Stearns County, Minnesota | I use the Smith Torch made at Watertown, South Dakota. For cutting scrap, I use their #2 nozzle and for two inch or bigger steel, I use their #3 nozzle. The trick with a propane torch is getting it started. Turn the torch on "at the cutting torch (hand held)" wide open without lighting it, so you are running both the oxygen and the propane out in the open air. Set the regulator for the propane at 10-11 psi and then set the regulator for the oxygen at 42-46 psi. Turn the cutting torch off both propane and oxygen at the "cutting torch (hand held)" and open the propane a half a turn and the oxygen just a crack. Try lighting it, if it does not light, open it a small amount more on both the oxygen and propane. Once the torch lights, adjust the propane more open and the oxygen a quite a bit more open. You should have a light-blue inner cone flame about 2 inches long, and the outer flame should be 6-7 inches long. For cutting sheet metal and using a #2 nozzle, you can hold the torch at a 45 degree angle "or even more" to the work (the piece you are cutting) and you can really pick up speed in cutting. Acetylene is very costly to use. Propane is so much cheaper. Propane torches are tough to light. You need a cutting torch designed for propane; you will not get an acetylene torch to work properly by using propane. |
Oxy/propane torch help
