Not for here but for when I go to Australia as I am taking my bobcat with me. I was going to buy an oxycon to leave there, assuming they would be about the same price but they are not! They work out at over $1000 AU which is about £500+ at the moment!!!
My friend has said he will get the tank and stuff to chain it up but I wasn't sure what I might need in terms of a regulator, flashback arrestor and pipework?
Kazx
Not sure of Aussie law but yes to flashback arrestor. Know there are various agents such as BOC there. I always find the little things get to me like lack of cylinder key.
Ian
I've just switched to an oxycon from bottled oxy, I'll check with hubby what all the bits are once he's stopped snoring on the sofa ::)
In the meantime, the pipework on mine is blue flexihose, there's a regulator which indicates pressure & what's left in the tank.
Maybe someone else will chime in here before sleeping beauty wakes up :P
(As an aside you may find you rather like working with the tanked stuff - I'm having real trouble adjusting to the oxycon :-\)
I know - I have used it at Di's studio and it's lovely and hot!
we're not great role models, but please PLEASE PLEASE get someone from a welding shop or such like to set up your oxy tank and piping.. it is VERY much more dangerous due to the very high pressures involved.. you WILL need flashback arrestors, even a surface mix torch has a theoretical possibility of flashback, and the oxy is so much higher pressure wise than the propane the BANG will be big!..
;D ;D ;D
having said that, we ran 14 torches off a single tank and regulator in murano and our studio here - makes an oxycon look peelie wellie...
;)
As well as it being hotter I find the flame much more constant - the oxygen on my oxycon drops sometimes, usually when I'm using something like turquoise which then reduces to the nasty grey :-\. I also can't get the flame as wide as before without the oxy drop.
At the end of last week I was seriously considering going back to the tanked stuff - but have promised myself I'd persevere a bit longer ;)
Sorry, I did forget to say that I have the flashback arrestor on mine :)
If I wanted to use a tin of oxygen, where would I buy it, stupid question I know but just wondering, I take it I'd need to have it delivered, its it very much more expensive than propane. We use loads of it at work in the hospital, great big tanks of it, I see it laying around everywhere, well not everywhere and not lying around but you know what I mean. If only I could stick one up me jumper on the way out. ;D
Quote from: glassworks on November 05, 2009, 11:23:08 PM
we're not great role models, but please PLEASE PLEASE get someone from a welding shop or such like to set up your oxy tank and piping.. it is VERY much more dangerous due to the very high pressures involved.. you WILL need flashback arrestors, even a surface mix torch has a theoretical possibility of flashback, and the oxy is so much higher pressure wise than the propane the BANG will be big!..
;D ;D ;D
having said that, we ran 14 torches off a single tank and regulator in murano and our studio here - makes an oxycon look peelie wellie...
;)
Thanks Q - my DH is a gas engineer and my friend's DH is an engineer too and has various qualifications over in Oz - so I think they will be fine as long as someone shows them exactly what is needed. Does anyone have a photo of the set up and a link to the regulator and flashback arrestor?
Thanks
Kazx
I use tanked oxygen and have a regulator and then a flashback arrestor and then the torch. It's obviously proper oxy ones but looks just like the propane set up.
Great expression, "tin of oxygen", bit like tin of baked beans but with more wind potential!
Plenty of advice on BOC/Air products websites for set ups. Look at yellow pages for agents who are usually engineering companies. Think if you want welding done on car where do you go? Well probably same people would/could supply oxygen. Set up well and it's great stuff.
Ian
Thanks Ian. Its not the torch I can't afford its the oxycon thats so expensive, if I can sort out the oxygen easily I could have a new torch. ;D
Just a thought Katie - Martin may be able to help you.
I used to work on bottled oxygen. It was a royal pain in the arse. Unless you have a decent site to keep it you can forget the whole thing.
It's more hazardous than having an oxycon around. For a start the gas is at pressure so you will need to constrain the bottle - i.e. chain it to a wall. The real hazard is if the bottle topples over. If that happens and the valve is cracked in the process it will take off like a rocket. Even a brick wall won't stop its terrifying and spectacular exit.
Bear in mind that most of us on here are female and not very strong. I could only ever move a full size bottle by walking it (rolling it vertically). There was no way I could lift it. The half sizes are not much better - I could just about lift one of these but they work out to be about the same price as the full size so are more expensive.
I had mine delivered by BOC. It cost about £30 a delivery so it made sense to have two bottles delivered at a time. These cost about £100 a year to rent and about £20 to refill. This was over five years ago so its bound to be more expensive now. I reckon it was costing me about £500 a year. Add to that the problem in getting access to my work area - it's funny how you never notice steps unless you are in a wheelchair or lugging a massive steel bottle about - and the access to my road. Double parked cars made the usually surly wagon driver even less inclined to help and he wasn't exactly a "positive" person to begin with.
Complete nightmare if you happen to live in a standard residential setting.
If you live with a welder or in a building yard or similar where the access is flat and clear then having bottled oxygen is a joy, but I suspect that most of us don't.
