i don't have the money right now to get a full oxy acetylene rig, but i do have a 100gal propane tank and money to afford a hose kit and an o2 tank.
is it viable for heat treating (brazing, bringing small knives to crit, soft back draws, selective heating for tight twisting Damascus)?
i was thinking i could get that set up and later on get the large acetylene tank when i can afford it.
i have been trying to educate myself on this but i lack confidence on making a final choice.
i have glass blower/sculptor friends who use oxy/lp for fusing and sculpting so I figured it should work, just not as strong or quick as acetylene.
thanks!
I used to use an oxy-lp torch that my dad had. I've got an oxy-acetylene setup now. The main difference I noticed was that the oxy-acetylene setup cuts more smoothly, and I assume it was because of the difference in gases. The torch (or maybe just the tip) needs to be designed specifically for the gas you're using.
I had no trouble heating steel up with propane given the proper size tip was used for the size material being heated. I used it to heat small sections of damascus bars (3/8" to 1/2" sq) for touching up twists, too; and it worked well. A torch may be a little small to heat long sections of bar for twisting, though. I never tried brazing with propane, and I didn't use it for hardening knives; so I can't say how well propane would work for these things.
