Gasoline Cutting Tourches

[MozamPete]

Has anyone had any experience with non-pressurised gasoline (petrol) welding & cutting machines?

Seems like a convenient option for the home workshop where maintaining and refilling oxygen and acetylene cylinders is a hassle. And also a lot smaller than an conventional twin cylinder system.
One system I was looking at quoted 3000-3300℃ flame temperature and that cutting speeds can reach 500mm/min when cutting 20mm steel sheet. With the ability to cut up to 300mm thick steel. More than enough for my workshop.

Personally I was thinking of it mainly for cutting (and would still use arc for welding). But the option of flame welding with a portable kit if in a remote area is also appealing.

What are the downsides? Is the cut as clean as Oxy/Acetylene? Can you still produce a oxidising or carbonising flame as desired? Is the weld quality as good (or at least near as good) or does it produce a contaminated weld?

http://www.icmsa.co.za/Petrol Gasoline welding cutting machine.htm is a link to a system I was looking at (English of the text is not too good). Would be interested in any real world experience as opposed to the advertising BS.

 

[gr8legs]

I think the ad is misleading.

Yes, you can use other fuel gases for cutting such as propane, mapp, and probably gasoline - but the actual cutting requires Oxygen - the flame just preheats the metal to close to its combustion temperature and then the stream of oxygen is what does the cutting by oxidizing (burning) the metal.

You need the oxygen to make the cutting work properly and get good, clean cut edges.

To get a better understanding of torch cutting look up the term 'oxygen lance' and then take a more critical eye to the advertised product.

Stu

 

[MozamPete]

OK, after a bit of more digging I see it's a Gasoline/Oxygen system so not so many advantages - though there is not one mention of oxygen on the page link I gave.

Was wondering how they got 3000 plus degrees with just gasoline.

 

[onetrack]

Pete, you'll find gasoline performs similarly to propane/LP gas when used in place of acetylene. It's good for heating metal, but a poorer performer when cutting is involved.
In Australia, a sizeable number of people in rural areas use LP gas (usually propane, but sometimes a propane/butane mix), with oxygen, instead of acetylene.
This is due to the high cost of renting the oxy and acetylene bottles (you cannot own your own oxy or actylene bottles here). The LP gas bottles are cheaper to rent and you can buy them as well.
The poorer cutting performance of gasoline and propane/LP gases is all mainly due to the fact that gasoline and propane/LP gases are more "gaseous" or volatile than acetylene - and acetylene provides a better flame for cutting.
The oxy-acetylene flame is more stable and just has better cutting ability, particularly in thicker metals.
The LP gas setup is still quite an acceptable alternative to oxy-acetylene, there's no real problems with acquiring a flame that is either carburising or oxidising - and I've never experienced any weld problems - although oxy-welding is rarely done here today, due to advances in electricity supply and the advent of electronic inverter welders. We used to do quite a bit of oxy-welding in the 1960's, but I haven't done much of it for a long time.

 

[RJSakowski]

Interesting. What is not shown or mentioned is that you still need a source of oxygen. Other images of the system show the oxygen line off to the side. If you Google oxy gasoline cutting, you can find a wealth of discussion regarding its performance. Check out links to petrogen as well..