Hard- Surfacing, Building Fusion Welding Carbon Welding Non-Ferrous Metals Heating & Heat Treating Braze Welding Welding Cast Iron Welding Ferrous Metals Brazing & Soldering Equipment Set-Up Operation Equipment For OXY-Acet Structure of Steel Mechanical Properties of Metals Oxygen & Acetylene OXY-Acet Flame Physical Properties of Metals How Steels Are Classified Expansion & Contraction Prep For Welding OXY-Acet Welding & Cutting Safety Practices Manual Cutting Oxygen Cutting By Machine Appendices Testing & Inspecting
1 Continued on next page... EQUIPMENT FOR THE OXY-ACETYLENE PROCESS As we said in the preceding chapter, the real ”tool” of the oxy-acetylene welding process is the flame, not the torch. When we come to oxygen cutting, we must consider the pure oxygen jet as a second ”tool”, working hand-in-hand with the flame. To produce only the flame, we use a welding torch, fitted with the appropriate size welding head or tip.*  To produce both flames and the oxygen jet, we use a cutting torch or cutting attachment, equipped with the appropriate cutting nozzle or tip.* The equipment needed for oxy-acetylene welding and oxygen cutting is relatively simple and inexpensive. If the gases are to be supplied in cylinders, these are the minimum requirements: A cylinder of oxygen A cutting attachment, with one or more cutting nozzles A cylinder of acetylene A length of oxygen hose, with fittings A cylinder pressure regulator for oxygen A length of acetylene hose, with fittings A cylinder pressure regulator for acetylene Goggles and gloves for the operator A welding torch, with one or more welding heads A friction lighter for igniting the flame Mount the cylinders on a suitable truck, as shown in Fig. 5-1, and you have an outfit that will go almost anywhere and need no further power of any kind except a bit of muscle power. *Industry terminology is not fully standardized. Generally, the term welding head applies to a unit which includes a device for mixing the oxygen and acetylene, as well as a copper tip. Sometimes the tip, or even the complete head, is called a nozzle. In this book, the term

welding head will always refer to a replaceable assembly which includes a mixer, and the term welding tip will refer to the one-piece

 replaceable flame-producing section of the head. We shall always refer to the replaceable front end part of the cutting torch or cutting attachment as a nozzle.