Framebuilders - Oxy-propane with a Smith AW1A?? any experience?

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georgewietor
05-08-11, 09:41 AM
Neophyte/longtime lurker here. Slowly getting my equipment assembled.
Acetylene is tempo. unobtanium here in W. Mich. May become available this week, will see
I ended up with a Smith AW1A 'aircraft' handle to match a boxful of ancient acetylene tips I have. Reconditioned by the AO Doctor in Georgia. Thanks, Jim.
Looks as though there is a special LP pipe with interchangeable tips in the catalog at my LWS for this application.
Does anyone gave any experience with this?
Should I just wait for Acetylene to become available?
I took Doug Fattic's course earlier this year. He has mentioned that Oxy-Propane is used by his Ukrainian group and that it takes a little while to become comfortable with it. I will probably only build a few frames and am not quitting my day job just now.
Any advice will be appreciated. George


JohnDThompson
05-08-11, 06:21 PM
We used the Smith AW1A torches with oxy-propane at Trek. You just need to use a bigger tip. The two I used the most were an AW207 and a big rosebud.

georgewietor
05-09-11, 02:01 PM
Thanks. That's encouraging. Will scout around for pressure info. George.


unterhausen
05-09-11, 04:28 PM
according to info on the framebuilder's email list, the regulators may be the same for propane/acetylene depending on the brand. People report that acetylene tips work fine for oxy/propane. I think the oxy/propane tips from Smith are not well regarded.