot more involved. Now, you can cut steel quickly and do welds in the field. very cool.

[@jster1963]

@@LarsJohnson-ro1zc Thank you so much! It’s a very handy tool….

[@jimzivny1554]

Good afternoon, I'll try to help you with a few explanations. ;the pop you heard was the tip overheating usually from being too close to the puddle. The change in the flame was probably a tiny bit of metal sticking to the opening of the tip, it would change the flow of the gas exiting the orifice. ; from looking at the video the metal looks to be hot-rolled steel, you can see on the edges where it was sheared to shape. That steel has a finish that must be mechanically removed or else it'll try to prevent a good weld which may have caused the bad mig weld, but I also think the mig weld was a little cold, there was no penetration, it just layed on the surface. ; all quality welds start with a clean dry surface ; after every welding session use the tip cleaner, the slightest bit of crap in the tip can prevent you from having the proper flame pattern. ; everyone starts somewhere, don't be discouraged, get a book and a tube of filler rod and keep practicing.

[@jster1963]

WOW! I didn't clean my tip after I used it. I will do that. I plan to get some filler rod and some scrap and play with this cool setup! Thanks a million for the kind words and advice!

[@robertoswalt319]

​@@jster1963I learned gas welding as a teenager in the 70s and have welded a lot of mild steel with dry cleaner wire coat hangers.

[@beachbums2008]

​@@robertoswalt319todays coat hangers do not have the right metal properties to gas well with Get yourself a pack of filler rods You try gas welding copper yet? Just curious.

[@mikec3955]

looking closely at the video, you nailed it. The tip is clearly getting hot, and at the "pop" you see a tiny drop of either metal or slag come out of the tip and hang on the inner edge.

[@jster1963]

@@mikec3955 Thank you so much!! I hope to really get good with gas welding. That's great info about the tip getting hot. I will have to learn how to fix that. I plan to get some tip cleaners and keep things clean. Thank you again.....

[@sharkrivermachine]

Very enjoyable video. I learned to gas weld over 50 years ago. It is a fun way to weld. I have a similar set of torches from Forney.

[@jster1963]

Thank you so much. It's a nice little setup! And get better....

[@BisonWorkshop]

so this is where you are.

[@jster1963]

@@BisonWorkshop Yes, I'm still live and kicking, LOL. Thank you and I hope you are well....

[@grntitan1]

I was taught by an old machinist to always open the bottle valves with your hand around the side of the bottle valve as opposed to your hand covering the valve handle. This way if for some reason that valve blows off, it flys out of your hand instead of through your hand.

[@jster1963]

OH THAT'S RIGHT! Thank you! I forgot about that part. Great catch. And I'm glad nothing bad happened. Thank you again.....

[@bobweiram6321]

You're a lot braver than I am. I tried it once without practicing and completely ruined a part. Throughout the process, I was terrified about the possibility of the fuel back flowing into the oxygen tank even though I added flashback arrestors. My setup wasn't as nice as yours. I had one with an oxygen and MAP bottle. The oxygen is ridiculously expensive! It costs about $10 bucks and you're lucky to get 3 minutes of welding out of one.

[@jster1963]

Brave or Dumb? LOL! I have no idea what this cost. I have not had to replace oxygen or the acetylene. I need to get flashback arrestors though. I'll do that soon. From what I was told, the new bottles have safety's built in, but I don't want to push it. And thank you very much.....

