Hi there, I’m mostly set up for oxy acetylene brass brazing in my shop, and was hoping to get some info on what folks are setting their tank regulators at? I feel pretty comfortable getting to my neutral flame but I’m not sure exactly where I should be setting my psi.
It depends on what I’m trying to do. For context I am using oxygen / propane.
I use a smith torch.
Two primary tips, an AWS-O (I think) for doing big brass fillets.
- Typically I run this at 8-10 psi in oxygen and propane.
I also have a set of the framebuilding Paige tips. IMO they’re ok, but weren’t revolutionary for me.
- I typically use the 2nd smallest one for silver work (bottle bosses, etc).
- I run this at 4 psi in oxygen and propane as per the tip instructions.
I think this is what you were asking. I think knowing what kind of flame / heat you need to achieve your goal just takes practice and experimenting. It’s useful to have a little notebook to record psi experiments.
In general I prefer my two gas PSI settings to be identical. I almost never deviate from them being equal.
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awesome feedback thank you! And way cool to check out those Paige tips, I’m always fascinated by that kind of gear!
No problem.
I was kind of expecting the multi port Paige tips to be kinda revolutionary, but for me, at least, the big ones are basically not usable. I do really like the small ones, particularly the second smallest.
I also have a gas fluxxer but it isn’t set up right now. I haven’t dropped the $450CAD on a canister of Gas Flux H type yet.
I also use Cycle Designs flux (silver and bronze) but I dislike the bronze stuff. I wanted to try Fillet Pro filler and lumped in a flux order, to remember that I dislike cycle designs bronze flux when it all arrived. Woops!
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I use a Smith AW1A torch with a AW-205 tip for everything. Tanks are both 5 psi for oxy and acetylene. I use a gasfluxer, which is handy for tacking with no flux, but otherwise not critical, more like a belt and suspenders solution.
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At UBI they recommended 4-5PSI for acetylene and 8-10PSI for oxygen. That’s what I’ve been using with a few different torch/tip combos and it’s worked out well enough!
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I know propane is not as hot as acetylene, I wonder if this is why I prefer around 8-10 psi for fillets as opposed to your 5psi. I haven’t used acetylene since my framebuilding course several years ago.
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I think the most important thing to make sure everyone is aware of is that Acetylene is highly volatile above 15psi. There is absolutely no reason to approach this pressure and exceeding poses some serious safety concerns.
sincerely,
The guy that only silver brazes bottle bosses but doesn’t want to blow himself up.
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Awesome thank you! And great to see what everyone is running it at! Definitely trying to avoid blowing up stuff at all costs
FWIW, I was given a set of the Paige tips because their original owner found they clogged up when he was using his Gas Fluxxer with them. Not sure whether that is a common problem or not. Like you, I haven’t found them significantly different, but I don’t have a lot of other tips so I was glad to have them.
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