Re: Cutting advice please


"Michael Horowitz" wrote: (clip) Since I have only one cutting tip, would
trying a mix of 1# of acetylene to #10 of oxygen give a cooler flame? (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is precisely the kind of situation I had in mind when I have
suggestions on what to do if you find yourself with too much heat. But
don't try to do it by screwing up your oxygen/acetylene balance. Light the
torch. Set up a neutral flame. Open the oxygen valve, and that will
unbalance the flame, so rebalance it with the oxygen flowing. Since you are
using too large a tip, you should start the cut as early as you can, so you
don't overheat the steel. If it starts to get too hot and melty, stop and
let it cool, and then restart.

One trick to being able to start the cut earlier is to drill a small hole,
and start cutting as soon as the edge of the hole gets red. This also helps
when you don't have enough heat--once you get the oxygen to start burning
the steel, you really don't depend on the preheat, as dcaster and R
Zimmerman pointed out.


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