[@jimzivny1554]

I'll add an exercise my welding class teacher gave me in high school that I believe made me a better welder in the 45+ years as a mechanic, fabricator and hot rodder, I'm disabled now but still have a few old ford's to work on. On a piece of loose-leaf draw continuous circles with a pencil the height between the lines across the page, if you are right handed go right to left. After a few lines you'll understand the motion of the tip of the torch. And you would dip the filler rod periodically to keep the puddle consistent. The same motion can work with mig or tig, you may even see a roll of dimes lol but that's usually only when things are perfect. I have mig, tig and arc machines in my home shop but sometimes I still gas weld because I like it, it was what I learned first. I subscribed, I see you have a lathe and a shaper, I have a South Bend heavy 10 lathe and I'd love to get a shaper also a power hacksaw those machines are what helped build America. Good luck to you, ask me anything I'll try to help

[@jster1963]

Thank you so much for the kind words and the advice! I will sure give that a try! Yes, I have a South Bend 10K, and Atlas 618, and Atlas Horizontal Mill, and the 7B Shaper. I love playing with my machines. Thank you again I really appreciate it.....

[@Stefan_Van_pellicom]

When I see how hard that looks, I think I’ll stick to my mig machine for now. It was fun watching you experiment though, and the comments were educational!

[@jster1963]

@@Stefan_Van_pellicom Thank you very much. MIG is a faster process, but this is kinda cool. I hope to try this on aluminum....

[@beachbums2008]

Doesn't the filler rod need to be dipped in flux while hot from time to time????

[@jster1963]

@@beachbums2008 I don't know for sure. I've seen guys use flux and I've seen it without. It worked for me without it, but that doesn't mean it's right. And thank you......

[@RPMechanics]

Turned out pretty decent and you'll only get better from here. Good vid!

[@jster1963]

Thank you so much! I can’t wait to master this skill…..

[@SouthernEngineering]

We have all been there. LOL. If you like gas welding you will love TIG; get yourself an in-expensive Tig welder and have fun. Harbor freight Titanium is a good starter.

[@jster1963]

Thank you so much! And a TIG welder is on my wish list. I have a few other big fish to fry right now, but it is definitely on my list.....

[@kenskip1]

WOW, Now I know what I have been missing. You may have started something.. Great job,

[@jster1963]

Thank you so much!

[@eddieflores7509]

Good video 👊

[@jster1963]

Thank you so much.....

[@jonsworkshop]

Fortune favours the brave, lol. I did a bit in school 40yrs ago, fun but not easy. Thought you made a decent job for your first attempt, well done.

[@jster1963]

Brave or just plain dumb is debatable, LOL! Thank you very much and I hope to get better at this. I had machining in high school 42 years ago, but not welding.....

[@Thysddcf235]

They make a flux coated filler rod for that kind of work. Selecting the correct type of filler rod for you application is half the battle. Your on the right track. Practice, practice, practice and you will do great.

[@jster1963]

Great advice. Thank you so much! I can't wait to get good at this.....

[@philh9238]

You’ll get better at it. It’s not bad for your first time.

[@jster1963]

Thank you so much! It was a great learning experience.....

[@sailawaybob]

Lol i love your intro " I know nothing about oxy welding " i remember shop class 9th grade the teacher let us all take turns lighting one no welding just lighting 😅fast forward i have a stick welder and a flux mig welder and other than tack welding i pretty much su*k at it . sad part my Dad was a master welder at GM but never taught us to weld. keep practicing i watch a ton of welding videos but i need to pull mine out and practice , practice , practice.

[@jster1963]

LOL! I've had comments from guys that say I don't know what I'm doing, but in the intro I tell them that I don't what I'm doing. So this time I tried to make that perfectly clear that I'm no expert. My Dad was a tool and die maker for GM! He worked there 31 years. I have his old MIG welder and his Atlas 618 lathe. I love his machines! I plan to practice and learn this skill. And thank you so much!

[@waymonstoltz5001]

Nice weld! I've been itching to get one of those kits..

[@jster1963]

Thank you so much! I’m not a pro but I love it…..

[@Realsweetron]

First and most importantly I recommend you have a check valve on each line for safety to prevent backflow second you should move the tanks as far away from you and your work site then you start heating up both sides before trying to apply your filler metal

[@jster1963]

Excellent information! I bought check valves and will have them installed before I use it again. I thought they were installed from the factory, but I was wrong. Also, I will definitely keep the tanks away. Thank you very much.....

