Re: Cutting advice please

Mike

You don't need to heat until the metal is molten.

Anyway, the whole thing about oxy-acet. cutting of steel is due to a
unique (?) physical property of iron compared to other engineering
materials - its oxide melts at a lower melting point than the metal.
So when oxy-acet. *welding* you see the metal surface "sweat" before
the weld pools forms because this is the oxide melting. The oxide
wouldn't flow away and make the cutting process possible without this
physical property of iron (and steel).

But yes, gently squeeze the oxygen valve to get the cut under way at a
lower temperature. Once the cut has "caught" then you can squeeze the
oxygen lever to the stop and romp along the cut, with the cut being
sustained by the "burning" (literally) of the iron in oxygen.

Richard S.
.

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