You will also need ideally a two stage regulator (The one which looks like Micky Mouses head), definitely a flashback arrestor for oxygen (you can't use a propane one) and definitely high pressure hosing (its blue in this country and I beleive it is green in America). Don't consider the polythene tubing that comes with the oxycon as it's not a high enough pressure rating.
And as Ian says - they never tell you to get the special valve key which has a square socket end. It's amazing how much those things can cost if you need one in a hurry!
Sorry to be the harbinger of doooooom when it comes to bottled oxygen but I was so pleased when the oxycon came along, (and I saved about £500 a year) as I used to dread oxygen delivery day. Although Kaz, I don't have a clue what it would be like Aus, they might have different guidelines. Guess you could look up an Aussie welding supply place and ask them?
Hmmmm wondering now if I may as well just work on the hothead - though I will find it frustrating!!!
Sorry - I missed why you were going to Oz - is it for a holiday or for an extended time? What about your beautiful new shedio - aren't you worried that there will be beady squatters in it when you get back?? ;)
Compared to Sal I was a bit blasé with my reply :-[ which is naughty because as she has pointed it can be lethal if not handled properly.
What I should mention is I am lucky enough (or not when the alarm goes off at 3 in the morning cos it's rained a bit!!) to live on a trout farm with nice strong lads that change my oxygen and even they struggle! We rent them from BOC (the farm pays) and take them to the local country/farmers store for refilling at about £4 a go (the farm pays) which needs a decent flatbed truck. Also my brother is a qualified welder and happens to work on the farm for us so he set it all up for me ;D
If I wasn't in this fortunate position it would be an oxycon for me.
Quote from: Redhotsal on November 06, 2009, 09:51:54 AM
Sorry - I missed why you were going to Oz - is it for a holiday or for an extended time? What about your beautiful new shedio - aren't you worried that there will be beady squatters in it when you get back?? ;)
I know - I am worried about leaving my shed behind!!!
I am going for a month and the idea is that I will use the opportunity to make beads to sell when I get back - a kind of semi-working holiday which we intend to do on an annual basis (or maybe even bi-annual in future). Making the beads and having a set up there makes it more affordable and staying with friends who understand my need to bead also helps!
Kazx
Quote from: Helen G on November 06, 2009, 10:00:38 AM
I am lucky enough (or not when the alarm goes off at 3 in the morning cos it's rained a bit!!) to live on a trout farm with nice strong lads that change my oxygen and even they struggle! ;D
mmmmm.....Helen, I dream of living on a trout farm with nice strong lads....! ;D ;D ;D How're the fishes by the way?
Kaz - just a thought - there's a huge lampworking community in Australia - maybe it's worth hooking up to one of their forums and seeing exactly what the equipment situation is out there? They'll have a much better idea of their own territory and there's bound to be an oxycon distributor over there surely?
Someone on here might possibly know: http://forum.aussiebeadmakers.com/
All good info here. for what its worth I have two Y size cylinders and rotate them, i.e when one is empty move to other one then replace empty one. Local engineering company deliver, same as for propane which is a B size. I had a two stage regulator and replaced with a single stage as it was cheaper, £40 as opposed to nearly £100. However I knew the single stage may give uneven flow and was prepared for that but so far its been fine. When the cylinder starts to get empty then the flow slightly fluctuates. I have flashback arrestors and use BS recommended hosing. Already mentioned cylinder key but also worth noting to get a mallet and spanner, non sparking variety to remove/replace regulator. Annual costs are expensive and well over £1000 but I use a lot of oxy.
ON another glassy forum I use there's quite a few Ozzy lampworkers and they use liquid oxy, ye sure its more expensive but its much safer than standard bottled oxy, and from chatting to a few guys in oz you can get liquid at about the same cost as standard oxy but be aware of dodgy cryo chamber/ bottle suppliers, make sure you check either system for signs of rust or oxidisation at the vavle mouth or pools of ice around the valve or blowoff chamber, as a refernce liquid oxy is around 250 psi and standard bottled is 2500psi I know which one I'd rather have an valve problem with and liquid is just so much better for large blown forms (seems to becoming the standard gas for the U.s scene).
In the Uk a cryo chamber costs for one month tank rental as a year of standard bottle rental :/
Ian I got a quote from Boc direct for both bottled and cryo oxy, the written quote I have stated -£80 a year rental per bottle for Y cylinder with £14 per fill and £12 delivery, Liquid on the other hand was £800 a year tank rental £20 per fill plus £35 delivery(although there is much much more oxy in a liquid bottle of the Y size), maybe you should go deal with boc directly rather than through an engineering company.
Obviously whichever system you use you'll need Flashbacks etc , hurricanes and Ogi systems are also avaliable in oz maybe you should get in touch with the ozzy beadmakers society and see what they can help you with!
I have PM'd you Kaz - but fully encorse what Sal has said. I just hated the whole business of oxygen cylinders and the fact that they can pose such a danger.
Diane x