[@christopher6435]

For your first time welding with that setup you did pretty good! I haven't used an Oxy/Acetylene welder for 20-some years when I was in high school, but I remember the thrill of doing it! I do have a good question, as I'm considering getting this setup. How long dose the gas last? Thanks for a really good video!

[@jster1963]

Thank you so much! I don't know how long it last because every time I've used it I made a video. Sorry I can't tell you more. And thank you again.....

[@khester7397]

When you master oxy acetylene welding, you'll have basically mastered TIG.

[@jster1963]

That is so cool! Someday I plan to get a TIG welder. And thank you so much....

[@Airon79]

At about 7:00 , looks like you clogged your welding tip by touching the molten puddle of metal ; cast metals pop (similar to a campfire) , and sometimes other impurities will cause the pops but not as consistent as cast metal does , and sometimes it's not touching the molten metal that causes the clog , it's those pops that clog tips . I don't think that metal you are welding is cast iron , looks like medium carbon steel , to me . By the way , how are you liking gas welding ?

[@jster1963]

Thank you so much! I love gas welding and can't wait to try it again. It wasn't cast metal just like you said. I thought it was because of the texture. I was caught off guard with that "pop"! I'll try to be more careful next time. And thank you again....

[@itsmiiggy]

That sound is when your tip gets dirty or a small piece that gets on it.

[@jster1963]

Excellent info! And thank you very much.....

[@davidchavez81]

@@jster1963 Look up acetylene tip cleaning kit, its a small fold out set of tiny wire sized files that you can use to clean out any size orifice. About 10$ at any tractor supply or Ace hardware.

[@ericjohnson8482]

I was going to buy the Harbor Freight kit, but I found out the bottles aren't certified and can't be filled. Hopefully you won't have that problem.

[@jster1963]

I heard the same thing, but they were wrong. Harbor Freight told me I could return the bottles if they would not fill them. My welding shop said they were good bottles. I had no problem at all with the bottles. And if that were true, no one would buy them. And thank you....

[@d62johnson]

In the absence of a refracting di-oscillator and once the metal has reached its critical pierogi temperature coinciding with the flame's peak apogee, you should anticipate an audible pop followed by a noticeable alteration in both the sound and appearance of the flame. Trust me I’m a scientist 😂

[@jster1963]

I totally agree! But on this one I wanted to try the 7/8, no 7/16 in Gangley wrench on the Flux Capacitor to initiate a thermal reaction. But next time I'll do exactly what you said ;-) And I'm not a scientist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, LOL.

[@jeSuperfly]

Seems like a pretty easy part to just remake out of some bar stock! Interesting video though. Thanks for sharing!

[@jster1963]

I did exactly that! I made him a new part from bar stock, but i wasn't going to let that steel beat me, LOL! When he gave it back to me after my weld failed, I used it as a template and made a new one. I was just curious it you could fix a bad MIG weld with gas. It was an experiment for me. And I fell in love with this process. And thank you very much for the kind words.....

[@jeSuperfly]

@@jster1963 heck yeah! I'm currently trying to work my way through the beginning stages of gas mig myself. Thank goodness for youtube! Best of luck.

[@jster1963]

@@jeSuperfly Thank you so much! I love this type of welding. And you're right, KZbin rocks! Thanks again.....

[@bartanderson6476]

How long do the tanks last? ty

[@jster1963]

I don’t know. I’ve only used it a couple of times and have never refilled it. Sorry….

[@royreynolds108]

If you do much cutting or welding, you will do better to get standard-sized bottles so you will have a longer time to work. You will need to research the cost of MAPP gas and acetylene to decide which one you want to use. MAPP gas burns cleaner than acetylene if that makes any difference. The other cost to investigate is whether to rent or buy the bottles; the gas will cost the same either way.

[@jster1963]

Great advice! I don't use it that often, but you're right. And thank you for the info....

[@giovanni3896]

P R O M O S M